Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu of Rye will announce his Republican bid for the open Senate seat from New Hampshire as early as Wednesday, according to several sources close to him.

Sununu, 61, is expected to launch the campaign on social media. Close advisers said leading U.S. Senate Republicans will soon come out in support of his candidacy.

On Tuesday, Sununu was informing top New Hampshire Republicans of his imminent decision and asking if they would lend their support to coincide with his entry.

Despite the news, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, the 2014 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, insists he’ll stay in the race and says he will defeat Sununu in what would be one of the state's most high-profile Republican primaries in recent history.

“Anyone who thinks that

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