NH-SEN 2022 Megathread: General Dysfunction

[Sir Mohamed]

Sununu making his decision in the next few weeks.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Sununu-to-make-decision-on-Senate-run-in-next-two-weeks-On-the-trail-by-Paul-Steinhauser-43158917

Good we finally get clarity here. That said, I expect him to enter the race for senate and not run 4 gov again. Pure tossup/tilt R then.

[Sir Mohamed]

He's going to run for Senate, and he's going to win.

Don't like to say it, you're probably right here for once.

[Sir Mohamed]

Wait.. Sununu isn't running? A huge relief.

That said, this race is still Tilt D at best, more like a pure tossup, depending on challenger. Kelly Ayotte may still make it close, should she run.

[Sir Mohamed]

TBH, Sununu's decision kind of makes sense if you prefer implementing actual policies rather than become a member of McConnell's caucus with almost the lowest seniority possible. Assuming you win the election you're giving up your current job (he may have been favored, but not a shoe-in).

Several govs have expressed dissatisfaction with becoming a senator in the past as they no longer were in the driver's seat as you typically are. NH doesn't have term limits and he's popular enough to win more terms in office.

[Sir Mohamed]

The Sununu name and his brother's coattails would carry him through the finish line.

Tell that to incumbent Senator Evan Bayh.

Not sure this is a fair comparison. IN is more reddish at federal (and state) level than NH is blue.

[Sir Mohamed]

Sununu was clear-eyed about what being a Senator is all about.

https://twitter.com/shanegoldmacher/status/1483452347112173574?s=21

Interesting perspective, but overall something you have to value. Politics should be about making people's lives better and sometimes work with other elected officials for said purpose, even you don't share a lot of their ideological viewpoints. Officials serving in executive branches tend to have a better understanding for that as they actually need to do things. As senator, you can just be against stuff when your party isn't in power. From that viewpoint, Sununu's decision makes sense to me.

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1511687588360433668?s=21&t=BnYnHjdlc...

Why are there so many Republican carpetbaggers always running in NH?

Seems like it's the only state of the Atlantic Northeast and New England GOP candidates can win in federal elections.

That said, James Buckley who was elected senator in NY 1970 on the conservative ticket in a 3-way race against a Dem and a Rockefeller GOPer and later lost in '76, carpetbagged to CT in 1980, but lost that one, too.

[Sir Mohamed]

Get ready for four more years of "If Sununu runs for Senate in 2026, Shaheen will lose before Peters" takes even if Hassan survives a R wave while Cortez Masto, Kelly, and Warnock all lose.

I wouldn't take anyone suggesting Sununu as a senate candidate serious anymore. If the dude really wanted to be a senator, he would have run this year. A Dem midterm, semi-popular incumbent and his own popularity very high. Doesn't get much better than that. He just seems to have no desire for the job; some politicians just prefer being executives for a reason (my governor is similar I think; Newsom wouldn't like being a senator either). So there's zero reason to believe Sununu would ever run for senate.

If anything, he'll run 4 prez in 2024 (with very little success).

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1541547062382104576

Lean D -> Lean D