NEWFIELDS, N.H. – After eight years in workplace, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is in his remaining weeks steering New England’s solely swing state.
Sununu introduced final 12 months that he wouldn’t search an unprecedented fifth two-year time period as governor. New Hampshire and Vermont are the one two states within the nation to carry gubernatorial elections each two years.
And he’s leaving workplace on a excessive word, together with his approval rankings remaining firmly in optimistic territory.
So what’s subsequent for the 50-year-old Sununu, who eight years in the past, when first elected, was the nation’s youngest governor?
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Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is interviewed by Fox Information Digital, on July 11, 2024, in Newfields, New Hampshire. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
“I’m excited to get back to the private sector. I like businesses, I like deal sourcing,” the governor stated in a Fox Information Digital interview. “I’m not sure exactly what the private sector is going to bring, but I think it’s going to be pretty exciting.”
New Hampshire, a perennial swing state, will possible have a aggressive Senate contest in 2026 when longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, is up for re-election. And Sununu is more likely to be courted by nationwide Republicans to run for the Senate.
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However Sununu reiterated what he informed Fox Information Digital in July.
“Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card,” he stated.
However the governor predicted that Republicans will “have a good candidate. There’s no question about it. A couple of different folks that might be interested in running. I think that’d be fantastic. We’ve had an all-Democrat [congressional] delegation for a long time. I think the people in the state… would love a different voice, would love just some sort of change.”
Sununu, one of many extra recognizable governors nationwide because of his common appearances the previous few years on the Sunday discuss exhibits and cable information networks, mulled a Republican presidential nomination run earlier than asserting a 12 months and a half in the past that he wouldn’t search the White Home in 2024.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu speaks at a information convention on Nov. 15, 2023, on the Statehouse in Harmony, New Hampshire. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Requested if there’s one other run for workplace in his future, the governor stated he’s “not thinking about that at all, excited for the private sector. And that’s all… that’s in my windshield.”
However he didn’t solely shut the door, including, “We’ll see what political chapters write themselves down the road.”
Sununu shall be succeeded as New Hampshire governor by Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, a fellow Republican and former state legal professional normal and former U.S. senator.
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The governor was a high surrogate on the marketing campaign path and on the airwaves for Ayotte, who pledged to proceed the Sununu agenda.
Requested if Ayotte’s almost 9 and half level win over former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, the Democratic Occasion gubernatorial nominee, was additionally a victory for him, Sununu stated, “It was a victory for New Hampshire.”
Gov-elect Kelly Ayotte and Gov. Chris Sununu meet within the Statehouse in Harmony on Nov. 7, 2024. (Workplace of New Hampshire governor)
“Kelly’s going to be phenomenal. She has that experience as an attorney general, as U.S. senator. She understands how the systems work,” Sununu emphasised. “Our transition is already going incredibly smoothly; discussions virtually every single day about all aspects of government, where it’s going, how to build good teams and, most importantly… the opportunities to listen to what’s happening in the communities.”
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Requested if he’d offer recommendation to his successor, Sununu stated “she’ll have my cell number. I don’t know if she’ll need it, because I think she’s going to be fantastic on her own, but she’ll always have my cell number.”
Sununu pointed to John Lynch and now-Sen. Maggie Hassan, his Democratic predecessors as governor, who Sununu stated shared their cellphone numbers with him. He famous, “We want New Hampshire to be successful. So, it’s not just me helping Kelly out. It is always a team effort. She’s going to have a host of people that she can lean on for any advice when she needs it.”
