Current:Home > MarketsNew Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he won't run for president in 2024-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he won't run for president in 2024
View Date:2024-12-24 22:14:33
Washington — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday that he will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, bowing out as the field of GOP hopefuls grows.
Sununu announced his decision in an interview with CNN and op-ed in the Washington Post, where he wrote that the "stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote," a reference to former President Donald Trump's margin in the 2016 New Hampshire primary.
"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.
He warned that Republicans who jump into the 2024 presidential race should not do so to "further a vanity campaign" or try-out for the position of Trump's vice president. Any GOP candidate who does not have a path to victory should exit the race by Christmas, Sununu told CNN.
The New Hampshire governor predicted that if Trump wins the Republican presidential nomination again, it will ensure a GOP loss in 2024.
"It's somebody who is in the past. He served the country. Thank you for your service," Sununu told CNN. "We have to be a party and a country that goes forward, and if we're only talking about Donald Trump, then we're only talking bout relitigating elections and Jan. 6, we're only talking about yesterday."
The governor, a frequent critic of Trump, had been weighing whether to enter the presidential race, and said last week he would finalize a decision within days. While Sununu said he had money and support lined up, crucial to his decision was whether "it's right for the party and right for me," he said in his earlier interview with CNN's "State of the Union."
He had been positioning himself as a candidate who would put forth a vision of optimism and leadership, telling "Face the Nation" in February that he believed the American people had grown tired of "extreme candidates" and partisan gridlock.
"You got to be able to deliver, and you got to, hopefully, be inspirational and hopeful as opposed to all this negativity you see," he said.
Sununu also urged Republicans in his February interview to set aside fights over culture war issues, advice he reiterated in his Washington Post op-ed. Focusing on policies that are "solely made for social media headlines," like banning books or ordering local school districts to change their curriculum, and pushing nationwide abortion bans are alienating key voting blocs and risk pushing them away from the GOP, he wrote.
"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," he wrote.
Sununu's reference to book bans and control over local school districts appears to be directed at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who launched his presidential campaign last month. DeSantis signed bills last year designed to allow parents to challenge the books in school libraries and banning references to critical race theory in public schools. He also signed legislation that prohibits classroom discussion or instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to third grade.
Sununu was elected to a fourth term as governor of New Hampshire last November.
While the 2024 presidential election remains more than a year away, the field of Republicans vying for the nomination has ballooned in recent weeks. Seven other GOP candidates have joined Trump, who announced his first White House run in November: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are also expected to jump into the race.
veryGood! (16325)
Related
- The Fate of Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager's Today Fourth Hour Revealed
- Ohio Senate Contest Features Two Candidates Who Profess Love for Natural Gas
- A stolen Christopher Columbus letter found in Delaware returns to Italy decades later
- Activists Are Suing Texas Over Its Plan to Expand Interstate 35, Saying the Project Is Bad for Environmental Justice and the Climate
- Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Dating His Friend Amid Their Divorce
- Temptation Island's New Gut-Wrenching Twist Has One Islander Freaking Out
- In 'Someone Who Isn't Me,' Geoff Rickly recounts the struggles of some other singer
- For the Third Time, Black Residents in Corpus Christi’s Hillcrest Neighborhood File a Civil Rights Complaint to Fend Off Polluting Infrastructure
- She's a trans actress and 'a warrior.' Now, this 'Emilia Pérez' star could make history.
- Vibrating haptic suits give deaf people a new way to feel live music
Ranking
- Oklahoma school district adding anti-harassment policies after nonbinary teen’s death
- From no bank to neobank
- SAG-AFTRA agrees to contract extension with studios as negotiations continue
- An Environmental Group Challenges a Proposed Plastics ‘Advanced Recycling’ Plant in Pennsylvania
- New Mexico secretary of state says she’s experiencing harassment after the election
- Legacy admissions, the Russian Ruble and Final Fantasy XVI
- Ryan Gosling Gives Eva Mendes a Sweet Shoutout With Barbie Premiere Look
- Oil Companies Are Eying Federal Climate Funds to Expand Hydrogen Production. Will Their Projects Cut Emissions?
Recommendation
-
Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
-
Texas Oil and Gas Agency Investigating 5.4 Magnitude Earthquake in West Texas, the Largest in Three Decades
-
The EV Battery Boom Is Here, With Manufacturers Investing Billions in Midwest Factories
-
What to know about the drug price fight in those TV ads
-
Fire crews gain greater control over destructive Southern California wildfire
-
Reddit says new accessibility tools for moderators are coming. Mods are skeptical
-
U.S. is barred from combating disinformation on social media. Here's what it means
-
Kelsea Ballerini Shares Insight Into Chase Stokes Romance After S--tstorm Year