'Not doing anything': GOP governor offers damning reason why he refused to enter NH Senate race
19 January 2022
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) was previously one of the Republican Party's top potential Senate candidates for the upcoming 2020 Senate midterm election. In fact, he initially entertained the idea of entering the race until he learned what his actual Senate role would be.
Speaking to The Washington Examiner, Sununu said he made his decision not to enter the race against Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) after speaking with the vast majority of the Republican lawmakers in the Senate.
"I was pretty close,” Sununu said of entering the Senate race. “I wasn't ready to make an announcement, but I was like, 'OK, this makes sense. I think I could be a voice nationally.'”
Per Talking Points Memo:
Everything changed after the governor consulted with Republican senators about the aspects of serving on Capitol Hill and what to expect for at least the first two years on the job. Sununu did not like what he heard.
“They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren't doing anything. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years. OK, so I'm just going to be a roadblock for two years. That's not what I do,” Sununu said.
The Republican governor admitted that he was "bothered" by what he'd heard from Republican lawmakers and expressed concern about their inability to provide an answer as to why they are so content doing nothing.
“I said, ‘OK, so if we’re going to get stuff done if we win the White House back, why didn’t you do it in 2017 and 2018?’” Sununu recalled.
“Crickets. Yeah, crickets,” he said of their responses, adding, “They had no answer.”
Sununu made a similar statement last November when confirmed he no longer intended to run for the Senate. "I’d rather push myself 120 miles an hour delivering wins for New Hampshire than to slow down, end up on Capitol Hill debating partisan politics without results," Sununu said.
Speaking to the Examiner, he also explained why it is important for Republicans to be proactive instead of continuing to circulate former President Donald Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election.
“It's problematic for Republicans when any Republican harps on what might have happened in 2020 or harps on what could be in 2024. If you focus on 2020 or you focus on '24, you're going to miss '22,” Sununu said. “You're not earning a single new independent voter or new voter at all by talking about the elections of 2020. And right now, you can't govern if you don't win.”