Gov. Chris Sununu has long been one of former President Donald Trump’s loudest Republican critics.

But New Hampshire’s four-term governor, who isn’t seeking re-election this year, believes that Trump, who next week officially becomes the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee, is “going to do very, very well in a swing state like New Hampshire.”

It’s been 24 years since a Republican carried the purple state New Hampshire in a presidential election. You have to go back to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.

But in the wake of two recent polls that indicated a margin-of-error race in New Hampshire and following President Biden’s extremely rough debate performance two weeks ago in his first primetime face-to-face showdown with Trump, Republicans are increasingly hopeful they can bring an end to the losing streak.

“It’s going to be a coin toss. It’s really at the end of the day going to be a 50-50 state,” Sununu said. “It’s very much in play for the former president.”

The governor, pointing to the rising chorus of calls by elected Democrats for Biden to end his presidential re-election campaign amid deep concerns over his physical and cognitive ability to steer the country for another four years, argued that “there’s going to be a voter turnout problem on the Democrat side.”

He said that also working against the Democrats in New Hampshire are “the pains of inflation,” which he said “are very, very, real for average families out there. They need to see a change.”

Former longtime Democratic state party chair and former Democratic National Committee member Kathy Sullivan disagreed, spotlighting that “New Hampshire is not Trump-friendly territory” and that “there’s nothing changing the dynamic now in terms of Biden versus Trump in New Hampshire.”

Democrats also currently hold a very large organizational advantage over the GOP when it comes to ground-game operations in New Hampshire.

The Biden re-election team and the state Democratic coordinated campaign have 14 field offices across New Hampshire, with boots on the ground since January. Meanwhile, the Trump team and the GOP currently have one field office in addition to the campaign’s state headquarters.

“New Hampshire Democrats will continue to use our robust, grassroots campaign infrastructure to reach Granite Staters in every corner of New Hampshire to ensure we come together and re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris in November — the stakes could not be higher,” longtime state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley emphasized in a statement.

Sununu won’t be heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for next week’s Republican National Convention.

“I’ve got a job to do here,” he emphasized.

But the governor, who in recent years has been a frequent guest on the broadcast and cable news networks, said he would be “doing a lot of media” remotely.

Sununu was a top surrogate and supporter for former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley during the GOP presidential primaries. After she dropped out he announced his support for Trump.

“The Trump campaign is doing good staying very disciplined on their message. They’re not focusing on this individual or this small piece. They’re looking at the country as a whole,” he said about the Trump campaign making inroads with Haley voters. “They’re talking about the border. They’re talking about inflation. They’re talking about things that hit folks in the right way. So, from a campaign standpoint, I think it’s being run very, very well.”

The big announcement coming out of the convention will be Trump’s naming of a running mate.

“I don’t think it will make a huge difference in terms of whether Trump will be successful in terms of the campaign, but it will surely make a difference in terms of the former president’s ability to be productive once he gets back into office,” Sununu said.

Sununu made a pitch for Trump to name a governor, noting that “obviously I’m pretty biased in that direction that you need a CEO, a partner, a manager that can help take care of a lot of the other things that the president – being a 24-7 type job – may not be able to handle.”

Asked about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is considered to be on the shortlist for governor, the governor had plenty of praise.

Sununu, who joined Burgum on the campaign trail in New Hampshire last year as Burgum unsuccessfully ran for the White House, said “Doug Burgum is incredible. He’s a great friend. He was a great governor. He’d be a great asset towards the Trump administration.”

Turning to the down ballot races in the Granite State, Sununu argued that “the state Senate races, the House races, the governorships, and the congressional seats are very much in play.”

In the race to succeed retiring six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, Sununu said “I think CD2, which is typically a strong Democrat hold here in New Hampshire, is very much in play for Republicans.”

And in the race to succeed Sununu in the Corner Office, the governor said that “I suspect I will get” involved in the GOP gubernatorial primary.

But he wouldn’t say if he’d support former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte or former state Senate president Chuck Morse in the early September primary.

“I’m not sure who that is just yet,” he said. “In the next month I’ll start really focusing.”

As for his own political future after he leaves office early next year, the governor said “never say never on the politics but nothing I’m thinking about right now. I’m excited to get back to the private sector and make some money and get back into business and maybe help businesses with the politics of how they handle certain things.”

“Consulting, media work, whatever it might be. Everything’s on the table. I’m pretty excited to see what the next chapter holds,” he added.

Sununu said he has no eyes on the 2026 Senate election in New Hampshire.

“I would rule myself completely out of a U.S. Senate race, to be sure,” Sununu said. “Politically, we’ll see what happens down the road. But in terms of Senate or Congress, nothing I have any interest in whatsoever.”

The governor last year seriously mulled making a run for this year’s GOP presidential nomination before deciding against launching a campaign.

He seemed to rule out a run in the near future but added, “I’m 49. Who knows what happens 10-20 years down the road. I’m a big believer that I probably have three or four different lifetimes to live and who knows what those chapters will bring.”