| | | | |  | | By Lisa Kashinsky | | | With help from Kelly Garrity SUNUNU SAYS SUNU-NO TO PRESIDENT — Chris Sununu’s eyes flick upward as he sits in one of the two plush red armchairs in his office, sipping soda out of a blue mug branded with the state’s “Live Free or Die” motto. There’s a map of colonial-era New Hampshire on the wall across from him. Sometimes, Sununu says, he’ll jump onto the couch below it and start pointing out to visiting presidential hopefuls what places they should go and which people they should see. “I did that with all of them,” the Republican governor said. “I did it with RFK Jr., for goodness sakes.” In passing on a run for president, Sununu is setting himself up to play in his state’s first-in-the-nation GOP primary in a different way: as kingmaker. The popular four-term governor has been a go-to for candidates seeking advice on how to navigate New Hampshire — even when he was still mulling his own bid. And as the scion of a powerful political family, his word carries weight with voters in the state. Case in point of Sununu’s power here: the governor said he heard from nearly all of the 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls in the roughly 24 hours after he announced he wouldn’t seek the nomination, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who just launched his bid. But Sununu doesn’t always know how to pick them. His chosen candidates to take on Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster and Sen. Maggie Hassan last year both lost their primaries to Donald Trump-aligned contenders. Sununu said in an interview that every endorsement has its limits. “I don’t want to be so humble as to say my endorsement would be meaningless. Obviously, it would carry some weight. But I think it remains to be seen about what kind of weight it carries,” he told Playbook yesterday. “If a candidate is two points down and I endorse them, yeah maybe that’s enough to get them a win. Who knows. … A candidate really has to be successful on their own.” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is showing early signs of embracing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Sununu says that he’s in no rush to choose among “friends” — or lose his leverage in the primary. “I might endorse, but not necessarily early,” Sununu said. “I would wait to see how they do on the [debate] stage, and how they politick around the state. … I think everyone needs to start with the metric: who can win in November of ‘24. Most of them can except for Trump.” Here are more excerpts from Playbook’s sitdown with Sununu, edited for length and clarity:
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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu takes part in a panel discussion during a Republican Governors Association conference on Nov. 15, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. | Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo | You’ve said you could be more candid about the candidates if you weren’t one of them. How do you balance being friends with someone but also straight-talking them if they need to get out of the race? It actually makes it quite easy because I can have good, honest conversations with these folks. … I want to be the sane, friendly advice from outside their bubbles that [has] no interest, that can give an honest perspective looking in … and say, look, this isn't working, or there's no path here. Chris Christie launched his bid at Saint Anselm last night. He plans on running a New Hampshire-focused campaign again. Can it work for him this time? It can. Chris is, I think he’s a lot more relaxed now than he was in 2016. … He has a bit of a nothing-to-lose type of attitude, which I think is refreshing. … An individual like that, who has great name ID already, has the opportunity other candidates don’t to go really deep, if you will, out into really rural parts of New Hampshire [earlier on]. Are you running for a fifth term? Well, maybe, maybe. It's still on the table. But I honestly have only been thinking about from a political standpoint the presidential right now. … I'll make a decision, you know, after the Fourth [of July] or in the summer sometime. … If I decide not to run, that's still plenty of time for other candidates to decide to get in the race. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Sununu’s indecision on seeking another two-year term isn’t stopping Democrats from launching their gubernatorial campaigns or Republicans from laying the groundwork for them, the Boston Globe’s Steven Porter reports. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and legislative leaders attend a Pride Month celebration at 11 a.m. at the State House and swear in John Moran and Bill MacGregor as state representatives at 12:30 p.m. in the governor’s ceremonial office. Driscoll participates in a fireside chat at the BIO International Convention at 10:45 a.m. at the BCEC and chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon. Senate President Karen Spilka and state Sen. Jo Comerford host NYT bestselling author Heather McGhee for a discussion on solutions to inequality at noon in the Senate Reading Room. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attends the Age Strong Senior Luncheon at 12:30 p.m. in Charlestown. Tips? Scoops? Staying inside to avoid the wildfire smoke? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com.
| | | | A message from UPS: As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, nearly 88,000 UPS drivers have graduated from Integrad®, UPS’s elite driver program. It’s one reason UPS drivers average less than one accident every one million miles driven. Learn more | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | —“New state program looks to boost training for life sciences sector,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A new state program announced Tuesday aims to connect employers with workers in Massachusetts looking to find jobs in the life sciences, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing industries. At the BIO International Convention in Boston, Gov. Maura Healey said the new program, dubbed MassTalent, will serve as a ‘one-stop front door’ for companies and streamline government resources to allow employers to access local talent.” — “State moves to bring sex education out of the ‘90s,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Magazine: “Massachusetts' sexual health curriculum remains stuck, at least on paper, in the Wild West educational landscape of 1999. But after some 24 years, and with more than a decade of pressure from advocates and a cohort of legislators, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is getting ready to make some changes.” — “Lawmaker eyes task force to aid drink-spiking victims in Massachusetts,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “[State Sen. Paul] Feeney is the sponsor of a bill that would convene a ‘date rape drug response and intervention task force’ to collect data on confirmed drink-drugging incidents across the state and recommend standard protocols for hospitals.” — “Former Gov. Swift and daughter testify at State House on hurdles to access medication,” by Steve Brown, WBUR and Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: “When an apparent computer snafu kept Lauren Hunt from getting her juvenile arthritis medication delivered, she found herself in terrible pain. ‘It turns you from a person to a patient very quickly,’ said Hunt, now 22, in an interview Tuesday after a hearing at the State House on prescription drug benefits. She testified at the hearing with her mother — Jane Swift, who served as governor of Massachusetts in 2001 and 2002.”
