By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said on Monday he would not join the crowded field vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, saying too many candidates will help former President Donald Trump win the nomination.

"Our party is on a collision course toward electoral irrelevance without significant corrective action," Sununu said in a Washington Post opinion piece.

"The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote, and I will help ensure this does not happen."

Sununu, who has served as governor of the small New England state since 2017, had said he was considering a run. He ultimately concluded he could have more influence on the Republican Party by staying out of the race and leading the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state, he wrote.

Trump is the front-runner among at least nine Republicans who have entered the Republican contest or said they planned to.

Sununu said Trump did not deliver on several election promises during his time in office, and pointed to the former president's ongoing legal challenges.

"If he is the nominee, Republicans will lose again. Just as we did in 2018, 2020 and 2022. This is indisputable, and I am not willing to let it happen without a fight," Sununu said.

Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, became the latest to join on Monday. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum were expected to launch their campaign this week.

Sununu said Republican candidates should not enter the race to further "a vanity campaign, to sell books or to audition to serve as Donald Trump's vice president."

He pointed to the party's losses in the ballot since 2017, adding that it will continue to happen unless Republicans "undergo a course correction."

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Doina Chiacu)