HAMPTON BEACH, New Hampshire — Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is prepared to endorse Don Bolduc for Senate should the upstart Republican, who has labeled him a “Chinese communist sympathizer,” win the party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary.
“I’ll endorse whoever the nominee is, and support him, of course I will, no question,” Sununu told reporters Saturday while walking the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival, an annual beachside event that draws thousands of locals and tourists to this New Hampshire seacoast hamlet. Bolduc, 61, a retired Army brigadier general, has led in public opinion polls and is considered the front-runner in the primary.
Bolduc has a history of making conspiratorial and inflammatory statements. Recently, that has included accusing Sununu of aligning himself with the Chinese Communist Party and of being “in business with Saudi Arabian companies that give money to terrorists.” Bolduc has gone so far as to call him a “globalist world-government guy.”
It’s eyebrow-raising statements like these, which the two-time Senate candidate makes regularly, that have Republican leaders in Concord and Washington convinced he cannot beat Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in the midterm elections, even in a favorable political environment. It’s why Sununu and other top Republicans are backing New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse in the primary.
POPULIST DON BOLDUC HAS MADE BELIEVERS OUT OF HIS SUPPORTERS IN NH GOP SENATE PRIMARY
“He’s the candidate with the best chance to win in November,” Sununu said, explaining what he told Donald Trump about the New Hampshire Senate race during a recent telephone call initiated by the former president.
The governor added: “Given how some of the other races in the country have gone — and we talked about Georgia and Pennsylvania, those aren’t as assured as we had once hoped … ultimately, New Hampshire really could be the 51st vote.” Republicans are fighting for the majority in a 50-50 Senate that Democrats control, courtesy of Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote. Trump has not endorsed in the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary.
Sununu spoke with reporters Saturday afternoon between shaking hands with well-wishers and posing for pictures with voters as he toured merchandise booths and sampled seafood served by local restaurants along Hampton Beach in the southeast corner of New Hampshire, just on the other side of the border with Massachusetts.
At one point, the governor, who is running for a fourth, two-year term and is expected to win reelection easily, stopped to man a beer tent and serve suds to festivalgoers.
Perhaps it was good vibes from these interactions, or possibly the near-perfect 80-degree weather, that put Sununu in a mood to dismiss Bolduc’s attacks on his personal integrity and say he would have no problem backing the populist Republican against Hassan. The governor even said he believed Bolduc could beat the senator, although he emphasized Morse is a more viable candidate with a greater likelihood of ousting Hassan.
“Primaries are primaries, I get it,” Sununu said of Bolduc’s criticism. “At the end of the day, it’s about what’s best for the country, what’s best to get results, to be sure.” But to underscore why he is supporting Morse, the governor said voters in New Hampshire are more interested in electing politicians focused on getting things done than scoring partisan points with cathartic rhetoric.
“People in New Hampshire don’t want talk; they want results. [Morse has] got the best record of actually getting results,” Sununu said. “I don’t want to win by a point; I want to win by 9 or 10 points. I want Chuck and I to have strong coattails in November.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Sununu was a prized Republican Senate recruit and considered a 2022 bid. He ultimately bowed out, complaining that Senate Republicans seemed more interested in opposing President Joe Biden than being productive legislators.
