New Hampshire governor officially backs Haley

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley received an official endorsement from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday night for her 2024 presidential run. Sununu spoke at Haley’s town hall event in Manchester, N.H., calling her campaign momentum “absolutely unbelievable.” Haley thanked Sununu for his support, describing it “as rock-solid of an endorsement as we could hope for.” New Hampshire has become politically known as a “purple” state, and it’s unclear what impact Sununu’s endorsement will have on Haley’s campaign.

Twenty-five other Republican governors can also endorse, so why is Sununu so special? Along with being a swing state, New Hampshire will hold one of the earliest primary elections in the nation on Jan. 23, after the notoriously early Iowa Republican caucus set for Jan. 15. Early primaries are important battlegrounds for candidates because they project where the election as a whole is heading. Haley is batting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be Republicans’ number one alternative to former President Trump, many pundits say. Her campaign gained steam late last month with formal backing from Americans for Prosperity super PAC within the Koch brothers’ network.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report on how political campaigns are changing in America.