New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s decision not to run for the U.S. Senate is big news, but the Granite State is still a winnable race for Republicans looking to reclaim the majority next year.
The Tuesday announcement from Sununu, a popular three-term governor, that he will seek re-election to a fourth term, is a temporary setback to GOP plans to defeat Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.
Sununu had been national Republicans’ number one recruiting target this cycle, and was the subject of a full court press from GOP leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott, and even former President Donald Trump, who encouraged him to run for Senate over the summer. He didn’t give GOP leadership a heads up before his announcement, but had told at least one Republican senator several weeks ago that he didn’t plan to take on Hassan.
In a cycle where the national party has struggled to recruit top tier challengers in states such as Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, the prospect of a run by Sununu, who just won a landslide victory last fall even as Joe Biden carried the state by 8 points, was a bright spot for Republicans. Had he entered the fray, he would have started out as a slight favorite who would have won the election had it been held today (the actual election, of course, is not for another year).
Though Sununu’s decision deprives Republicans of their best possible candidate, it doesn’t mean that New Hampshire won’t be a Senate battleground next year. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan’s approval rating is unimpressive, and Biden’s slumping numbers proved to be a drag on Democratic candidates up and down the ballot last Tuesday night, when Republicans scored...