New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a popular Republican governor who briefly mulled a presidential run, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term at the helm of the Granite State.

What You Need To Know

  • New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term 

  • The announcement comes just weeks after Sununu passed on a presidential bid for 2024, citing the already crowded field of Republicans vying for a shot at challenging President Joe Biden next year

  • Sununu also declined to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan for the U.S. Senate last year

  • Former acting GOP Gov. Chuck Morse announced a gubernatorial bid within minutes of Sununu's announcement; former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte teased that she looks forward “to announcing some big news in the coming days"

Sununu told supporters in an email that after “much consideration,” as well as discussion with his wife, Valerie, and his children, “I have decided not to run for another term as Governor in 2024.”

“This was no easy decision as I truly love serving as governor,” he wrote. “Public service should never be a career, and the time is right for another Republican to lead our great state.”

The announcement comes just weeks after Sununu passed on a presidential bid for 2024, citing the already crowded field of Republicans vying for a shot at challenging President Joe Biden next year.

“Our party is on a collision course toward electoral irrelevance without significant corrective action,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed at the time. “The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote, and I will help ensure this does not happen.”

Sununu also declined to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan for the U.S. Senate last year. Hassan, who previously served as the state’s governor, cruised to reelection against Republican challenger Don Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general.

Sununu, 48, was first elected in 2016 and has served four two-year terms as New Hampshire’s governor. He’s just the second New Hampshire governor to lead the state for four terms.

It’s unclear what Sununu, the scion of a prominent New Hampshire political family (his father, John H. Sununu, was the state's governor and a former White House chief of staff to George H.W. Bush; his brother, John E. Sununu, served in the U.S. House and Senate) might do next.

It’s also not yet clear which Republicans may jump into the race to replace him, though one prominent state GOP figure jumped into the race within minutes of Sununu’s announcement: former acting Gov. Chuck Morse.

“Like most everyone else in New Hampshire I’m thankful for everything that Governor Sununu has done to make New Hampshire the state it is today,” Morse wrote on Twitter. “I’m proud to have worked with him to put together a conservative, pro-jobs, pro-growth, family first economic agenda that has made New Hampshire the envy of New England and the nation.”

“Now that he’s decided not to run for re-election, I’m announcing that I am running for Governor to build on those successes,” he added.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, another name floated as a potential GOP challenger for the governor’s mansion, similarly praised Sununu for his service to New Hampshire while teasing that she looks forward “to announcing some big news in the coming days.”

On the Democratic side, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, the first woman elected to run New Hampshire’s largest city, entered the race last week. Cinde Warmington, the only Democrat on the state’s executive council, announced a gubernatorial bid in June.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics changed its rating for the race from Likely Republican to toss-up. New Hampshire has picked a Democrat for president in every election since 2000, and its current congressional delegation is comprised solely of Democrats, but the state's legislature and governor's mansion are controlled by Republicans.