New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu Says ‘No’ to 2024 Presidential Run

🔴 Governor Chris Sununu has said 'no' to a second potential big election

🔴 He sounded all but ready to run as recently as Memorial Day weekend

🔴 Sununu said he can better help determine the best GOP candidate as governor

After months of speculation, Governor Chris Sununu has decided he will not make a run for President in 2024.

Sununu made the announcement on CNN and in a Washington Post column posted early Monday afternoon.

"The path to winning was clear, but I believe I can have more influence on the future of the Republican Party and the 2024 nominating process not as a candidate but as the governor of the first-in-the-nation primary state — a governor who is unafraid to speak candidly about issues, candidates and the direction of our party, untethered from the limitations of a presidential campaign and unleashed from conventional boundaries," Sununu wrote in the Post.

Will fight against Trump as nominee

In the op-ed, Sununu said that Republicans will lose in 2024 if Donald Trump is the nominee.

"This is indisputable, and I am not willing to let it happen without a fight," Sununu wrote.

Sununu said he will "endorse, campaign and support" the candidate that has the best chance of winning in November 2024. As the governor of New Hampshire, Sununu believes he can play a critical role in helping decide that person.

"To win, Republicans need our message to appeal to new voters, and we can do this without sacrificing classic conservative principles of individual liberty, low taxes, and local control," Sununu said.

As recently as Memorial Day, Sununu sounded like he was ready to commit to the presidential race as he has the support of his family, and would make the announcement within a week or two. He had also created a PAC that allowed him to accept unlimited donations for a possible campaign.

But as more candidates announced their intentions to run, he has apparently decided against it.

No to a second big race

SNHU Civic Scholar and founder of NH Political Capital Dean Spiliotes said he is reminded of Sunnu's decision not to run for Senate in 2022.

"His visibility on the national scene has only continued to increase since that initial decision," Spiliotes said. "Sununu also left no doubt that he will be a vocal critic of Donald Trump and will attempt to move the party away from its current MAGA base. Only time will tell whether he can make any headway with Republican and independent voters now that he is no longer considering a run."

New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley accused Sununu of teasing a presidential run to hide from his record as governor.

“No matter which 2024 MAGA primary candidate Sununu decides to prop up, the reality is there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between them and Donald Trump. All want a national abortion ban, all want to gut Social Security and Medicare as we know them, destroy education, attack LGBTQ+ communities, and ignore gun safety — and New Hampshire Democrats will continue to hold them accountable," Buckley wrote.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will enter the race on Tuesday with a town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, while former Vice President Mike Pence will announce Wednesday in Iowa.

Sununu did not disclose if he will run for a fifth term as governor.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH