Former Democratic state Sen. Dr. Tom Sherman is seriously considering a second straight run for New Hampshire governor.

“My goal in the next election is to make sure we have a governor – whoever that may be – who really does address the needs of the people of New Hampshire and that’s not happening currently,” Sherman emphasized in an interview with the Monitor this week as he took aim at Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

Sherman, a gastroenterologist from Rye who served as chair and later ranking member of the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee during his tenure in the state Senate, was the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial nominee who challenged Sununu in last year’s election.

Sununu comfortably captured a fourth two-year term in the Corner Office, but his 15.5-point victory over Sherman was down from a 32-point landslide re-election two years earlier.

“We knew the last cycle would be an uphill battle. But as it turned out, we cut Sununu’s margin by 17 points. We made sure that Sununu stayed on the issues and that he didn’t have much in the way of coattails,” Sherman noted. And he added that “having raised almost $2 million, it was a significant investment in name recognition statewide.”

Sherman said that in recent months “I’ve gone across the state to Democratic committees, both thanking them for their support but also telling them to keep going. Let’s keep up the momentum.”

Pointing to the gains Democrats made in the state House last November and not losing any seats in the state Senate despite what he called “further gerrymandering,” Sherman said that “there were a lot of successes coming out of 2022 and I like to joke I achieved four of my five goals, and the fifth was to win the race.”

“I like to think of myself as sort of cheerleader,” Sherman noted, as he pointed to his efforts to help Democrat Chuck Grassie’s victory in the February special state house election in Rochester, which narrowed the GOP’s majority in the chamber to 201-198 (a seat in Nashua's Ward 4 is vacant and will be decided in a special election in May), and to his current efforts helping out fellow Democratic candidates running in elections later this year.

Sherman touted that “I have a strong legislative background. I have a very strong background in addressing issues head-on, taking on the challenges and working with all the stakeholders and experts to create solutions and that’s not what we’re seeing from this governor.”

He was joking, but a comment last week by Sununu sparked more speculation that the governor won’t seek what would be a historic fifth two-year gubernatorial term in 2024.

“I’m not saying I’m not running again, but you know... I’ve gotta get a real job,” Sununu said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics as he addressed the New England Council, a regional business association representing both public and private organizations.

Sununu, who’s currently considering a run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has said he hopes to make a decision on his political future this summer after the end of the current New Hampshire legislative session and the signing of the state’s next biennial budget.

“We’re seeing a governor who says he needs a real job. Well, that breaks my heart because for me being governor would have been one of the realest jobs there are because you are actually making a huge difference in people’s real lives,” Sherman stressed.

Sherman faced no serious opposition in capturing the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last cycle. But a contested Democratic primary is likely next year.

After Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig announced in March that she won’t seek re-election later this year, sources close to the Democratic mayor, who’s currently serving her third two-year term steering the Granite State’s largest city, told the Monitor that Craig is seriously looking at a run for governor in 2024.

Also seriously considering a run for governor is Democrat Cinde Warmington, who’s currently serving her second two-year term on New Hampshire’s five-member Executive Council representing District 2, which includes Concord.

Democratic sources say both Craig and Warmington are working the phones as they move toward likely launching campaigns, and that other Democrats are also sniffing around when it comes to the race for governor.

Asked about running in a contested primary, Sherman answered that “the good news is that I think this is a deep talent pool.”

But he added “when it comes statewide name recognition, when it comes to having worked so hard to get my name out across the state, when it comes to a track record of being able to work with the legislature to solve problems statewide, and my unique perspective as a physician, if I run it will be a robust debate and I’m absolutely not afraid of a primary. I think it strengthens the candidates.”

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