CONCORD, N.H. – Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire announced Tuesday morning that he will seek reelection and not run for U.S. Senate next year in a race that could ultimately decide whether the GOP wins back control the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections.

Sununu ended months of speculation of whether he would challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, by saying, “I’m going to run for a fourth term” as governor.

WHAT SUNUNU TOLD FOX NEWS LAST WEEK ABOUT A 2022 SENATE RUN

National Republicans view Hassan, a first-term senator and Sununu’s predecessor as New Hampshire governor, as very vulnerable heading into next year’s midterms. And they saw Sununu, whose poll numbers are flagging but still remain very high among Republicans and in positive territory among independents, and who’s carefully navigated his relationship with former President Donald Trump the past six years, as their key to flipping a crucial blue seat red.

Sununu, in an exclusive interview with Fox News ahead of his lively address Friday night at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, said that “my sense is that I’ll probably come to some decision in the next week or so. Maybe sooner.”

The Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to recapture the Senate majority they lost when they were swept in January’s twin Senate runoff elections in Georgia. While they’re defending 20 of the 34 seats up for grabs next year – including five open seats – the GOP sees pick up opportunities to flip a blue seat red in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire.

The lobbying effort by national Republicans this year included phone calls from Senate GOP Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other prominent Republicans.

THE GOP’S FULL COURT PRESS TO RECRUIT NH GOV. SUNUNU TO RUN FOR SENATE

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the conservative firebrand from Texas and runner up to Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination race, told the audience at the Las Vegas conference to urge Sununu to run for the Senate.

“Every person here needs to come up to Chris and say ‘governor is great but you need to run for Senate.’ Because this man could single handily retire Chuck Schumer as majority leader of the Senate,” Cruz said to applause.

Sununu’s appearance at the RJC conference – a major gathering of top party leaders, activists, rainmakers and mega donors – sparked more speculation that Sununu was leaning toward a Senate run, which could have made the New Hampshire showdown one of the most competitive, combative and expensive races in the country.

GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire addresses the crowd at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas, on Nov. 5, 2021.
(Fox News)

But the governor pushed back on such speculation, telling Fox News “there’s really nothing to be read into it other than I’m always willing to go out and talk about how we’ve had success in New Hampshire, some of the things that allowed us to connect to voters in New Hampshire and hopefully spread that to what might help in other states.”

And he emphasized that “I haven’t raised a penny for anything yet. I haven’t announced that I’m running for anything yet. I haven’t talked to a single potential donor about giving us money. Nothing like that.”

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Sununu’s easygoing demeanor during his Fox News interview was replaced by a much more energetic and combative speech to the audience at the RJC.

“I might run for governor. I might run for Senate. I don’t know,” Sununu told the crowd before boasting “trust me, I’m going to win either way.” 

“Sorry, Maggie,” he added. 

There’s already one declared Republican candidate in the 2022 race for Senate in New Hampshire. Retired Gen. Don Bolduc, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2020 GOP Senate nomination, launched his campaign nearly a year ago.