Former Senator John E. Sununu, a member of a prominent Republican political dynasty, is considering a run to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat after months of courtship from party leaders, according to four people familiar with the planning conversations who were not authorized to discuss them.
Mr. Sununu is likely to announce an exploratory effort as early as this week, two of the people said, though officials cautioned that Mr. Sununu, 60, has not yet made up his mind about running. He has been in touch with Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, as well as former Senator Cory Gardner, who recently stepped down as chairman of the leading Senate Republican super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund.
White House officials also see Mr. Sununu as a potentially strong candidate, according to two people briefed on their thinking.
The recruitment effort has included polling on the race commissioned by national Republicans for Mr. Sununu after Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the Democratic incumbent, announced earlier this year that she was retiring, according to a person with knowledge of the survey.
Mr. Sununu did not respond to a request for comment. A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Sununu is not the model of a typical candidate in Mr. Trump’s Make American Great Again movement. He has been out of office for more than 15 years — his Senate term ended in 2009 — and he last posted on the social media site X in 2016, the month before Mr. Trump took office.
But Mr. Trump has been unusually focused on winning in the 2026 midterms, and the Sununu name has long been a formidable one in New Hampshire.
His father served as governor. His older brother, Chris Sununu, served four terms as governor before earlier this year deciding against a run for the Senate seat. Mr. Trump had attempted to woo the popular former governor into the race, despite Chris Sununu having vocally criticized the president in the past.
The news outlet NOTUS earlier reported Mr. Sununu’s interest in a possible bid.
On the Democratic side, Representative Chris Pappas is considered the front-runner to replace Ms. Shaheen.
Republicans are eager to field a strong candidate in the state in order to put another Democratic-held seat in play next year in what many in the party expect will be a tough political environment. Mr. Trump’s political operation is intent on making Democrats expend resources.
Notably, Mr. Sununu would not be the only former senator in the Republican primary. Former Senator Scott Brown, who represented neighboring Massachusetts, is running. Another candidate is state Senator Dan Innis, who has served as chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans, the gay conservative organization.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee declined to comment.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Shane Goldmacher is a Times national political correspondent.
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