A moderate Republican governor is sitting out the 2024 presidential primary.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who was seen as a potential candidate, sat down for an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Monday and shared his decision not to run for president.
“I’ve made the decision not to run for president on the Republican ticket for 2024,” Sununu said.
He added, “It’s been quite an adventure, but not the end of the adventure by any means.”
When asked why he will not run, the governor explained, “You obviously have a very large field. The former president, Trump, is doing much better in the polls than folks thought.”
Additionally, he argued he would have a “little more of an unleashed voice” to influence the race if he did not run.
“I am tired of losing U.S. Senate races and governor’s races,” Sununu added.
He also stated he does not mind the size of the field, but urged the candidates to carefully consider their poll numbers and not stay in the race too long:
“Given where the polls are right now, every candidate needs to understand the responsibility of getting out and getting out quickly if it’s not working. And I can be more candid about that as the governor of the first in the nation primary, calling candidates out saying, ‘Look, you gave it a try. You’re still in the low single digits, you gotta get outta the race.'”
When asked when candidates with low poll numbers should drop out, Sununu suggested Christmas as the deadline.
Watch the video below:
#BREAKING: Chris Sununu announces he will NOT be running for president, telling @DanaBashCNN there's "a very large field" and candidates need to be "call[ed]…out" when they're in the single digits and splitting the non-Trump vote.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 5, 2023
He adds many will need to quit by Christmas. pic.twitter.com/ZgwrSWHDK6
The governor also argued former President Donald Trump cannot win the general election as he said, “He can’t win in November of ’24.”
“The math has shown Donald Trump has no chance of winning in November of ’24. He won’t even win Georgia… His messaging doesn’t translate. It does well with a hardcore 30-35% base, but he loses everybody beyond there. And no one is undecided about the former president,” Sununu continued, adding, “So if Republicans nominate him… a vote for him in the primary is effectively a vote for Joe Biden.”
Sununu’s comments come the same day former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork to run for president.
Meanwhile, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are expected to announce campaigns for president this week as well.
As of Monday afternoon, FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregator found the former president with a commanding lead over the Republican presidential primary field, receiving, 53.9% of the vote.
