John E. Sununu

John Edward Sununu (born September 10, 1964) is an American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003 and the U.S. Senate representing New Hampshire from 2003 to 2009.

Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six-year term.

He also remains the only Salvadoran American ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

A Republican, he is the son of former New Hampshire Governor and former White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, and the older brother of Chris Sununu, the current governor of New Hampshire.

Sununu earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1987, respectively.

He earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1991.

After graduating, he worked in the high-tech industry, at one time for the company of Dean Kamen and as a management consultant for PRTM.

Sununu strongly supported greater access to firearms, voting against the proposed renewal of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004.

In 1996, incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Bill Zeliff decided to run for Governor of New Hampshire.

Sununu narrowly defeated Democrat Joe Keefe.

In 1998, he won re-election with 67% of the vote beating Democrat Peter Flood.

In 1999, New Hampshire's Christian Coalition gave "pro-family" awards to both New Hampshire Representatives, Sununu and Charles Bass, honoring the vote by both men to impeach President Bill Clinton.

In 2000, he won re-election defeating Democrat Martha Fuller Clark with 53% of the vote.

On November 8, 2000, the Boston Globe noted Sununu's defeat of Democratic newcomer Martha Fuller Clark, noting that Sununu had "one of the House's most conservative voting records"—opposing abortion and increased minimum wages while favoring school vouchers and the death penalty.

He earned a 100% rating from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste.

He has also been presented the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the "Guardian of Small Business Award" by the National Federation of Independent Business, and the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" by the Americans for Tax Reform.

He served on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees.

He held subcommittee seats on the Veterans Administration-Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, the Treasury Postal Subcommittee, and the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee, and also served as a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

In 2002, Sununu ran for a United States Senate seat from New Hampshire.

In the Republican primary, he defeated the Republican incumbent Bob Smith 54%–45%.

In the November election, he subsequently defeated Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen 51%–46%.

The election was marred by members of the Republican Party who organized the 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal which disrupted Democratic efforts.

In a rematch, Shaheen defeated Sununu 52% to 45%.

She won every county but Carroll, Belknap, and Rockingham counties.

However, he broke with his party on prominent issues, joining Democrats in filibusters of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bush Administration's 2003 energy bill.

In 2006, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

He strongly opposed amnesty for illegal aliens, voting against the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill in July 2007.

Sununu called for a tougher federal regulator for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), he filed a dramatic overhaul of regulation of the insurance industry.

A long proponent of technology, in January 2007, Sununu called for a permanent ban on taxes of Internet connections and online sales.

In 2008, Sununu lost his re-election bid to former governor Jeanne Shaheen.

Sununu, one of eight siblings, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Nancy (née Hayes) and former Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu.

His father's paternal ancestors came to the United States from the Middle East around the start of the 20th century, while his paternal grandmother was an immigrant from El Salvador, born to a prominent Salvadoran family of Lebanese, Hispanic and Greek descent who were Greek Orthodox Christians.

His father's paternal ancestry is Lebanese and Greek, both from the Greek Orthodox communities in Jerusalem, making him a Palestinian-American and the first one in Congress.

Despite the family's emigration from Jerusalem, some members of the family were from Beirut.

His father's maternal ancestry was Greek and Hispanic.

His father, John, was born in Havana, Cuba.

His paternal grandfather, also named John, was born in the United States, and most of the last two generations of Sununus were also born in the United States.

His mother's ancestors include immigrants from Ireland, as well as Scotland and England.

Sununu slightly outperformed Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 national election, as McCain got about 45% of the vote but did not win any counties.

According to a Washington Post study, Sununu voted with the Republican Party's position 84% of the time.