Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is interviewed by Fox News Digital on his final full day in office on Jan. 8, 2025, at the State House in Concord. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
And Sununu, who was elected and re-elected to four straight two-year terms as governor of the key New England swing state, touted that "I have no doubt I can win."
The 78-year-old Shaheen, the first woman in the nation's history to win election as governor and as a U.S. senator, announced this week that she would retire at the end of next year rather than seek a fourth six-year term in the Senate.
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Even before Shaheen's announcement, her seat in swing state New Hampshire was considered one of the GOP's top pickup opportunities in the 2026 midterms – along with Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is also retiring, and Georgia, where Republicans consider first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable – as Republicans hope to expand their current 53-47 majority.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is recognized by Republican Kelly Ayotte during her inauguration at the State House, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Concord. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
"I'm not planning on running for anything right now. I'm really not, at least for the next two, four, six years," he said. "Who knows what happens down the road? But it would be way down the road and nothing, nothing I'm planning on, nothing my family would tolerate either short term."
But Sununu, in his interview on Tuesday, shared that "some folks in New Hampshire, some folks in Washington, have asked me to really take a few weeks and think about it at this point."
"The door’s open," he said, before adding, "It's not open a lot, to be honest.
Among those he's talking with is Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who's the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the Senate GOP's campaign arm.
"Tim is a great friend. We've talked a lot, not just about me running, but other opportunities."
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announces he will run for re-election and not seek a seat in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Concord. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
Asked if he has changed his mind, Sununu on Tuesday responded, "Not really, no….I think Washington has been really stagnated. Hasn't done a whole lot, doesn't deliver."
But with Trump back in the White House, Sununu pointed to a "fundamental change in the past two months," and that now Congress is "talking about things that I care very passionately about."
Those things include a balanced budget and government efficiency.
"Whether you like them or not, you got to give credit to Trump, to DOGE, to folks driving this conversation, this narrative. We have $36 trillion in debt. It's a very real number. You owe it. I owe it. Your viewers owe that money, not the government. We're going to have a car crash in the next couple of years with Social Security going bankrupt, Medicare going bankrupt, more debt on the books. So, there has to be a plan and a strategy out of this, and the administration is really leading that effort," Sununu argued.
He said "that gives me hope that…maybe there is an opportunity to have a leadership role in something that is very critical and vital to the country, something I believe very passionately in, and something we've been very successful with here in New Hampshire."
Following Trump's first term in the White House and in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of former President Biden's 2020 election victory, Sununu became a leading vocal GOP of the then-former president.
Sununu was a top surrogate and supporter of former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump's final challenger in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries.
Former Sen. Scott Brown is interviewed by Fox News Digital on Dec. 24, 2024, in Rye, N.H. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
Sununu sees an opportunity - with Shaheen not seeking re-election - for the Republicans to flip the seat.
"It's an open seat. It's up for play. Republicans have been successful in some statewide races here recently," he said.
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And Sununu added that "there is an opportunity" for himself, for Scott Brown, or for another Republican candidate, to "win the seat."
And Sununu said that whether it's for himself, Brown, or another candidate, he's been "trying to talk to the folks in Washington, help them understand what New Hampshire is about, how to win here, how to be successful, how to find and kind of cultivate the right candidates."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-republican-governor-key-swing-state-mulls-bid-flip-senate-seat