Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) is hoping he can one-up Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) in the 2024 Republican presidential primary endorsement race as his pick, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, takes on former President Donald Trump next Tuesday in New Hampshire‘s nominating contest.

But although Sununu has provided Haley with his public support and political network, like Reynolds’s endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in Iowa, they are up against Trump’s movement in the Granite State.

While Sununu speaking frequently on Haley’s behalf means there have been more opportunities for him to make mistakes, Sununu has been helpful, particularly “over the last month,” in rallying centrist Republicans around her, according to University of New Hampshire politics professor Dante Scala. That support has contributed to her closing the polling gap between herself and Trump. The former president only has an average 13 percentage point advantage over Haley in New Hampshire, compared to his 30-odd point win over her and DeSantis in more conservative Iowa.

“That’s the governor’s sweet spot,” Scala told the Washington Examiner of Sununu. “The problem now is trying to convince conservative Republicans. These are the people who, in past elections, have voted for both Sununu and Trump.”

As Trump seeks to prevent that, for instance, by contending this week in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that Haley is “like a Democrat,” Scala, an endorsement skeptic, described the state’s Republicans as liking Sununu “fine as a governor.” Conversely, Morning Consult found in November that Reynolds continues to be one of the country’s most unpopular governors. But for the professor, that does not result in the New Hampshire GOP being “not especially interested in his opinion on who should be president.”

“They are not going to follow Haley, just on the governor’s say-so,” he said. “All in all, though, as endorsements go, I think Sununu’s has been as effective as it can be.”

Regardless, New Hampshire governors tend not to “just endorse, they embrace,” per former state attorney general and Republican National Committee member Thomas Rath. He named Gov. Sherman Adams’s 1952 backing of former President Dwight Eisenhower and Sununu’s father, John, boosting George H.W. Bush in 1988 as examples.

“The depth of [Sununu’s] involvement in the Haley campaign is probably deeper than a lot of our governors have gone before,” the lawyer said. “I don’t think that has adversely impacted him here. He is the type of person that does not do things halfway.”

“Chris Sununu brings with him energy and, I bet, is not reluctant to let folks in the campaign hierarchy know what he is thinking,” he added. “He is not, publicly or privately, a reticent contributor. I doubt very much that he allows the campaign to dictate to him what to say. So I think he has been a big plus for Haley. Whether enough we will know next Tuesday.”

More broadly, though not determinate, Republican strategist Brad Todd asserted that governors’s endorsements draw crowds for candidates and raise money for their campaigns.

“I also think popularity is rarely transferable, but some parts of organizations are and the ability to help generate news [is],” he said. “When you’re running a presidential campaign, one of your tasks is finding places to make news every day. Like, can you go tour a plant? Can you give a speech somewhere? Can you drum up a crowd for an event on your own? And governors can open doors that help you do all of those things. … I think it’s really a soft power.”

Simultaneously, Sununu has, at times, distracted from Haley’s campaign, increasing expectations for her before this week’s Iowa caucuses and clarifying that, if Trump does become the Republican nominee, he would commit to supporting the former president, whether or not he is convicted in one or all of his four criminal trials.

DeSantis’s campaign has underscored Sununu’s mistakes as they, too, played the expectations game before Iowa and amid another round of expectations management ahead of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“After spending weeks claiming Haley would beat Trump in New Hampshire, Chris Sununu [Wednesday] night attempted what ABC’s Rick Klein called a ‘serious downgrade of Haley expectations,’” DeSantis communications director Andrew Romeo told reporters.

Romeo sent a similar email earlier this month when Sununu predicted in New Hampshire that Haley was “going to shock everyone in Iowa with a strong second.” She came third with 19% of the vote, after Trump’s 51% and DeSantis’s 21%.

Trump has additionally criticized Sununu for endorsing Haley and for permitting independent New Hampshire voters to take part in the Republican primary.

Sununu’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner, but Haley’s team touted his influence.

“Chris Sununu is the ‘coolest governor in America’ and won his reelection bid by more than 30 points,” Haley spokeswoman AnnMarie Graham-Barnes told the Washington Examiner. “He brings a great energy and sense of humor to the campaign trail, and we are so grateful for his support.”

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Meanwhile, former New Hampshire Democratic state Rep. Timothy Egan praised Sununu for endorsing Haley because the pair are “aligned in creating normalcy and respect in the White House,” “something Trump can’t even conceive.”

“Haley is a breath of GOP fresh air for me, a centrist Democratic former legislator and business owner,” Egan said. “But for Chris Sununu to say he’d still vote for Trump, still vote for Trump if convicted of any number of the crimes he’s being tried for, is quite disingenuous. If he’s all in for Haley, he should be all in.”