I spoke to NBC News‘ Sahil Kapur about New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu’s decision to forgo a Senate challenge and what it means for GOP majority hopes.

“All things equal, Sununu taking a pass is an unequivocally positive development for Democrats,” said Liam Donovan, a lobbyist and former Senate Republican campaign aide. “But in addition to recruiting breaks, Dems need the national environment to improve considerably over the next year or they stand losing to a less heralded group of GOP majority makers.”

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to Grace Segers of The New Republic about New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu’s decision to forgo a Senate challenge and what it means for the hopes of a GOP majority.

It’s obviously a disappointment, as a Sununu candidacy would immediately make [New Hampshire] the marquee race of the cycle, but given the results of last week’s elections, it’s not the mortal blow it otherwise might have been,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “At this point, the GOP Senate majority is going to be a function of solid recruits riding a friendly environment.”

Donovan told The New Republic that Republicans needed to avoid “messy primaries” that could produce disappointing candidates and that the New Hampshire race would now be a test of that premise. “All in all, Senate [Republicans] have to feel better about where things stand today than they did a week ago, even with Sununu passing,” Donovan said.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to McClatchy‘s Dave Catanese for a piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader about Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s game of chicken with congressional Democrats on the debt ceiling.

For the moment, McConnell’s bet is that because Democrats are in power, they will shoulder more of the blame if the country somehow stumbles into default. Among Republican voters, it might even be a bigger risk to accommodate more Biden-branded spending.

“Who the median voters will blame if things go south is an open question — and in part a function of how you guys cover it,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “But your average Republicans will not object to the conference playing hardball here, and for GOP members there may be more immediate risk if they are seen as capitulating on the debt limit and facilitating the Biden agenda.”