On the trail: Gov. Sununu takes a concrete step toward running for president

By PAUL STEINHAUSER

For the Monitor

Published: 02-09-2023 5:23 PM

Gov. Chris Sununu has been saying for weeks that he’s “having conversations” and “definitely thinking about” a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

As those conversations continue during a four-day swing through the nation’s capital, Sununu just took his most concrete step yet toward a run for president by launching a national public advocacy group titled the “Live Free or Die” committee.

The nonprofit organization allows the popular GOP governor, who last November easily won a fourth two-year term steering New Hampshire, to raise unlimited funds and he doesn’t have to disclose its donors. Established as a 501(c)(4), such organizations are frequently used by potential presidential candidates as a way to get their message out and gauge interest in their possible campaigns from the donor class.

Other potential Republican White House candidates such as former Vice President Mike Pence, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley – who’s expected to declare her candidacy next week – have already formed similar nonprofit groups.

“I’m excited to talk about the successes that we’ve had in New Hampshire: lowering taxes, creating educational choices for parents and kids, and building opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive,” Sununu said in a statement. “What we’ve done in New Hampshire is a great model for the federal government — specifically promoting the conservative tenets of limited government, local control, and individual responsibility.”

Sununu, 48, told this reporter earlier this year that “a lot of folks are coming to me. A lot of folks want me to run. It’s definitely conversations that we’re having.”

He’s continuing to have those conversations this week in Washington D.C. as Sununu is officially in the nation’s capital to attend the National Governors Association’s annual meeting and a separate gathering of the Republican Governors Association.

On Wednesday night, as he kicked off his Washington D.C. trip, he attended a gathering of roughly 50 people interested in the possibility of a Sununu 2024 presidential campaign.

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The governor – who’s long been a regular guest on the Sunday talk shows and cable news networks – has picked up the pace of his appearances since November’s elections. This weekend he’ll be sitting down for at least a half dozen national television interviews while in Washington D.C.

In an interview Thursday with Politico, Sununu pushed back against descriptions of him as a moderate Republican.

“I’m ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country,” Sununu said. “I’m No. 1 in personal freedoms.”

“I would challenge anyone on Second Amendment rights. We’re far and away the best, you know, because we believe in those individual freedoms. Regulatory reform, I’ll challenge any state on it,” Sununu added.

And while he acknowledged that he might be “more moderate” on social issues than many other potential 2024 Republican contenders, he said “I would challenge anyone on conservative credentials.”

The governor’s traveled across the country in recent years to advertise the achievements he’s delivered in New Hampshire. The trips have contributed to the 2024 buzz surrounding Sununu. Those visits continue in the coming weeks.

Sununu will be in Florida next week as the invited guest of the Naples Republican Club. The governor’s office says Sununu was invited “to share New Hampshire’s record of success and he looks forward to speaking with a great group of Republicans in Florida.”

The following week, Sununu will travel to Austin, Texas, as one of the invited guests at a private retreat for GOP donors at a gathering organized and hosted by veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove, who served as former President George W. Bush’s top political adviser.

Among the other potential 2024 Republican presidential contenders scheduled to speak at the conference are Pence, Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Haley headed to New Hampshire

Haley’s expected to launch her presidential campaign on Wednesday at an event in Charleston, South Carolina.

On Thursday she’ll kick off a three-day swing through New Hampshire, which holds the second contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

She’ll host a gathering at Exeter’s historic town hall on Thursday, Feb. 16. Exeter and Ripon, Wisconsin both claim to be the birthplace of the GOP. Exeter’s town hall has long been a must-stop for presidential candidates of both parties.

The next evening, Haley will visit another must-stop for White House hopefuls and contenders – when she holds another town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.

‘Listening tour’

Health care and tech sector entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s a conservative commentator and author who’s become a crusader in the culture wars, says he’s on a “listening tour” and is “considering possibilities” that could potentially include a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“I’m interested in spreading my message. It’s what I’ve been doing through books, through media and through a lot of my travels over the past two to three years,” Ramaswamy said during a day-long visit to New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Ramaswamy said his book tours have taken him to 26 states over the past two years as he’s been “sharing my beliefs.”

“I’m a big believer that part of restoring free speech isn’t just talking about free speech. It’s about actually airing our ideas and listening to what people have to say in return,” Ramaswamy said. “That’s what I’m doing. I’m collecting that feedback and using it to inform how I have the biggest possible impact that I can have.”

“It is a fact that there probably hasn’t been one of those speeches that I’ve given to a large grassroots audience where there haven’t been multiple people who have urged me to consider running for president,” Ramaswamy said.

He added that when “hundreds of people who don’t know you tell you [to] do something like that, it’s a hard idea to shake off.”

Ramaswamy, the author of “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” started his day in Manchester where he addressed a “right-of-center” meeting in which invited guests speak to leading Granite State conservative office holders, officials and activists. He ended his day by headlining an event at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics titled “Beyond the Soundbites — Putting Woke, Inc. to Bed.”

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