Republican presidential candidates have been competing for Gov. Chris Sununu’s endorsement for months.Now, Sununu has made his decision. He’s going to be backing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and he made this endorsement official Tuesday night at a town hall event for Haley in Manchester.”It doesn’t get any better than this. To go and get endorsed by the Live Free or Die Governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for,” Haley said. “To see her out there, to see her connecting with folks, to feel that momentum, it is real and it is tangible,” Sununu said Tuesday night. After declining to run for president himself, Sununu spent the summer and fall on the campaign trail with various candidates, looking for the one he felt would be best positioned to take on former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<Sununu has said he does not think Trump can win next year and wants the Republican Party to turn the page.Since September, the governor has spent the most time on the trail with Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.In a one-on-one interview with News 9, Sununu said he made his choice carefully after campaigning alongside the candidates. “Well, as I think a lot of voters look for, they look for someone who connects,” Sununu said. “When you look at the background Nikki Haley brings to the table, holy cow.”From what the governor has previously said about how he plans to approach this, we’re going to be seeing him really put his popularity and political clout behind his chosen candidate, Haley. Analysts said it’s also important that Sununu campaigned alongside several of these GOP contenders, using his own observations on the trail to make this pick.”I don’t think that this has anything to do with other candidates necessarily. I think it has to do with the fact that he believes that she would be the best president and he’s going to put all of his popularity and his talents behind, going to go out in New Hampshire and convince voters that she’s the right choice,” said Neil Levesque, of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.Sununu has consistently been one of the most popular governors in the country.Through three reelection bids, he has demonstrated a strong connection with New Hampshire’s swing, undeclared voters who are expected to play a key role once again in this primary.Sununu has previously said we’re going to see him really campaign for his candidate and try to begin a new era in the GOP to move on from Trump.Whether that’s what the Republican base wants remains to be seen, but for Haley, who has been steadily building momentum in New Hampshire, this could be the fuel she needs for another boost in the polls that puts her basically in position for a one-on-one contest with Trump in the home stretch.Trump will be in Durham for a campaign event on Saturday and it remains to be seen how he will respond to the news of Sununu’s endorsement.Speaking to reporters after Tuesday night’s event, Haley emphasized the importance of the New Hampshire primary in this race. “I mean, its huge for us. I and everybody else have been courting Chris for months, y’all saw it,” Haley said. Another big question was how Christie would respond. Christie is all in on New Hampshire, but now the state’s most popular Republican has chosen his chief rival for the bloc of non-Trump Republican votes. It could cause him to lose some support. A spokesperson for Christie sent a statement to News 9 about Sununu’s decision. “We have seen the reports of Governor Sununu’s decision to endorse Nikki Haley. This puts us down one vote in New Hampshire and when Governor Christie is back in Londonderry tomorrow, he’ll continue to tell the unvarnished truth about Donald Trump and earn that one missing vote and thousands more,” the campaign spokesperson said. Endorsements, though, have become very hit-or-miss in modern politics. What we know for sure is Sununu is going to really try to make this one count.”Everybody’s going to come out and get behind this movement, get behind this winning team. You’ve got to earn it, and I think that’s what’s you’re going to see in the next six weeks,” Sununu said. Sununu will be hitting the trail alongside Haley on Wednesday and Thursday for events around the state, and he said that’s just the beginning.

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

Republican presidential candidates have been competing for Gov. Chris Sununu’s endorsement for months.

Now, Sununu has made his decision. He’s going to be backing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and he made this endorsement official Tuesday night at a town hall event for Haley in Manchester.

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“It doesn’t get any better than this. To go and get endorsed by the Live Free or Die Governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for,” Haley said.

“To see her out there, to see her connecting with folks, to feel that momentum, it is real and it is tangible,” Sununu said Tuesday night.

After declining to run for president himself, Sununu spent the summer and fall on the campaign trail with various candidates, looking for the one he felt would be best positioned to take on former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary.

>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<

Sununu has said he does not think Trump can win next year and wants the Republican Party to turn the page.

Since September, the governor has spent the most time on the trail with Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

In a one-on-one interview with News 9, Sununu said he made his choice carefully after campaigning alongside the candidates.

“Well, as I think a lot of voters look for, they look for someone who connects,” Sununu said. “When you look at the background Nikki Haley brings to the table, holy cow.”

From what the governor has previously said about how he plans to approach this, we’re going to be seeing him really put his popularity and political clout behind his chosen candidate, Haley.

Analysts said it’s also important that Sununu campaigned alongside several of these GOP contenders, using his own observations on the trail to make this pick.

“I don’t think that this has anything to do with other candidates necessarily. I think it has to do with the fact that he believes that she would be the best president and he’s going to put all of his popularity and his talents behind, going to go out in New Hampshire and convince voters that she’s the right choice,” said Neil Levesque, of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

Sununu has consistently been one of the most popular governors in the country.

Through three reelection bids, he has demonstrated a strong connection with New Hampshire’s swing, undeclared voters who are expected to play a key role once again in this primary.

Sununu has previously said we’re going to see him really campaign for his candidate and try to begin a new era in the GOP to move on from Trump.

Whether that’s what the Republican base wants remains to be seen, but for Haley, who has been steadily building momentum in New Hampshire, this could be the fuel she needs for another boost in the polls that puts her basically in position for a one-on-one contest with Trump in the home stretch.

Trump will be in Durham for a campaign event on Saturday and it remains to be seen how he will respond to the news of Sununu’s endorsement.

Speaking to reporters after Tuesday night’s event, Haley emphasized the importance of the New Hampshire primary in this race.

“I mean, its huge for us. I and everybody else have been courting Chris for months, y’all saw it,” Haley said.

Another big question was how Christie would respond. Christie is all in on New Hampshire, but now the state’s most popular Republican has chosen his chief rival for the bloc of non-Trump Republican votes. It could cause him to lose some support.

A spokesperson for Christie sent a statement to News 9 about Sununu’s decision.

“We have seen the reports of Governor Sununu’s decision to endorse Nikki Haley. This puts us down one vote in New Hampshire and when Governor Christie is back in Londonderry tomorrow, he’ll continue to tell the unvarnished truth about Donald Trump and earn that one missing vote and thousands more,” the campaign spokesperson said.

Endorsements, though, have become very hit-or-miss in modern politics. What we know for sure is Sununu is going to really try to make this one count.

“Everybody’s going to come out and get behind this movement, get behind this winning team. You’ve got to earn it, and I think that’s what’s you’re going to see in the next six weeks,” Sununu said.

Sununu will be hitting the trail alongside Haley on Wednesday and Thursday for events around the state, and he said that’s just the beginning.