MAGA Candidate John Sununu Wins New Hampshire GOP Primary as Epstein Email's 'Good Stories' Line Resurfaces

John Sununu is New Hampshire's Republican nominee for the US Senate, but a four-word reference in a 2010 Jeffrey Epstein email continues to shadow his campaign.

The former senator defeated rival Scott Brown in Tuesday's primary, propelled by an endorsement from President Donald Trump and a famous family name. Yet even as he claimed victory, questions kept circling back to a 2010 email from Epstein that mentioned a 'John Sununu' as having 'good stories'.

Sununu now heads into a November face-off with Democratic Representative Chris Pappas carrying both a commanding primary victory and an unresolved controversy.

Sununu Routs Brown To Claim GOP Nomination

Sununu, 62, defeated Brown on 8 September 2026, taking roughly 68 per cent of the vote to Brown's 26.9 per cent, according to results reported by NBC News and Outlook India from Associated Press tallies. The Associated Press called the race within an hour of polls closing.

Sununu, whose father and brother both served as New Hampshire governors, previously represented the state in the US House before serving in the Senate from 2003 to 2009, when he lost his re-election bid to Jeanne Shaheen. Her retirement after three terms opened the seat Sununu is now seeking to reclaim.

Trump endorsed Sununu in February 2026 despite friction dating to 2024, when Sununu backed Nikki Haley and called Trump a 'loser'. Brown, a former Massachusetts senator and Trump-appointed ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, tried running to Sununu's right but could not close the gap, per New Hampshire Bulletin.

On the Democratic side, Pappas, 46, defeated Democratic socialist challenger Karishma Manzur with roughly 64 per cent of the vote, NBC News projected, setting up a battleground contest.

The Email That Will Not Go Away

At the centre of the campaign's most persistent storyline is a single line buried in roughly 3.5 million pages of documents released by the US Department of Justice, in an exchange between Epstein and his associate, biotech investor Boris Nikolic.

According to NH Journal, which reviewed the four-email thread, Epstein wrote to Nikolic shortly after 1:30am on 29 May 2010, suggesting they strategise about people Nikolic should meet at the upcoming Doha conference.

Nikolic replied about an hour later, delayed by a flight, saying there were 'not many interesting people' at the event. Epstein responded that Nikolic was 'the most interesting person there', adding: 'john sununu, has good stories.'

The Sununu campaign has disputed the mention, calling it 'a complete fabrication by someone proven to be a compulsive liar' and insisting 'neither John nor his father ever met or communicated in any way with Boris Nikolic or Jeffrey Epstein'.

As the Keene Sentinel has noted, it remains unclear whether the email refers to the candidate or his father, former Governor John H Sununu.

The controversy escalated in July 2026 after Sununu's campaign clarified his earlier denial of ever visiting Doha, following images produced by the Keene Sentinel placing him at the 2010 World Economic Forum summit referenced in the exchange.

Separately, travel records show Sununu visited Doha from 7 to 12 April 2001 with a congressional delegation that met Qatari royal and future prime minister Hamad bin Jasem. Together, the 2001 and 2010 visits undercut Sununu's on-camera claim that he had never been to Qatar.

Brown's allies seized on the issue during the primary. A $130,000 mailer funded by a pro-Brown political action committee showed a screenshot of the email and asked voters: 'Why would a Sununu show up in the files...?' Brown told the outlet he 'had nothing to do with' the mailer, but Sununu still beat him by more than 40 points.

The Fight for November

The Epstein reference has not stayed confined to the Republican primary. Democratic California Representative Ro Khanna used a July visit to New Hampshire to call on Sununu to 'come clean' about questions surrounding the Epstein email, according to Granite Post News, signalling the issue will likely feature in Democratic attacks through November.

Pappas has pivoted towards the general election, attacking Sununu in mid-August and asking voters at his primary-night event whether they are living in Trump's 'golden age'.

Republicans have countered through One Nation, a conservative group aligned with the Senate Leadership Fund, which launched adverts attacking Pappas over his 2021 vote for a sweeping climate and social-spending measure.

New Hampshire has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 2010, but Granite State voters have shown a willingness to split tickets.

With control of the Senate potentially hanging on a handful of races, both campaigns have substantial financial resources ahead of 3 November. Neither Sununu nor his father has been shown, through any document made public so far, to have met or corresponded with Epstein, but the four words in a 2010 email remain a political issue for the candidate.