John Edward Sununu (born September 10, 1964) is an American politician from the U.S. state of New Hampshire. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003 and in the U.S. Senate from 2003 to 2009. He is the son of John H. Sununu and older brother of Chris Sununu, both of whom were governors of New Hampshire.
Sununu was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, and was reelected in 1998 and 2000. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating Republican incumbent Bob Smith in the primary and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in the general election. Elected to the Senate at 38 years old, he was its youngest member throughout his entire term. In 2008, he lost reelection to Shaheen in a rematch.
Sununu is the Republican nominee in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire, seeking to reclaim his old seat. He faces Democratic congressman Chris Pappas.
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Early life and education
One of eight siblings, Sununu was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 10, 1964. He is the son of former New Hampshire First Lady Nancy (née Hayes) and former Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu.
Sununu has Lebanese, Palestinian, Greek, and Hispanic ancestry on his father's side. His paternal grandmother was an immigrant from El Salvador whose family had Greek roots. His paternal grandfather's family came to the United States from Lebanon as Greek Orthodox Christians at the turn of the 20th century; their ancestry was Greek and Lebanese from Jerusalem and Beirut, respectively.
Sununu earned both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1987, respectively. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1991. After graduating, he worked in the high-tech industry, at one time for the company of Dean Kamen and as a management consultant for PRTM.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In 1996, incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Bill Zeliff decided to run for governor of New Hampshire. Sununu narrowly defeated Democrat Joe Keefe. In 1998, he was reelected with 67% of the vote, beating Democrat Peter Flood. He was reelected in 2000, defeating Democrat Martha Fuller Clark with 53% of the vote.
Tenure
In 1999, New Hampshire's Christian Coalition gave "pro-family" awards to both New Hampshire Representatives, Sununu and Charles Bass, honoring their votes to impeach President Bill Clinton.
On November 8, 2000, after Sununu defeated Democratic newcomer Martha Fuller Clark, The Boston Globe wrote that he had "one of the House's most conservative voting records"—opposing abortion and increased minimum wages while favoring school vouchers and the death penalty. He received a 100% rating from Citizens Against Government Waste. He has also received the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the United States Chamber of Commerce, the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business, and the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform.
Committee assignments
Sununu served on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees. He held subcommittee seats on the Veterans Administration-Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, the Treasury Postal Subcommittee, and the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee, and also served as a member of the Republican Policy Committee.
U.S. Senate
Elections
In 2002, Sununu ran for a United States Senate seat from New Hampshire. In the Republican primary, he defeated Republican incumbent Bob Smith by 13,312 votes. In the November election, he subsequently defeated Democratic Governor and future senator Jeanne Shaheen by 19,751 votes. The election was marred by members of the Republican Party who organized the 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal which disrupted Democratic efforts.
In a rematch, Shaheen defeated Sununu by 44,035 votes. She won seven of New Hampshire's 10 counties, losing Carroll, Belknap, and Rockingham. Sununu slightly outperformed Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 national election, as McCain got about 45% of the vote but did not win any counties.
In late 2025, Sununu announced his candidacy for his old seat.
In 2026, Sununu sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jeanne Shaheen. He received Donald Trump's endorsement and entered the September 8 Republican primary as the frontrunner against former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown, which he won by a wide margin.
Tenure
According to a study in The Washington Post, Sununu voted with the Republican Party's position 84% of the time. However, he broke with his party on prominent issues, joining Democrats in filibusters of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bush administration's 2003 energy bill. Sununu strongly supported greater access to firearms, voting against the proposed renewal of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004. In 2006, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He strongly opposed amnesty for illegal aliens, voting against the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill in July 2007. Sununu called for a tougher federal regulator for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), he filed a dramatic overhaul of regulation of the insurance industry. A long time proponent of technology, in January 2007, Sununu called for a permanent ban on taxes of Internet connections and online sales.
The non-partisan National Journal gave Sununu a composite rating of 65.8% conservative and 34% liberal in 2008. Sununu was one of only three senators whose voting record received a score of 100% from the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, in both 2005 and 2006, tying for 1st place. However, his rating fell to 23rd place in 2007, and to 34th place in 2008. The Club for Growth endorsed Sununu's unsuccessful bid for re-election in February 2007 against Jeanne Shaheen (she subsequently during 2009–2012 earned Club for Growth ratings of 64th place to 100th place).
In 2007, Sununu was the lead Republican co-sponsor of the Clean Air Planning Act of 2007 which sought to address air quality and climate change by establishing a schedule to reduce harmful emissions from power plants—in particular, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides—as well as decrease carbon dioxide emissions through a cap and trade system. The legislation, which was never enacted, also addressed mercury pollution, calling for a 90% reduction in emissions of the chemical by 2015. He also supported the bipartisan Clean Energy Stimulus Act of 2008 that provides tax incentives for the development of clean and renewable energy sources. In 2006, Sununu sponsored the bipartisan New England Wilderness Act, which added tens of thousand of acres of land to federally protected forests. Sununu opposed the Climate Stewardship Act of 2003, which would have also created a cap-and-trade program. His vote was criticized by the New Hampshire Democratic Party which claimed that he had acted "against reducing greenhouse gases". The New Hampshire Union Leader praised his decision, citing the Energy Information Agency's estimation that the legislation would cost the American economy $507 billion over 22 years.
Committee assignments
Committee on Finance
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism
Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation
Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Agencies
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration (Ranking Member)
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security
Joint Economic Committee
Later career
As of 2009 Sununu sat on the Board of Managers of ConvergEx Holdings, a holding company for BNY ConvergEx Group, an affiliate of Bank of New York Mellon, which holds a 33.8% stake in BNY ConvergEx Group.
On July 7, 2010, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP announced that Sununu was joining the firm as an adjunct senior policy advisor. Akin Gump is one of the largest law firms and lobbying firms in Washington, D.C.
Sununu was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve on the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, whose purpose is to assess how the TARP program is working, in order to help Congress determine whether to continue injecting capital into the financial sector.
Sununu is a regular op-ed contributor to The Boston Globe.
Before the 2014 election cycle, speculation abounded that he would pursue a rematch against Shaheen, but in April 2013, he said he would not.
On January 30, 2019, Lloyd's of London announced Sununu had been appointed to its governing council.
Personal life
Sununu married Catherine (Kitty) Halloran on July 9, 1988. They have three children: John, (Catherine) Grace, and Charlotte.
Electoral history
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2002, write-ins received 197 votes.