New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Sunday that he believes “there’s a pathway to win” the GOP presidential nomination and will decide “in the next week or two” whether he’ll run in 2024.
“When I start doing something, I’m 120% in,” Sununu said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “Pretty soon, we’ll make a decision, probably in the next week or two. And we’ll either be go or no-go.”
The remarks come after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., formally declared their presidential candidacies last week, officially challenging the front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
“The money has been lined up, the support’s been lined up. There’s a pathway to win. All that – those boxes are checked. The family’s on board, which is always a big one. I just got to make sure it’s right for the party and right for me,” Sununu, serving his fourth term as New Hampshire governor, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
DeSantis, whose long-anticipated announcement was marred by tech problems on Twitter, raised $8.2 million in the 24 hours since entering the race Thursday night, his campaign confirmed. That massive sum far exceeded the amount raised by President Joe Biden over the same period.
DeSantis formally launched his campaign Wednesday night during an online conversation with Twitter owner Elon Musk. But the audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time.
On Thursday, the Republican governor announced plans for a three-state blitz next week featuring at least a dozen stops. He is scheduled to campaign Tuesday and Wednesday in Iowa before a trip to New Hampshire on Thursday, and South Carolina on Friday.
“We are laser-focused on taking Gov. DeSantis’ forward-thinking message for restoring America to every potential voter in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said. “Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states. No one will work harder than Gov. DeSantis to share his vision with the country – he has only begun to fight.”
DeSantis is casting himself as the only legitimate Republican rival to Trump in the GOP’s crowded primary race, The former president currently holds a big lead in early polls along with a firm grip on a significant portion of the GOP’s passionate base. Yet Trump is plagued by his own baggage, which includes multiple legal threats and a fixation on his 2020 election loss.
Sununu has teased a 2024 presidential campaign for months, and has said he will likely decide in the early summer, following the conclusion of New Hampshire’s current legislative session and the signing of the state’s next two-year budget. Sununu supported Trump during the 2016 general election and again as the then-president unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 2020. The governor had a strong working relationship with the Trump White House, including close ties with Vice President Mike Pence.
However, Sununu has long pushed back against Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen.” He also started stating in early 2021 that the GOP is larger than any one person.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
