Sen. John Sununu (R) Elected 2002, 1st up 2008
Born:	Sept. 10, 1964, Boston, MA
Home:	Bedford
Education:	M.I.T., B.S. 1986, M.S. 1987, Harvard U., M.B.A. 1991
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Kitty)
Elected  Office:	U.S. House of Reps., 1996-02.
Professional Career:	Design Engineer, Remec Inc., 1987-89; Mgr. & Operations Specialist, Pittiglio, Rabin, Todd & McGrath, 1990-92; C.F.O. & Dir. of Operations, Teletrol Systems Inc., 1993-95; Consultant, JHS Associates, 1995-96.
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John E. Sununu, a Republican elected in 2002 when he defeated the state's senior senator and its governor, is the youngest member of the Senate. He grew up in Salem, on the Massachusetts border, one of eight children of John H. Sununu, who was elected to the first of three terms as governor in 1982 and served as White House Chief of Staff from 1989 to 1991. The younger Sununu graduated from M.I.T. and, like George W. Bush, got an M.B.A. at Harvard. He worked as an engineer for a microwave manufacturer, a high-tech consulting firm, the building automation manager Teletrol and as a consultant for JHS Associates. In April 1996, when Congressman Bill Zeliff announced for governor, Sununu and seven other Republicans got into the House race; Sununu won with 28%. In the general, Sununu faced Joe Keefe, former state Democratic chairman, who had run twice before in the district and who, with help from PACs, raised more money than Sununu. This was also a close race: Sununu won 50%-47%.

In the House, Sununu compiled a conservative voting record and climbed to important positions on the Appropriations and Budget Committees. He was reelected 67%-33% in 1998 but in 2000 he had spirited competition from Portsmouth state Representative Martha Fuller Clark, who spent nearly twice as much as he did and held Sununu to a 53%-45% victory. In 2002, Republican incumbent Bob Smith was obviously vulnerable in the primary and seemed likely to lose the general election. How a New Hampshire Republican got himself into this predicament is an interesting tale. Smith, a fervent opponent of abortion, ran for the Senate in 1990 and won the general election 65%-32%. In 1996 Smith had well-financed competition from former Democratic Congressman Dick Swett. Smith won by only 49%-46%; he had a near-political-death experience on election night when the VNS exit poll declared him the loser (New Hampshire exit polls have leaned Democratic since 1988).

Astonishingly, Smith proceeded to run for president. What prompted him to think he would make a plausible candidate is not clear: he had had no executive experience in government and no major legislative achievement. His standing with New Hampshire voters was shaky and support from his colleagues was nonexistent. He spent much time on the road in 1997 and 1998 and became the first candidate to formally announce for the presidency in February 1999. Much of the buzz in New Hampshire was hostile, and many feared his presence would drive out other presidential contenders, and thus reduce the importance of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. In July 1999 Smith rose on the Senate floor and made a 50-minute speech announcing that he was leaving the Republican Party and would run for president as an independent or third party candidate. He said that the Republican commitment to the rights of gun owners and the unborn "is a fraud and everyone knows it … Maybe it's a party in the sense of wearing hats and blowing whistles, but it's not a party that means anything." Senate Republican leaders allowed him to keep his committee seats and seniority. Then in October 1999 Senator John Chafee died; he was chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Smith held the next-ranking Republican seat. Four days later Smith abandoned his presidential candidacy, saying he could not raise enough money, and on November 1 he announced he was a Republican again. A day later he became chairman of the Environment Committee. Previously, his record on the committee had been solidly conservative, while his efforts as a subcommittee chairman to change the troubled Superfund program had gone nowhere. Now he took liberal stands on environmental issues, including opposing oil drilling in ANWR.

By early 2001 New Hampshire polls showed Smith trailing Governor Jeanne Shaheen in the general election and Sununu in the primary; they also showed Sununu ahead of Shaheen. The Bush White House was officially on Smith's side: Dick Cheney assured him that the White House backed all incumbent Republican senators in March 2001. But Republican consultants believed that only a Sununu win in the primary could save the seat, and the White House appears to have made no attempt to persuade Sununu not to run. In October 2001 Sununu announced he was running for the Senate. Smith argued that with his seniority it would be a "serious matter" for Republicans to reject him. Sununu's argument was that he was the only one who could win. Smith's response: "The First District House seat is now in jeopardy. He's risking the president's agenda by running in this race. He's risking the Senate race because we have to spend money against each other and Shaheen is piling the money in the bank. So we could lose the House seat and the Senate seat. It wasn't me who did that." These arguments were undoubtedly dispositive for most primary voters, since the candidates disagreed on only a few issues--PNTR with China and oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, both of which Smith opposed and Sununu favored.

It is highly unusual for leaders of both parties to refuse to support, much less oppose, one of their incumbents in a primary. But there were signs that even leaders officially on Smith's side were lukewarm in their support. Rove attended a Smith fundraiser, but White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who knew the Sununus for 30 years, endorsed Sununu. Majority Leader Trent Lott attended two Smith fundraisers, but in April 2002 attended a Sununu fundraiser. Senate Republican campaign committee chairman Bill Frist said he supported Smith, but in October 2001 Smith upbraided him in the cloakroom for not supporting him strongly enough. Richard Shelby and Christopher Bond endorsed Sununu early on. Chuck Hagel sent $2,500 to both candidates. Judd Gregg, Smith's New Hampshire colleague for 10 years, said he was neutral. The House Republican leadership held a fundraiser for Sununu. The Manchester Union Leader endorsed Sununu. Despite all his support from leading Republicans, Sununu raised far less money than Smith, who raised much by direct mail; altogether Smith raised $3.8 million and Sununu $1.5 million.

A few differences on issues surfaced during the long campaign up to the September primary. One was policy in the Middle East. Sununu is of Lebanese descent, and was one of the few Republicans to vote against recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In October 2001 he returned a contribution from someone who turned out to be a supporter of Hamas. In December 2001 he attended a fundraiser put on by George Salem, a lawyer who once represented the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, a few days after the Bush administration froze Holy Land's bank accounts. Smith aides criticized Sununu for this; he was defended by Rudman and Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman. A Sununu aide noted that Sununu had voted for and Smith against $3 billion in aid for Israel. The weekend before the primary, Smith ran an ad saying that Sununu voted to let terrorist suspects stay in the United States; Sununu replied that someone granted permanent residency status has rights under the Constitution.

New Hampshire polls often produce conflicting results, as close observers of New Hampshire presidential primaries know. In the weeks before the September 10 primary, one New Hampshire poll showed the race even and one showed Sununu with a 22% lead. Both turned out to be wrong. Turnout was a record high and Sununu won 53%-45%. Sununu carried every county and even carried Smith's hometown. Smith made a gracious concession statement and endorsed Sununu.

Now, having beaten New Hampshire's senior senator, Sununu faced New Hampshire's governor, Jeanne Shaheen. The Senate Republican campaign committee had been running ads against Shaheen since the spring, focusing especially on education funding. This had been the central issue of her governorship. She was proud of extending kindergarten, regulating HMOs and joining the tri-state pool (with Maine and Vermont) to purchase prescription drugs at discount. But the real problem was how to respond to the state Supreme Court decision outlawing New Hampshire's local-based school financing. In 1999, when the legislature, with a Democratic state Senate for the first time in years, seemed on the verge of passing an income tax, she announced that she would veto it. Instead, the legislature passed a temporary statewide property tax, plus business tax increases. But this did not solve the problem permanently. In 2000 Shaheen declined to take the pledge and was whipsawed on both sides. She won the Democratic primary by only 61%-38%, an unusually low primary showing for an incumbent governor, and in November beat state Senator (and former U.S. Senator) Gordon Humphrey by only 49%-44%..

Shaheen ran for the Senate as a moderate on key issues. She said she supported the 2001 Bush tax cut and in October 2002 came out staunchly for the Iraq war resolution. She emphasized her support of abortion rights and with help from EMILY's List and other feminist groups and from likely presidential candidates she raised far more money than Sununu. She attacked Sununu for supporting "privatization" of Social Security. He responded with an articulate advocacy of voluntary individual investment accounts as part of Social Security--"modernization", as he put it.

In late September supporters of Bob Smith launched a write-in campaign for him; eventually three different groups announced Smith write-in campaigns. Republican strategists wanted Smith to renounce them, but after the primary Smith kept busy with Senate business in Washington and did not return to New Hampshire. Three times White House political strategist Karl Rove called Smith and urged him to accompany George W. Bush to New Hampshire. But Smith wasn't interested in a last ride on Air Force One. Rove said that Smith "needed to make a decision and it could affect his future"--a not very concealed hint that the administration might find a job for him after the election. But Smith reportedly insisted on being offered a specific job--something that did not occur. In the end Smith got only 2,396 write-in votes and is now in the private sector.

The polls tightened in late October and national Democrats started to count this seat as a pickup. But the New Hampshire tax issue may have hurt Shaheen. She was on record in support of a sales tax and she was, necessarily, supporting gubernatorial nominee Mark Fernald, an outspoken advocate of an income tax. Fernald was defeated 59%-38% and Sununu defeated Shaheen 51%-47%. His margin was nearly 20,000 votes--eight times as great as the number of Smith write-ins. Elected at 38, from a mostly Republican state, Sununu may have a long Senate career ahead of him.

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DC Office
111 RSOB 20510, 202-224-2841; Fax: 202-228-4131; Web site: sununu.senate.gov

State Offices
Manchester, 603-647-7500; Portsmouth,603-430-9560.

Committees

• Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs: Housing & Transportation; International Trade & Finance; Securities & Investment.
• Commerce, Science & Transportation: Aviation; Communications; Competition, Foreign Commerce & Infrastructure; Oceans, Fisheries & Coast Guard; Science, Technology & Space.
• Foreign Relations: African Affairs; European Affairs; International Operations & Terrorism (Chmn.); Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps & Narcotics Affairs.
• Governmental Affairs: Financial Management, Budget & International Security; Government Management, Federal Workforce & the District of Columbia; Investigations (Permanent).
• Joint Economic Committee (4th of 10 Sens.).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	0	13	0	38	89	100	61	90	92	85	100
2001	0	--	0	36	--	--	69	100	92	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	33%	--	68%		35%	--	64%
Social	20%	--	69%		29%	--	71%
Foreign	21%	--	74%		29%	--	67%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights Y 3. Campaign Finance Reform N 4. Ban ANWR Development N 5. Faith-Based Charities Y 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts Y		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots Y  9. Trade Promotion Authority Y 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	John Sununu (R)	227,229	51%	$3,545,925
	Jeanne Shaheen (D)	207,478	47%	$5,821,219
	Other	12,428	3%
2002 primary	John Sununu (R)	81,920	53%
	Bob Smith (R)	68,608	45%
	Other	2,694	2%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 House (53%); 1998 House (67%); 1996 House (50%)