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Reacting to polls that he would defeat Senator Hassan, Governor Sununu sounds like a candidate. “I haven’t campaigned. I haven’t raised or spent a penny on any sort of election against her, and still she’s losing to a hypothetical candidate. If I actually started running, of course, we would win this race.”
In an interview with WGIR’s Chris Ryan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu reflects on the tragic death of New Hampshire State Police Staff Sgt. Jesse Sherrill, who was killed early Thursday morning when a tractor trailer slammed into his police cruiser; discusses New Hampshire’s level of preparedness for an expected surge in COVID cases this fall and winter; and sounds like he wants to run for Maggie Hasan’s Senate seat.
Officer Sherrill, who has been a trooper for almost twenty years, was working a construction detail on I-95 near Portsmouth when his police cruiser was struck. Sgt. Sherrill was a devoted family man and involved with coaching youth sports in Barrington, NH.
Governor Sununu has ordered that all flags on all public buildings in the state be flown at half-staff in honor of Staff Sgt. Sherrill.
In anticipation of a surge in COVID cases, Governor Sununu has resumed his weekly pandemic news conferences. The Governor is certain that the hospitals and medical infrastructure in the Granite State is prepared for a dramatic increase in cases in the coming months.
“We’re going to hit a very significant surge this winter. Our case load today is multiples worse than it was last winter. The fatality rate today is already worse than it was at this time last winter.”
Governor Sununu emphasized the need for people to take the possibility of a surge very seriously, and he calls for people to take steps to protect themselves, such as getting vaccinated or getting their booster shots.
In addition, the Governor is optimistic that the approval of COVID vaccines for children and the addition of four new state testing sites will help in fighting the pandemic.
Governor Sununu acknowledges that despite public apathy or fatigue in this long war with the Coronavirus people need to understand that the delta variant of the virus is very lethal and needs to be taken seriously.
In a previous interview, Governor Sununu stated that he would make an announcement in November about whether he will run for the US Senate in 2022. Today, he said that he is close to deciding and that it will make an announcement between Election Day and Thanksgiving.
When asked about the recent St. Anselm poll which showed that he would defeat Senator Hassan, Governor Sununu sounded like a candidate.
“The other side has spent $12 million in attack ads and campaigning all year long, and Maggie’s numbers go down.”
Governor Sununu also attributed Senator Hassan’s falling poll numbers to her inability or unwillingness to connect with the people of New Hampshire.
“I haven’t campaigned. I haven’t raised or spent a penny on any sort of election against her, and still she’s losing to a hypothetical candidate. If I actually started running, of course, we would win this race.”
In the conclusion of his remarks, Governor Sununu talked about the daily challenges of being governor and contrasted that with the leisurely life of a US Senator.