New Hampshire GOP fails to win Senate endorsement — from their last Senate nominee

Don Bolduc, the Trump-backed Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire in 2022, is supporting Democrat Chris Pappas over Republican John E. Sununu just weeks before the election, the Union Leader reported.

Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who went back and forth on 2020 election denial, is heading a group of Republicans and independents who are backing Pappas. It includes former state Sen. Rick Russman and Concord lawyer James Steiner, both with histories of supporting well-known Democrats. In a statement, Bolduc pointed to Pappas’ focus on veterans and his record of working across the aisle.

He has no known quarrel with John Sununu himself, but the Union Leader suggests his move may reflect the feud with Sununu’s brother, former Gov. Chris Sununu. In 2021, Bolduc called Chris Sununu a “Chinese communist sympathizer.” Sununu called Bolduc “not a serious candidate” and endorsed his primary rival. Bolduc won the nomination but lost to Sen. Maggie Hassan by 9 points, a result many in his orbit pin partly on Chris Sununu.

Other Pappas supporters include Sarah Stewart, who served under Chris Sununu as a state commissioner. She said she’s been a Republican her whole adult life but changed her registration to Undeclared this year, and that John Sununu once called Trump a loser and now runs as his pick. Russman said the “MAGA machine” doesn’t represent the party he grew up in.

Pappas said he’s been rated one of the most bipartisan members of the House and is grateful for support across party and ideological lines.

The Sununu campaign pushed back, saying Pappas voted with Nancy Pelosi on nearly every vote when she was speaker, 222 of 223, and criticized his plan to campaign with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.