Four GOP Governors, Including Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Do Not Sign Letter in Support of Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Four Republican state governors have declined to sign a letter in support of President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Out of the nation’s 28 Republican governors, 24 signed a joint letter urging the “swift confirmation” of Barrett. The governors who did not sign were Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Phil Scott of Vermont, and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Sununu has not been as openly critical of Trump as the three other governors who refrained from signing. Currently in the midst of a reelection campaign, Sununu is leading Democratic challenger Dan Feltes by 58-35 percent in a poll by Saint Anshelm College.

“As governor, Chris Sununu has no role in the confirmation process,” Sununu campaign spokesperson Ben Vihstadt told WMUR News. However, the New Hampshire governor gave his support to the president’s previous nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Bret Kavanaugh.

Sununu has voiced some support for conducting confirmation hearings for Barrett.

“I think Judge Barrett is going to have a hearing, which I think is appropriate,” Sununu said in late September. “What I’ve always said, and I think I speak for a lot of people across this entire country, when I say that the process has to be constitutional, it has to be fair and it has to be, most importantly, done with some civility.”

The push by the president and Senate Republicans to confirm Barrett before the November elections has drawn fierce backlash from Democrats. If confirmed, Barrett will take the former seat of liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and solidify a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench.