Chris Sununu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chris Sununu
Sununu in 2022
82nd Governor of New Hampshire
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 2017
Preceded by	Chuck Morse (acting)
Member of the New Hampshire Executive Council from the 3rd district
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Beverly Hollingworth
Succeeded by	Russell Prescott
Personal details
Born	Christopher Thomas Sununu (1974-11-05) November 5, 1974 (age 50) Salem, New Hampshire, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Valerie Sununu ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	3
Parents	John H. Sununu (father) Nancy Sununu (mother)
Relatives	John E. Sununu (brother)
Residence	Bridges House
Education	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)

Christopher Thomas Sununu (/səˈnuːnuː/ sə-NOO-noo; born November 5, 1974) is an American politician and engineer who has served since 2017 as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire.

A Republican, Sununu is the son of former New Hampshire governor and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu and the younger brother of former U.S. representative and senator John E. Sununu. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sununu was chief executive officer of the Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire, and he served on the New Hampshire Executive Council from 2011 to 2017.

Early life and education

Sununu was born on November 5, 1974. His hometown is Salem, New Hampshire. Sununu is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H. Sununu and Nancy Sununu, the former chair of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee and First Lady of New Hampshire. He is one of eight siblings. His older brother, John E. Sununu, is a former U.S. senator and U.S. representative.

Sununu's family originates from Lebanon, though his paternal grandfather, John, was born in the United States.

Sununu graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1993. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B.S. in civil and environmental engineering in 1998. After graduating from MIT, Sununu attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts as a film student for two months.

Early career

Sununu worked as an environmental engineer designing systems and solutions for cleaning up waste sites under the supervision of licensed engineers. He specialized in soil and groundwater remediation, wastewater treatment plants, and landfill designs. In 2002, he became an "engineer in training" in California.

In 2010, Sununu led a group of investors in the buyout of Waterville Valley Resort. He worked as the resort's chief executive officer, employing over 700 people in the White Mountains region.

New Hampshire Executive Council

Sununu was an elected member of the five-member Executive Council of New Hampshire from 2011 to 2017.

At 2016 gubernatorial candidate forum: moderators Jon Huntsman Jr. (former Utah Governor, left) and Joe Lieberman (former Connecticut Senator, center left), and Republican candidate Chris Sununu (center right)

Governor of New Hampshire

Sununu was first elected governor of New Hampshire in 2016. He was reelected in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Sununu is the second governor in New Hampshire history (after John Lynch) to be elected to a fourth term. On July 19, 2023, he announced that he would not run for a fifth term.

Presidential aspirations

In January 2023, Sununu said he was considering a White House bid in 2024, but noted, "I really don't have a timeline." In March 2023, he predicted that Donald Trump was "not going to be the nominee; that's just not going to happen." In June 2023, he announced that he would not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Political positions

Sununu being interviewed on the Rich Girard radio program, February 2016

Sununu opposes New Hampshire's 5% tax on dividends and interest income. After his 2020 reelection, he called for newly elected Republican majorities in the New Hampshire House and Senate to pass a law phasing out this tax by 2026, saying that it unfairly targets senior citizens living off of these types of income and their retirement accounts. He also sought to slightly reduce other taxes, and to institute student loan relief for those going into health care and social work. Sununu has supported tax cuts for businesses and a reduction in property taxes.

Sununu supports legislation to provide state-funded "school choice vouchers to disadvantaged and low-income students"; such vouchers could be used at religious and private schools.

In his 2020 budget address, Sununu proposed the creation of the New Hampshire Department of Energy, which he said will "streamline government" and "eliminate redundancies." One focus of the department will be the development of offshore wind along New Hampshire's shoreline in the Gulf of Maine, a longstanding priority of Sununu's.

In 2019, Sununu vetoed a bill that would have banned people from carrying firearms on school property.

Official portrait, 2017

In 2017, Sununu signed Senate Bill 12, which enacted the right to carry a handgun without a permit in New Hampshire.

In 2020, Sununu joined Democrats in supporting permanent funding for conservation efforts in the U.S. and particularly in New Hampshire.

After the murder of George Floyd, Sununu established the New Hampshire Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency (LEACT). LEACT was created to examine police training and procedures and to report and investigate police misconduct and the relationship between law enforcement and New Hampshire communities. In September 2020, LEACT submitted 50 recommendations to Sununu, ranging from the creation of an independent oversight commission to review allegations of police misconduct to the recommendation that all police officers in the state wear body cameras. Sununu endorsed all the recommendations, and said he would direct the New Hampshire State Police to comply with the recommendation to use body cameras.

Personal life

In 1998, Chris Sununu completed a five-month through-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia.

Sununu met his future wife, Valerie, in college; they married in 2001. The couple and their three children, Calvin, Edith and Leonardo, live in Newfields, New Hampshire.

Sununu is an active skier and rugby player. In 1998, he completed a five-month through-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia.

Electoral history

Executive Council 1st term

In 2010, Sununu defeated incumbent Executive Councilor Beverly Hollingworth by 53,053 votes to 41,875, or 55.9% to 44.1%.

Executive Council 2nd term

In 2012, Sununu defeated Bill Duncan, 75,856 votes to 55,432, or 55.2% to 40.3%, with 4.5% going to Libertarian candidate Michael Baldassarre.

Executive Council 3rd term

In 2014, Sununu defeated Robin McLane, 61,601 votes to 38,420, or 61.6% to 38.4%.

See also

In Spanish: Chris Sununu para niños