New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday he won’t seek the GOP’s nomination for president in 2024, and urged other low-performing candidates to abandon the race by Christmas to increase the chances of defeating front-runner and former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Sununu, a critic of Mr. Trump, said he’s concerned that a large field of candidates — expected to reach 12 this week — will enable Mr. Trump to recapture the Republican nomination, as he did in 2016.
“The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote, and I will help to ensure this does not happen,” Mr. Sununu tweeted.
The decision by the four-term governor leaves wide open the GOP contest in his home state, which will hold the first primary in the nation on Feb. 13, eight months away.
Mr. Sununu said he intends to use his position as governor of the key primary state to help winnow out the GOP field as the election approaches. He said the strategy is aimed at defeating Mr. Trump.
“I can be more candid about that as the governor of the first-in-the-nation primary, calling candidates out, saying, look, you gave it a try, you’re still in low single digits, you got to get out of the race,” he said on CNN. “Given where the polls are right now, every candidate needs to understand the responsibility of getting out, and getting out quickly, if it’s not working.”
Asked for his deadline, he replied, “Christmas at the latest.”
Mr. Trump currently leads the field with 53% support in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 22%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 4.4% and former Vice President Mike Pence — who filed paperwork Monday for his candidacy — at 3.8%. No other candidate is polling above 3%.
“You obviously have a very large field. I think the former President Trump is doing much better in the polls than folks thought,” Mr. Sununu said. “If we do what we did in 2016, you’re going to have somebody win this nomination with 35% of the Republican support. That’s not where we should be as a party. If you’re not talking in resonance against the candidate who’s right now winning by 20 or 30 points, then you’re just potentially auditioning to be on his team. There’s absolutely no place for that.”
His sentiment was echoed by former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who retired last year after a series of high-profile clashes with Mr. Trump.
“I’d like to say that Governor Sununu not running is good news,” Mr. Kinzinger tweeted. “He’s a good man, but more people need to take a pass. This is looking like 2016 all over. Sununu will do better campaigning for not Trump.”
Mr. Sununu, a four-term governor, said Mr. Trump cannot win the presidency next year. He said nominating Mr. Trump will result in a second term for President Biden.
“The math has shown Donald Trump has no chance of winning in November of ’24. He won’t even win Georgia,” Mr. Sununu said. “If you’re a Republican that can’t win Georgia on November ’24, you have no shot. And he’s proven that. His messaging doesn’t translate. It does well with a hardcore 30, 35% base, but he loses everybody beyond there. And no one is undecided about the former president. He’s a known commodity. So, if Republicans nominate him, then we’re saying a vote for him in the primary is effectively a vote for Joe Biden. I mean, that’s ultimately how the math will play out.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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