Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire will not run for reelection, according to a letter he wrote to supporters made public on Wednesday.
Sununu, who has served as the state’s governor since 2017, was reelected four times in a state that has trended Democratic in recent years — with both of its U.S. Senators being Democrats and with a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+1. Sununu announced that he decided against running for a fifth term after consulting with his family, indicating that he is retiring from elected office, according to a report by WMUR 9 News, a local ABC affiliate.
“This was no easy decision as I truly love serving as governor,” wrote Sununu in his letter. “Public service should never be a career, and the time is right for another Republican to lead our great state,” he added.
Under Sununu’s leadership, Republicans have maintained narrow majorities in both chambers of the New Hampshire General Court. The state has remained in Republican control despite voting for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and, by a narrow margin, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Sununu’s decision places him among moderate Republican governors declining to seek reelection in Democratic state since Trump’s emergence as a leading Republican figure. The others are former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland.
Sununu comes from a political family with a strong reputation in the state. His father, John H. Sununu, was the Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush, while his brother, John E. Sununu, was the U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 2003 to 2009.
Sununu, himself, had considered running for the Senate in 2022 after being widely encouraged to do so by national Republicans. He opted against it, with Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan winning reelection.
Sununu had also declined to run for president as a Republican for the 2024 election, saying that he believed he could be a more “candid voice” about the Republican Party and former President Donald Trump, whom he has criticized, as a non-candidate.
Several top Republicans are reportedly considering running for governor in 2024, such as former Senator Kelly Ayotte, who lost reelection to Hassan in 2016, state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, who narrowly lost the Republican primary to Sununu in 2016, and former state Senate President Chuck Morse, who lost the Republican Senate primary to Don Bolduc in 2022, according to the WMUR report.
Sununu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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