Governor Sununu on why he’s not running for the Senate:
“Why would I give up what I love in public service, getting great results for my state, to be one of a hundred people, where I have to wait and just not see a lot of success. That would be very frustrating for me; and, probably, for the Senate because I wouldn’t be very quiet about it.”
In an interview with WGIR’s Chris Ryan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu reflects on his decision to run for a fourth term as governor of New Hampshire rather than run for the US Senate in 2022; gives his opinion of the Congressional District lines which have been drawn to reflect the results of the 2020 census; and explains what steps that the state government can take to deal with rising energy costs.
Governor Sununu believes that he can do more for the Granite State as governor than as just another vote in the Senate. The Governor thinks that his skill set, and personality are better suited to his current job rather than being part of the partisan gridlock which pervades Congress.
“Why would I give up what I love in public service, getting great results for my state, to be one of a hundred people, where I have to wait and just not see a lot of success. That would be very frustrating for me; and, probably, for the Senate because I wouldn’t be very quiet about it.”
In recent months Republican leaders, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rick Scott, have been urging Chris Sununu to run for the Senate. Despite all of this pressure to help his party to gain the majority, the Governor turned them down.
“They asked me. I didn’t ask them. It definitely wasn’t a fit for me; and, more importantly, it wasn’t a fit for the state.”
Additionally, Governor Sununu believes that the Republicans will pick up between 53 and 54 seats in 2022 and that there are Republican candidates who are capable of defeating Maggie Hassan.
“It doesn’t all hinge on Chris Sununu to be the guy to fire Chuck Schumer.”
Governor Sununu is concerned about the gridlock caused by Senate procedures and party line voting which stifle any attempts to deal with major problems like balancing the budget or reforming Social Security or Medicare.
“If you’re waiting for sixty votes from your party to get something done, you’re on a fool’s errand. That’s likely to never happen. So, you’d better start today to work across the aisle to get things done.”
The prospect of biding his time to wait for Republican control of Congress and the White House didn’t appeal to the Governor. In addition, the inability to get things done when the Republicans had control of those two branches of government in 2017 and 2018 affected his decision to remain as governor.
In order to bring about change in Washington, Governor Sununu suggests either term limits or a complete attitude change in having elected officials who are focused on getting things done rather than being focused on being reelected.
When he was asked if he had presidential ambitions, Chris Sununu didn’t rule it out and admitted that an executive position was more in tune with his skill set.
Governor Sununu makes no apologies to Senate Republican leaders about first informing the people of New Hampshire about his decision to run for reelection.
As a public hearing is being convened to discuss the redistricting plans for New Hampshire, Governor Sununu expressed his concern that there should be competitive races throughout the state.
In the final segment of the interview, Governor Sununu discussed what his office can do about increased energy costs and to limit inflation. The Governor has encouraged small businesses to pool their buying power to get lower prices for fuel or to lock in lower prices by prebuying their heating oil now.
Governor Sununu also took the opportunity to criticize the energy policies of the Biden Administration.