Ron DeSantis doesn’t have Chris Sununu endorsement locked down

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been courting the endorsement of New Hampshire’s Governor, but it’s by no means certain he will get it.

During an appearance on the Guy Benson Show, Chris Sununu said “there’s two or three, maybe even four candidates here that are really running strong and I think making a good run at it and … could even beat (Donald) Trump in New Hampshire.”

Sununu evaluated the Florida Governor and Nikki Haley.

Regarding DeSantis, Sununu noted that Governors are “24/7” and “understand accountability.” He also noted that during their day together last month, DeSantis did a “good job” at “all the retail politics stuff.”

Turning to Haley, Sununu also noted her experience as Governor, but was more effusive in praising her political skills.

“Talk about a fighter, right? I mean, I think a lot of folks saw it in the first and second debate,” Sununu said.

He noted that she “sticks up for herself and she’s got grit and she’s personable and she’s got that energy and that fire. And, you know, I mean, there’s someone that can kind of stick it back to, to one of her political opponents but smile, I mean, and that’s a skill and an art in itself.”

Sununu did not say whether DeSantis has those qualities.

Ahead of that interview, Sununu told reporter Dylan Wells there was “no doubt” Haley, who he accompanied Thursday during a campaign swing, has pushed ahead of DeSantis in the Granite State.

“People in New Hampshire pay attention to the debate, they see what’s happening on the ground. That’s clearly why her numbers have soared, so we’ll see if they can keep up the momentum.”

Last month, when DeSantis was in New Hampshire, Sununu squired him around the state, but stopped well short of an endorsement.

“The race is actually wide open. I think there’s three or four candidates that are clearly surging ahead. There’s six or seven, I don’t even know how many we’re counting at this point in the race,” Sununu told Stephanie Murray of The Messenger.

DeSantis has openly courted Sununu’s endorsement, saying in August on “The Pulse of New Hampshire” that he thinks Sununu “has done a great job,” believes “New Hampshire is the best-governed state in New England, and “reject(s) Donald Trump’s attacks” on Sununu.

That sweet talk came 24 hours after Sununu said he had “concern” about the DeSantis campaign, and urged him to “get on the ground” and “put people on the ground in Iowa in New Hampshire, knocking on doors.”

DeSantis spent Wednesday in the Granite State, with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo appearing with him at a “Medical Freedom Town Hall” event at a ski lodge in Manchester.

While Ladapo notes he has a “day job in Florida,” he said he was “invited to come support a man” that he has a “great deal of admiration for” in DeSantis, a man who picked him for a job that pays upwards of $500,000 per year before taxes.

It remains to be seen if the Ladapo cameo will turn around a troubling trend in polls.

According to the Race to the White House polling average, DeSantis’ 11% is good for third place, behind Trump (46%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (15%).

But other polls have shown Haley further ahead in the battle for second place. A USA Today/Boston Globe/Suffolk Poll released in October showed her with 19%, nearly doubling DeSantis’ 10%.