“New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse (R) conceded the Republican Senate primary Wednesday morning to Don Bolduc (R), a retired Army brigadier general and election denier who has embraced former President Donald Trump’s approach to politics — a letdown for the GOP establishment in the race to take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH),” CNN reports.

“Bolduc joins a list of candidates national Republicans worry won’t be able to appeal to the broader November electorate.”

John Avlon: What does this race tell us about the state of the GOP?

“An intramural Republican fight over New Hampshire’s nominee for the Senate entered its final day on Monday with Gov. Chris Sununu and national Republicans working furiously to try to block a Trump-style 2020 election denier, Don Bolduc, whom they perceive as too extreme to win in November,” the New York Times reports.

“As former President Donald Trump remained on the sidelines — despite private appeals from a more mainstream Republican, Chuck Morse, the president of the State Senate, for Mr. Trump to throw him his support — Mr. Bolduc appeared in strong position to get on the ballot against Senator Maggie Hassan, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the evenly divided chamber.”

“A leading super PAC that backs Senate Republicans says it will spend $23 million to buy TV time in the small but crucial battleground state of New Hampshire as the group targets Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a key contest,” Fox News reports.

A new University of New Hampshire poll finds Don Bolduc (R) leading Chuck Morse (R) in the race for the 2022 Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, 43% to 22%, with other candidates far behind.

Tim Miller: “Governor Sununu took a pass on the race, not being particularly keen on jobs where rioters target his office if he doesn’t submit to a game show host’s autocratic delusions, leaving the Republican primary wide open.”

“The man who has filled that vacuum is emblematic of the ‘candidate quality’ issues that sad turtle Mitch recently alluded to.”

“The frontrunner is Brigadier General Don Bolduc. He is not, like Sununu, a popular mainstream R with a track record of success; he’s an absolute loon who lost a Senate primary in 2020 and is a favorite in Bannon’s War Room where he is referred to only as ‘The General,’ as if he were some kind of exiled Kazak communist who Bannon is demanding be released from prison.”

“Which happens to be exactly the profile Republican primary voters are looking for this year.”

“Republican candidates in a New Hampshire Senate primary debate over the weekend raced to the right, casting doubt on the 2020 election and discrediting the FBI after the recent search of former President Donald Trump’s home,” NBC News reports.

“Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) was initially seen as one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election this year. But as New Hampshire’s Sept. 13 primary draws closer, there’s still no clear Republican frontrunner to take her on in November,” Axios reports.

“The GOP establishment’s failure to coalesce around one viable candidate after its initial favorite — New Hampshire’s current Gov. Chris Sununu — decided not to enter the race has helped clear the way for Democratic incumbent.”

A new Granite State poll in New Hampshire finds Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) is in statistical ties with four possible Republican challengers.

Sen. Maggie Hassan’s (D-NH) reelection campaign announced a $13 million reservation in fall airtime ahead of November’s midterm elections, The Hill reports.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told the Washington Examiner that was on the verge of running for Senate and but then he talked it over with Republican senators.

Said Sununu: “They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren’t doing anything. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years. OK, so I’m just going to be a roadblock for two years. That’s not what I do.”

Retired Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc (R) called Gov. Chris Sununu (R) a “Chinese Communist sympathizer” whose family business “supports terrorism,” and claimed he drove the governor from the U.S. Senate race, New Hampshire Journal reports.

Said Bolduc: “I derailed Gov. Sununu from running for Senate. Let’s face it — the most powerful political family in New Hampshire made a decision not to run against a political outsider for the United States Senate.”

He added: “We ran a Sun Tzu-like campaign that brought to the forefront all of his flaws for serving at the national level as a U.S. Senator. And he surprised all of his supporters because in the 11th hour, he looked at the polls and there was no guarantee could beat Bolduc. And he can’t afford a loss based on his future ambitions in the political arena.”

After Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced he will pass on the U.S. Senate race, WMUR reports that former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) “will not run for any office in 2022.”

This is more bad news for Republicans and guarantees a messy GOP primary with Donald Trump trying to be kingmaker.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced that he will not run for U.S. Senate against Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in 2022 and will instead seek re-election, WMUR reports.

Sununu had led Hassan in some early polling.

When asked if he’d consider running for president, Sununu said: “I haven’t ruled out going to Washington. Just not as senator right now.”

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told Fox News that he would likely make a decision about whether he will run for the Senate “in the next week or so. Maybe sooner.”

A new Saint Anselm Poll in New Hampshire finds Gov. Chris Sununu (R) leading Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in a possible U.S. Senate race, 46% to 41%.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told WMUR he will make a final decision on whether he will run for the U.S. Senate in the next few weeks.

A new University of New Hampshire poll finds Gov. Chris Sununu (R) leading Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in a possible U.S. Senate match up, 45% to 42%.

In other match ups, Hassan leads retired Gen. Don Bolduc (R) by a 47% to 42%. And she would run neck and neck against former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R), in a rematch of the race that Hassan won five years ago.

Retired Gen. Don Bolduc (R) told the New Hampshire Today Show that he has begun talking directly with Donald Trump and thinks the former president might endorse his candidacy in the 2022 U.S. Senate race.