Former GOP senator builds war chest for bruising New Hampshire primary

First on Fox: Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown is building an electoral war chest as he prepares for a potentially uphill New Hampshire Senate primary battle against former Sen. John E. Sununu, is in a crucial race in 2026 as the GOP aims to flip the seat long held by Democrats.

Brown, the first major Republican to jump into the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, reported Tuesday that he took in more than $1.2 million in fundraising during his first full quarter as a candidate, according to numbers first shared with Fox News Digital.

Shaheen’s open seat is one of the GOP’s top goals as the party aims to not only defend its current majority in the Senate, but also expand it.

The fundraising total from the July-September third quarter of 2025 includes money brought in by Brown’s Senate campaign as well as a joint fundraising committee formed with his leadership PAC, Strong State for Today and Tomorrow.

The former Republican senator is aiming to flip his seat blue in the key swing state

According to the numbers, Brown had nearly $900,000 in cash at the end of last month.

Brown, a former state senator from neighboring Massachusetts and the 2014 GOP Senate candidate in New Hampshire who later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in the presidency Donald Trump The first administration described the fundraising response as “overwhelming.”

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“With this strong performance, our campaign will be well-resourced for the long term and will allow me to campaign the only way I know how: with continued hard work and a focus on the retail policies that Granite State voters expect.”

Referring to four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, considered the front-runner for his party’s Senate nomination, Brown asserted, “New Hampshire always knows better than Washington, D.C., and that’s a message I intend to pursue against Congressman Pappas and anyone else who decides to enter this race.”

New Hampshire Democratic Senate candidate, Rep. Chris Pappas, in an interview with Fox News Digital, on July 4, 2025, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Brown’s comment about “everyone else” is a reference to Sununu, who is expected to launch a campaign this month, igniting a potential primary fight for the GOP Senate nomination in New Hampshire.

“I’m sure if we put together a strong team, this is a winnable race,” Sununu said last month in an interview with Fox News Digital. “This is a race I know I can win. More importantly, it’s a role I know I can make a difference in for New Hampshire.”

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Sununu, a former three-term congressman who won election to the Senate in 2002 before losing his re-election bid in 2008, reiterated that he “will make a decision in October” on whether to begin a Senate campaign.

“It’s a winnable race for the right person who reflects the values ​​of our state, not the values ​​of Washington,” Sununu told Fox News.

Former Republican Senator John E. Swallow from New Hampshire interviewed by Fox News Digital, on September 15, 2025 in Rye, New Hampshire (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

Sununu is a brand name in New Hampshire politics. The former senator’s father, John Sununu, is a former governor who later served as White House chief of staff under President George H.W. One of his younger brothers is former Gov. Chris Sununu, who won election and re-election to four two-year terms to lead the Granite State.

Republican state Sen. Dan Ennis, who is seeking the GOP nomination, ended his campaign last month after Sununu said publicly that he was considering a Senate run. Ennis said he would support Sununu and also urged Brown to end his campaign.

But Brown, long known as a tireless campaigner, has made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of suspending his campaign.

Sununu has repeatedly been targeted over the former senator’s lack of previous support for Trump, who wields enormous influence over the Republican Party.

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Sununu with then-Gov. Chris Sununu, the former ambassador and former South Carolina governor, has endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, where she was competing with Trump for the nomination.

On the eve of the nation’s first presidential primary, the former senator wrote an opinion piece titled “Donald Trump is a Loser,” which was published in the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state’s largest daily newspaper.

“@JohnSuunu was the original ‘Never Trumper,’” Brown accused in a social media post last month. “He’ll have to explain that.”

In his recent radio appearance, Brown also reminded listeners that Sununu “called President Trump a loser.”

Pointing to the past decade and a half that Sununu has spent in the private sector, Brown asserted that his potential primary rival was “lobbying for special interests.”

Brown endorsed Trump before he won the New Hampshire primary in 2016, propelling him toward the Republican presidential nomination and eventually the White House. Brown later served as US Ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term.

Trump, whose endorsement in the Republican primaries was so influential, has so far remained neutral.

But the president may be willing to overlook Sununu’s previous jabs.

Earlier this year, when Chris Sununu tried to run for Senate after leaving office, Trump urged him to run.

Republican presidential candidate, former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is joined by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu as they visit a polling site at Winnaconnet High School to greet voters on January 23, 2024, in Hampton, New Hampshire. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The younger Sununu, who was Haley’s biggest supporter and her replacement in New Hampshire, repeatedly criticized Trump during the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Trump told reporters in April that he met with the former governor in the Oval Office and that he would “fully support him.”

“He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so,” Trump added. “I hope he runs. I think he will win this seat.”

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“President Trump values ​​the winners and recognizes that John E. Sununu is putting this race on the map for Republicans,” a national Republican familiar with the New Hampshire Senate race told Fox News Digital last month.

Fundraising, along with polling, is a key measure of a candidate’s strength and popularity, and the money raised can be used to build a campaign team, pay for advertising and grassroots outreach efforts.