| | VAX-ACHUSETTS | | — “State’s largest insurer has doubled spending on mental health care since start of the pandemic,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: “In a sign of how the COVID emergency elevated the importance of mental well-being, the state’s largest health insurer disclosed it has doubled its spending on behavioral health services since the beginning of the pandemic and aggressively expanded its ranks of providers to meet swelling demand.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | FROM THE HUB | | — “Will bold plan for Boston high schools get traction this time?” by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: “Year after year, mayor after mayor, plans are hatched to transform Boston high schools – many of which have poor outcomes in subpar facilities – only to see them fade away unrealized as attention turns to other issues. Mayor Michelle Wu vowed that this time would be different, as she announced a set of big plans on Tuesday that would dramatically remake two high schools and bring major changes to two others.” — “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu involved in car crash,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was inside a police car that collided with another vehicle on Tuesday, officials said. … 'We can confirm the mayor was a passenger in a vehicular crash earlier today,' a Wu spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday night. 'Thankfully no one sustained any major injuries.'”
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | — “Two Republicans to jump into race for open Senate seat last held by Anne Gobi,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “[State Rep.] Peter Durant plans to formally announce his campaign Wednesday at 11 a.m. on the Holden Common. Rebekah Etique, the 24-year-old former campaign manager of the last Republican to challenge Gobi and lose, said she will also seek her party’s nomination.” — “Incumbent city councilors face challenges in Holyoke municipal races,” by Dennis Hohenberger, Springfield Republican. — “Tavares wins race for at-large city council seat in Attleboro,” by Jim Hand, The Sun Chronicle.
| | | | A message from UPS:   | | | | | DAY IN COURT | | — “Boston lawyer who was considered for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney appointed as a lead prosecutor at The Hague,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “A Boston lawyer who was one of the final names being considered for the U.S. Attorney role in Massachusetts, before Rachael Rollins was ultimately picked and later resigned in disgrace, has been appointed as the top prosecutor at The Hague for the Kosovo war crimes tribunal.” — “Showing kids porn 'an innocent mistake,' former Select Board member says,” by Norman Miller, MetroWest Daily News: “A former Select Board member who was arrested last week after he allegedly showed pornography on his phone to children called it ‘an innocent mistake.’ David Parry, 80, also said his unfamiliarity with a new cellphone led to the incident.”
| | DATELINE D.C. | | — “Feds offer little help with asylum seeker costs,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts is spending millions of dollars to provide emergency housing, food and legal assistance for thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, but isn't getting much help from the federal government. … In May, FEMA announced that $350 million of that would be distributed through its soon-to-be-phased-out Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which provides grant money to municipal governments and nonprofit groups. Boston received only about $877,000, according to the federal agency.”
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “SouthCoast Wind report suggests pricey future for offshore wind,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “A report commissioned by SouthCoast Wind indicates the cost of building and operating US offshore wind farms has risen by more than 20 percent since 2019, suggesting the Massachusetts procurement scheduled for next year could be pricey.”
| | | FROM THE 413 | | | — “Chicopee paid insurance premiums for employees after they died or resigned,” by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: “The city has continued to pay health and dental insurance premiums for employees after they died or resigned, costing taxpayers an unknown amount of money. City Councilor Delmarina López on Tuesday announced that the city has wrongfully been paying premiums for people who no longer work for Chicopee. She called for an independent audit of the finances and said she has reported the issue to ‘the authorities.’”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “‘People cannot afford to go to school’: Enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges plummets,” by Colin Hogan, New Bedford Light: “With 37,000 fewer community college students today than a decade ago, the state’s public two-year colleges have lost more students than the entire UMass system currently educates, including graduate and undergraduate students. In the last 10 years, every one of Massachusetts’ community colleges has lost at least 30% of their student population, with the steepest declines occurring during the pandemic.” — “Mass. postal workers rally to protest cuts, warn of moves to privatize,” by Kinga Borondy, Telegram & Gazette.
| | | | A message from UPS: As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, nearly 88,000 UPS drivers have graduated from Integrad®, UPS’s elite driver program. This training has been developed alongside leading experts across the country. It uses virtual and augmented reality along with traditional classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction.
This much attention to detail saves lives and results in statistics we are proud to share: UPS drivers average less than one accident every one million miles driven.
Learn how UPS delivers safety | | | | | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Sarah Butler is now director in the office of the executive secretariat at the Department of Energy. She most recently was deputy chief of staff for operations for Sen. Ed Markey. — Commonwealth Care Alliance has named Frank Scalise as CFO. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chair of the House Ways & Means Committee; former state Rep. and past Cambridge City Councilor Tim Toomey; Kevin Sprague and Isaac Luria. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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