Two days after John E. Sununu won the Republican nomination for US Senate, Democrats in Manchester argued he would rubber-stamp Donald Trump’s agenda on tariffs, the war in Iran, and Medicaid.
Two days after former US Sen. John E. Sununu won the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat, state Democrats gathered in Manchester on Thursday for a stop on what the New Hampshire Democratic Party calls its “Stop Sununu Tour,” arguing he would be a reliable vote for President Donald Trump on tariffs, the war in Iran, and healthcare cuts.
“On Tuesday, Donald Trump got his guy in New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race when John Sununu became the Republican nominee,” said state Rep. Patricia Cornell (D-Manchester). She was joined by Leonard Bell, a retired Navy veteran and the Democratic nominee for state Senate District 18, and state Rep. Judi Lanza (D-Goffstown).
Cornell pointed to clips in which Sununu, endorsed by Trump in February, called the race “important to President Trump’s agenda” and said he would “absolutely” campaign with him.
Sununu has said he backs Trump’s tariffs and has called their impact “very modest,” Cornell said, but…. A University of New Hampshire poll released Sept. 3 found 78% of Granite Staters say their cost of living rose over the past year, with gasoline and groceries cited most often.
Granite Post reported in April that Sununu backed Trump’s economic agenda while holding stock in food and retail companies that raised prices.
Bell cited an August report from congressional Democrats estimating the Iran war has cost Americans an extra $71.5 billion in gasoline, about $722 per New Hampshire household, and noted Sununu owns stock in Exxon Mobil and Shell, as Granite Post reported in May. “While John Sununu defends this reckless war, his oil stocks have surged,” Bell said.
Lanza said the Republican budget law Trump signed last year could push 14,000 to 29,000 Granite Staters off Medicaid and has already closed a Franconia clinic, while Sununu said Republicans “did the right thing” by passing it.
In the Senate, Sununu voted to cut Medicare 13 times and cast a tie-breaking vote against letting Medicare negotiate drug prices, then joined Akin Gump, a lobbying firm with drug industry clients.
“Whether it’s being a rubber stamp for Donald Trump or Big Pharma or both, Sununu’s health care positions are out of touch with Granite Staters,” she said.
