CONCORD, New Hampshire — Gov. Chris Sununu‘s (R-NH) decision to put his political muscle behind former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was no match for former President Donald Trump, who cruised to victory in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night.
The Associated Press called the race for Trump just moments after polls began to close at 8 p.m. Trump eventually bested Haley, 54% to 43%, with 97% of the vote counted.
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But on Wednesday morning, Sununu, following Haley’s lead, rejected calls from GOP leaders, including Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, for the former ambassador to exit the race.
“The head of the Republican Party saying we don’t want to hear from all the other Republicans in the nation because it’s getting too close, that’s nonsense,” Sununu pushed back during a Fox News appearance. “You’ve got to let the voters decide, not a bunch of political elites out of D.C.”
The first two nominating states have shown that voters want Trump — not Haley, and by extension, Sununu’s version of the GOP. Now Haley’s candidacy is uncertain, despite claiming she will continue on through South Carolina’s primary.
Trump steamrolled all his competitors in Iowa, garnering 51% support and eventually leading Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to drop out of the race one week later. While New Hampshire’s margin was closer, Trump still defeated Haley by 11 percentage points despite only holding late-night rallies in the Granite State compared to Haley’s barnstorming events.
In the wake of her third-place finish in Iowa, Haley pointed to New Hampshire as the state that would “correct” the will of Iowa voters due to its large share of independent voters. That did not happen, as Granite State voters chose to stick with Trump despite Sununu’s admonishments.
Haley faced criticism for refusing to appear on the debate stage without Trump, a decision that ultimately led CNN and ABC News to cancel their New Hampshire primary debates, and for not attacking Trump and campaigning more aggressively.
Sununu attempted to make up for where Haley lacked. He didn’t just give her his coveted endorsement, helping force former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie out of the primary field. He frequently hit the campaign trail with her, often showing more fervor than the former South Carolina governor.
The New Hampshire governor ramped up his attacks against Trump in the final days before the primary, often with colorful language.
“I’m tired of losing, I’m tired of losers, and I’m sure as hell tired of Donald Trump,” he lamented at a Sunday event featuring reality TV show legend Judge Judy.
“Hey, Donald Trump, where the F is the red wave?” Sununu said one day later at the final get-out-the-vote event Haley hosted at the Artisan Hotel.
When Haley thanked Sununu for his support during her concession, he received one of the loudest applause of the night from watch party attendees.
Trump, in his victory speech Tuesday night, trashed Haley and Sununu, even though he is not a candidate.
“You have the now very unpopular governor of this state. This guy, he’s got to be on something,” Trump said, implying the governor was taking drugs. “I’ve never seen anybody with energy. He’s like hopscotch.”
The former president then mocked Sununu for claiming Haley could win in New Hampshire last month before tempering expectations to second place. Trump’s victory likely is the beginning of the end of the primary season and the start of an extraordinarily long general election campaign against President Joe Biden.
As the race heads to South Carolina, Haley’s slim chances of winning the nomination shrink even more in her home state, where Trump leads her by an average of 30 percentage points.
“The fact is Haley needed a win last night and didn’t get one,” national Republican strategist Brian Seitchik said. “Sununu was all in for her, and it clearly didn’t have the positive impact they were hoping for. I’m not sure what his political future was, regardless. I mean, he walked away from the governor’s office.”
Sununu declined to run for a fifth term as governor, which may have accounted for his willingness to slam Trump, though the former president has been known to seek revenge against those branded as disloyal.
“I just think the punishment for Gov. Sununu is irrelevance right now,” Seitchik added. “Should Trump return to the White House, there’s certainly no job, no Cabinet opportunity for Sununu.”
Yet Sununu’s supporters told the Washington Examiner that his popularity and record of winning in the Granite State is still intact despite the Haley loss.
“If Gov. Sununu did run for a fifth term, I guarantee he would be the only Republican to win a statewide race in New Hampshire for a fifth time,” said Sean Van Anglen, a New Hampshire political consultant and lifelong friend of Sununu. “I don’t know where [Trump] gets the information to say, ‘Oh, he’s been a bad governor.’ The funny thing is if Gov. Sununu came out and endorsed him tomorrow, I guarantee you he’d turn the tides just like he did with Gov. (Ron) DeSantis.”
Trump repeatedly trashed DeSantis (R-FL) as a presidential candidate running against him, but when DeSantis suspended his campaign and endorsed him, the former president dropped the derogatory nicknames with which he branded the Florida governor.
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New Hampshire voters expect Sununu will survive Trump’s temper tantrum as he is not seeking political office when his term is finished.
“I don’t think much will happen,” said Lester Reed Sr, 77, of Plaistow, New Hampshire. “He’s a New Hampshire boy. What the hell can Trump do?”