The super PAC backing Ron DeSantis said 51 New Hampshire House members had endorsed his likely presidential candidacy, including four who had previously endorsed Donald Trump, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The article credited a key endorsement with helping the group close the gap with Trump, who had announced his own list of 51 House backers at a Manchester rally.
The backing of House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, for DeSantis clearly helped the Never Back Down Committee catch up to Trump
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Osborne’s influence in the caucus extended to recent leadership decisions, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
A few months ago, Osborne named Harvey-Bolia to a House GOP leadership post
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Together, the two camps accounted for a substantial share of the GOP caucus, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
These endorsements from 98 House members for Trump and DeSantis make up just under half of the GOP caucus that currently holds a 200-196 majority over Democrats.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
As the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, the pro-DeSantis group also included five House committee chairs, among them retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn at House Judiciary, House Education Chairman Rick Ladd and Special Committee on Housing Chairman Joe Alexander, while Trump had five House chairs backing his bid.
The four lawmakers who switched from Trump to DeSantis were Reps. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, Debra DiSimone, Brian Cole and Linda Smart, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. Another DeSantis backer was Rep. Jess Edwards, who led the House Finance subcommittee overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services. DeSantis was expected to return for a pre-announcement visit to meet with supportive lawmakers, while Gov. Chris Sununu said he would decide the following month whether he too would enter the race.
The dueling endorsement tallies offered an early measure of how the two leading Republican contenders were organizing within the closely divided House. With the GOP holding a narrow 200-196 edge, the loyalties of individual members carried added weight heading into the 2024 cycle. Each campaign used its list to argue momentum, and the back-and-forth over which contender held more House support underscored how contested the Granite State had become months before any votes were cast. The article noted that DeSantis had not yet formally entered the race but was moving steadily toward a launch, with donor meetings and additional New Hampshire visits on the calendar. The committee’s tally also reflected the reach of House leaders who had thrown in with the Florida governor, including the four members who had switched their support from the former president. Both camps counted multiple committee chairs among their backers, a sign that the contest was playing out at the highest levels of the caucus. Gov. Chris Sununu, meanwhile, had not ruled out a campaign of his own, adding another variable to the early field. The competing announcements offered an early glimpse of how the primary fight would be waged inside the State House, where individual lawmakers wielded outsized influence in such a narrowly divided chamber.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader.
