He describes himself as a supporter of abortion rights, although he did signal a ban in 2021 on most abortions after 24 weeks’ gestation; he opposed a invoice final yr that would have required colleges to out homosexual and transgender college students to their mother and father; and he has been essential of former President Donald J. Trump, although he has stated he would assist Mr. Trump in a normal election.
“I’m conservative,” he stated in February. “I’m simply not an extremist.”
Mr. Sununu has lengthy been seen as a first-rate candidate for greater workplace. He’s well-liked in New Hampshire, the place voters have elected him 4 instances — most lately by greater than 15 share factors — regardless of the state’s Democratic tilt. When he declined to run for Senate final yr, he disillusioned occasion leaders who thought of him their greatest shot to unseat a Democratic incumbent, Maggie Hassan. (Ms. Hassan handily defeated the far-right Republican, Don Bolduc, who was nominated as an alternative.)
However the kind of Republican who can win in an independent-minded, blue-leaning state like New Hampshire will not be the kind of Republican whom nationwide main voters have indicated they need. The occasion’s main subject has up to now been dominated by Mr. Trump, and even the candidates operating towards him have tended to not criticize him too harshly lest they anger his base.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who’s seen as Mr. Trump’s high Republican rival, has stepped up his assaults on Mr. Trump since getting into the race final month. However to the extent that different Republicans — together with Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina — have distanced themselves from Mr. Trump, they’ve principally completed so in type quite than in substance.