NEWFIELDS, NH – After eight years in office, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is in his final weeks leading New England’s only swing state.
Sununu announced last year that he would not seek an unprecedented fifth two-year term as governor. New Hampshire and Vermont are the only two states in the country to hold gubernatorial elections every two years.
And he leaves office on a high note, with his approval rating remaining firmly in positive territory.
So what’s next for Sununu, 50, who eight years ago, when he was first elected, was the country’s youngest governor?
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Republican Governor Chris Sununu is interviewed by Fox News Digital, July 11, 2024, in Newfields, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“I’m excited to get back into the private sector. I love business, I love contract tracing,” the governor said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “I don’t know 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 likely have a competitive Senate contest in 2026 when longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, is up for re-election. And Sununu will likely be courted by national Republicans to run for Senate.
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But Sununu reiterated what he told Fox News Digital in July.
“I’m definitely ruling out running for Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card,” he said.
But the governor predicted that Republicans “will have a good candidate.” There is no doubt about it. A few different people might be interested in showing up. I think it would be fantastic. We had an all-Democratic candidate. [congressional] delegation for a long time. I think people in the state…would like to have a different voice, would just like some kind of change. »
Sununu, one of the nation’s most recognizable governors thanks to his regular appearances in recent years on Sunday talk shows and cable news networks, mulled a Republican presidential bid before announcing It has been a year and a half since he would run for the position of white president. House in 2024.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu speaks during a news conference November 15, 2023 at the Statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
When asked if there would be another run for office in the future, the governor said he “wasn’t thinking about it at all, he was excited about the private sector. And it “That’s it…it’s in my windshield.”
But he did not completely close the door, adding: “We will see what political chapters are written later.”
Sununu will be replaced as New Hampshire governor by Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, a fellow Republican and former state attorney general and former U.S. senator.
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The governor was a top surrogate on the campaign trail and on the airwaves for Ayotte, who pledged to continue Sununu’s agenda.
When asked if Ayotte’s nearly nine-and-a-half point victory over former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was also a victory for him, Sununu responded: ” It was a victory for New Hampshire.”
Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte and Governor Chris Sununu meet at the Statehouse in Concord on November 7, 2024. (New Hampshire Governor’s Office)
“Kelly is going to be phenomenal. She has this experience as an attorney general and a United States senator. She understands how the systems work,” Sununu emphasized. “Our transition is already going incredibly well: discussions virtually every day about every aspect of government, where it’s going, how to build good teams, and most importantly… opportunities to listen to what’s happening in communities.
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Asked if he would offer advice to his successor, Sununu said “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 “I will always have my cell number.”
Sununu pointed the finger at John Lynch and now Sen. Maggie Hassan, his Democratic predecessors as governor, who Sununu said shared cell phone numbers with him. He noted, “We want New Hampshire to succeed. So it’s not just me helping Kelly. It’s always a team effort. She’ll have a multitude of people she can lean on to get advice when she needs it.”
