(The Center Square) — Foreshadowing what could be a bruising primary, Republican Scott Brown said still plans to seek the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire despite former GOP Sen. John E. Sununu’s decision to jump into the race.
In a memo to fellow New Hampshire Republicans, Brown’s political director Michael McEleney argues that Sununu is an “outdated” candidate and that the former Massachusetts congressman is “well-positioned” to win the Senate seat back for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
“Like an old computer that’s so far behind on software updates it becomes impossible to download the latest operating system, John is stuck in the past,” McEleney wrote. “He is a candidate straight out of the 1990s. Literally. When John was elected to Congress three decades ago, Bill Clinton was president and Tom Brady was at Michigan.”
The memo blasts “Beltway” Republicans for not being able to pick winners in previous New Hampshire elections, including the 2022 Senate primary, when the GOP spent millions of dollars boosting Chuck Morse against General Don Bolduc, who ultimately won the Republican nomination.
“Washington can’t even open the federal government right now, let alone choose candidates for federal office,” McEleney wrote. “They’ve got a bad track record on both fronts.”
The decision by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a three-term Democrat and former New Hampshire governor, not to seek reelection next year has prompted a flurry of candidates in what is likely to be a competitive race that could help control of the U.S. Senate in next year’s midterms.
Brown, a former New Zealand ambassador who lost a New Hampshire Senate race against Shaheen in 2014, got into the race early by declaring his candidacy before Shaheen announced she would not be running for another term.
But last week, Sununu — who lost his bid for re-election in 2008 to Shaheen — announced that he was making a comeback bid to reclaim the seat he lost to Democrats 17 years ago.
The veteran politician, whose lineage hails from one of New Hampshire’s most storied political families, represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 2003 to 2008 after having served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the memo, McEleney called John Sununu a “consolation prize” for national Republicans after his “more popular and charismatic” younger brother, former Gov. Chris Sununu, decided against a run for the seat. He said Sununu will run with the backing of national GOP groups, but argues that Brown has the support of grassroots Republicans in the state.
“The noise from Washington will be loud, but the will of New Hampshire voters is always much stronger,” McEleney wrote. “By wrapping himself around the flag of the Beltway insiders from the jump, Sununu took another step toward sealing his fate and failure. Once he implodes, Scott Brown will be standing tall and ready to carry the Republican flag into the general election next fall.”
