Former Republican governor of key swing state mulls bid to flip Senate seat

Exclusive: Newfield, New Hampshire – Former New Hampshire Government Chris Sununu He said he is in conversation with the National Republican leaders about possible success in retirement of Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen next year.

Sununu, who enjoys national popularity for regular appearances on the cable news network and Sunday talk shows over the past few years, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that his goal is to make a decision on the 2026 campaign in the “next weeks.”

The former governor has been a few years old and he is the president’s vocal Republican criticism Donald Trump, “I will undoubtedly have the support of the president,” said the Senate if he decides to bid.

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Sununu, who was elected and re-elected as governor of New England Swite State for four consecutive years, touted “I have no doubt I can win.”

Shaheen, 78, the first woman in U.S. history to win a gubernatorial election and a U.S. Senate election, announced this week that she will retire by the end of next year instead of seeking a fourth six-year in the Senate.

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Even before Shaheen’s announcementHer seat in New Hampshire swing state is considered one of the best pick-up opportunities for the Republican Party in mid-2026 — along with Michigan, Sen. Gary Peters also retired there, Georgia and Republicans consider the first Senator Jon Ossoff to be considered here vulnerable — and the Republicans hope Republicans hope that the current 53-47-plus.

Sununu’s comments in a recent interview were a shift from last year when he repeatedly stated that he would not run for the Senate in 2026.

In a November interview with Fox News Digital, the then governor reiterated what he said for the first time in a July interview.

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“The 2026 Senate campaign is definitely ruled out,” Sunoni said in an interview with bystanders at the Florida Republican Governors Association’s winter meeting.

The 50-year-old Sununu, who was first elected in 2016, was again asked about the 2026 Senate Senate in a digital interview with Fox News that served on his last full day in early January.

“I’m not going to run right now. At least for the next four or six years, I really haven’t.” “Who knows what’s going to happen on the road? But that’ll go down the road, nothing, I have no plans, and no short-term my family will tolerate.”

But Sununu shared in an interview Tuesday: “Some people in New Hampshire, some people in Washington, are asking me to really spend a few weeks and think about it at this point.”

“The door is open,” he said, “To be honest, it’s not open.

He talks to South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, who is the Senate Republican campaign unit.

“Tim is a good friend. We talked a lot, not just about running, but about other opportunities.”

He described his speech as “ongoing discussion.”

Sources told Fox News that Sununu had dinner with Scott and other Senate Republicans in the coming days.

Sununi said he was interested in running for the Senate four years ago, opposing his former governor, Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, who is willing to be re-elected in 2022. The popular governor was heavily proposed by the National Republicans to replace Hassan.

But on November 9, 2021, Sunoni announced that he would serve as governor for the fourth term, upsetting many Republicans in the U.S. capital.

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And he Severe criticism of the Senate.

“When you look at what their (senators) work is and what the governor’s work is…that’s not even close. I can’t tell you how much the senator tells me, ‘You just have to wait about a few years to get anything done.’ Can you imagine I’ve been sitting for about a few years?” Sununu said at the time. “They debate and talk, and they did nothing. … That’s not the world I live in.”

When asked if he had changed his mind, Sununu replied on Tuesday: “Not really, no…. I think Washington is really stuck. There isn’t doing a lot, there is no delivery.”

But as Trump returns to the White House, Sununu points out “the fundamental changes in the past two months” and now Congress is “talking about things I care a lot.”

These things include budget balance and government efficiency.

“Whether you are not liking them, you have to thank Trump for the people who are doing the narrative, narrative. We have $36 trillion in debt. It’s a very real number. It’s a real number. You owe it. I owe this money. Money. Your audience owes this money, not the government. We will have a while in the next few years, it’s a book, it’s a bankrupt debt. The government does lead the effort,” Sununu said.

“It gives me the hope…maybe there is an opportunity to lead in things that are very critical and critical to the country, and I believe in that with great enthusiasm and we are very successful here in New Hampshire,” he said.

After Trump’s first term in the White House and January 6, 2021, Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol to improve the congressional certification of former President Biden’s 2020 election victory, Sununu became the then-format president’s leading voice Republican Party.

Sununu is a former UN ambassador and a top surrogate and supporter of the former South Carolina government. Nikki HaleyTrump’s final challenger in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

But he did support the Republican nominee in the general election.

When asked about his position with Trump, Sununu said he “has a good relationship right now.”

Sununi isn’t the only Republican to propose a Senate bid in New Hampshire.

Former Senator Scott Brown Massachusetts later barely lost to New Hampshire’s Shaheen in the 2014 election, and they are seriously considering the 2026 game.

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Brown, who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand for four years during President Donald Trump’s first administration, has held meetings with Republicans in New Hampshire for several months and has met with Republican officials in the nation’s capital several times.

Sources told Fox News Numbers that Brown recently met with political officials from the top White House administration.

Brown told Fox News in the second half of last year that he was seriously considering the Senate campaign. New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, the better I think we can do. ”

Sununu saw an opportunity – Shahin didn’t seek reelection – Republicans flipped the seat.

“It’s an open seat. It’s a game. Republicans have had success in some statewide games here lately,” he said.

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Sununu added that there is a “opportunity” for himself, Scott Brown or another Republican candidate to “win a seat.”

Sununi said whether it’s for himself, Brown or other candidates, he has been “trying to talk to people in Washington to help them understand what New Hampshire means, how to win here, how to succeed, how to find and develop the right candidates.”