CONCORD, N.H. – In what may be a prelude to a 2024 Presidential run, this week a political committee supporting New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu took out Facebook ads in the early presidential primary nomination states of Iowa and South Carolina.
Sununu was re-elected to his fourth term as New Hampshire’s governor in November, the first person to do so other than Democrat John Lynch earlier in the 21st Century and Revolutionary War era figures John Langdon and John Taylor Gilman.
In a nationally televised interview last week on CNN, he said that he is not currently running, but said that the Republican Party must move on from former President Donald Trump. He added that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could possible defeat Trump for Republican nomination, but was unsure.
In a recent interview with WMUR, he said he was not thinking about it right now, but did not rule anything out.
Late last month, he also told the Republican Jewish Coalition that the Republican Party needs to move on from supporting “unelectable candidates”.
After news of the ad buy was released, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said that Sununu’s focus was on making a national profile rather than serving New Hampshire residents.
“After a disastrous election night for New Hampshire Republicans, which shows Sununu’s closing margins and inability to lead his party to victory, it’s clear that the only thing driving him towards a 2024 run is his ego,” said Buckley. “He’s failing here at home, and he’ll fail on the national stage just as quickly.”
The political committee, Friends of Chris Sununu, received $2,163,416.65 and spent $1,650,967.03 during the 2022 general election in a campaign finance report filed with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office on Nov. 16 and amended on Nov. 21.