Chris Sununu Leans Into the White House Race

Chris Sununu is accelerating plans to run for president, with close allies telling The Dispatch the New Hampshire governor wants to seek the Republican nomination and is exploring avenues for mounting a viable 2024 campaign.

In telephone calls and in-person meetings, Sununu is pitching a potential White House bid to wealthy Republican donors in New Hampshire who have backed his four gubernatorial campaigns—and to top GOP financiers across the country. The response is encouraging the governor to move forward. Sununu’s political operation has conducted polling to test messaging and political competitiveness with Republican voters and is holding conversations with prospective campaign staff in the key, early primary states. 

If he runs, Sununu would enter the contest no later than June 30, he says.

“I think he’s got the intent to run, he’s just not ready to formally announce it,” said Tom Boucher, a Sununu donor in Bedford, New Hampshire, and chief executive officer of a local restaurant group.