CONCORD, N.H. - The nation's newest governor is coming out of the starting gate by creating a new government efficiency commission that seems to be modeled, to a degree, on a similar national effort by President-elect Trump.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of swing state New Hampshire, in her inaugural address on Thursday as she succeeded longtime GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, pointed to the state's budget challenges ahead due to the drying up of federal COVID relief funding for the states and a downturn in business revenues.

"We are going to have to look to find better ways to do things with fewer dollars," Ayotte said.

The new governor then said, "Because I know nothing is harder than getting politicians to not spend money, today I am announcing the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, or as I like to call it – the ‘COGE.’"

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Ayotte argued that "COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state."

A couple of hours later, Ayotte signed her first executive order, which created the 15-member commission.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her inauguration, Ayotte appeared to tease her proposal by emphasizing that "we look for new, efficient ways to do things better and serve taxpayers."

The move by New Hampshire's governor comes nearly two months after Trump, days after his presidential election victory, tapped Elon Musk, the world's richest person, and former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to steer what he called the "Department of Government Efficiency," better known by its acronym DOGE.

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Ayotte's proposal received plenty of applause from state lawmakers gathered at New Hampshire's Statehouse for the governor's inauguration. Republicans in November's elections made major gains as they strengthened their state House and state Senate majorities.

"I think it's a brilliant approach," Republican Mayor Jay Ruais of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city, told Fox News. 

Ruais, considered a rising star in his party, emphasized "appointing a commission like this to go after any kind of bloat, I think, is a perfect approach and certainly going to be really beneficial for state government and also certainly helps us downstream at the local level as well."

New Hampshire Democrats obviously disagree.

"Governor Ayotte hasn’t been in office for a full twenty-four hours yet, and she is already laying the groundwork for massive budget cuts to services that people rely on. This is all thanks to years of failed Republican policies she championed," longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley argued.

"Throughout her speech, one thing became clear – Kelly Ayotte is taking a page out of the Donald Trump playbook," Buckley claimed. "Governor Ayotte is following in Trump’s footsteps and setting on a dangerous and costly path for New Hampshire."

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Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, who previously served as a state attorney general, defeated Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig by nearly 10 points in November's election. Her victory kept the governor's office in GOP hands.

In her address, Ayotte praised her predecessor, whose policies she campaigned on continuing.

"New Hampshire is moving in the right direction, and no one deserves more credit for that after four terms at the helm than Governor Chris Sununu. Thank you, Governor," Ayotte said.

Looking ahead, Ayotte told GOP state legislative leaders, "I look forward to working with you … to marshal our Republican majorities over the next two years to deliver on the promises we made to keep our state moving in the right direction."

And Ayotte reiterated a longstanding pledge by New Hampshire Republicans that she is "not going to surprise anyone when I say this: no income tax, no sales tax, not now, not ever."

But Ayotte also extended an olive branch to Democrats and said, "My door is always open. Good government knows no party."

"I am going to be a governor for you, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent, you name it. Because our state is so much bigger than a party or an ideology," she added.

And Ayotte, who faced a barrage of attacks by Democrats over the issue of abortion during last year's gubernatorial campaign, repeated her vow to state lawmakers that "if you send me legislation that further restricts access to abortion beyond our current law: I will veto it."

Abortions are legal in New Hampshire through 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Ayotte also made headlines by announcing she'll move to ban cell phones in the state's public schools.

Pointing to her husband, Joe, a retired Air Force pilot who flew combat missions over Iraq and nowadays teaches middle school math, the governor said, "Joe and I talk about what he is seeing in the classroom and what his students need all the time. He and the thousands of teachers across our state are on the front lines of our education system. Teachers know uniquely what is working for our students and what isn’t. We need to listen to them.

"That’s why today I am announcing that we will be taking action to ban cell phones in our schools. Screens are negatively impacting our learning environments, drawing students' attention," Ayotte highlighted.

Sununu, in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of Ayotte's inauguration, which was his last full day in office after eight years and four election victories (New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont are the only states in the nation to have two-year terms for governors), praised his successor.

"Kelly's been a great friend for decades. She's going to be a fantastic governor for New Hampshire. She's New Hampshire, born, bred, ready to go, hit the ground running with a great team here in the state," Sununu emphasized.

The outgoing governor added that while he's leaving office, he's always available for advice. "Anything I could possibly add, she knows she can call and text anytime," he said.

EXCLUSIVE: CONCORD, N.H. — Kelly Ayotte becomes the nation's newest governor on Thursday when she's inaugurated at the New Hampshire State House.

The former U.S. senator, who previously served as a state attorney general, takes office in the key New England swing state a week and a half before President-elect Trump is inaugurated.

And Ayotte, who succeeds fellow Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in steering the Granite State, says she looks forward to working with the Trump administration.

"I'll work with the administration on behalf of New Hampshire and advocate for the Granite State on important priorities here: keeping the state safe, making sure that when it comes to federal resources that we're advocating for New Hampshire, so I look forward to working with the administration," Ayotte said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her inauguration.

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During last year's gubernatorial campaign, which culminated with Ayotte defeating Democrat gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig by nearly 10 points in November's election, the issue of illegal immigration and border security was often in the spotlight in a state that shares a border with Canada and has long dealt with an acute fentanyl crisis.

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Ayotte, who pledged on the campaign trail to prevent New Hampshire from becoming a sanctuary state for illegal migrants, will have what Sununu didn't enjoy the past four years: a Republican in the White House.

"President Trump is going to enforce the laws, and that's important to me. And we have a northern border."

Noting her tenure as a state attorney general, Ayotte said, "I believe it's important that criminals are held accountable. And as we look at New Hampshire, we're not going to allow New Hampshire to become a sanctuary state. And so it's important that we enforce our laws. We welcome legal immigration, but those who come here illegally and especially those who commit crimes need to be held accountable."

Ayotte was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and was a rising star in the GOP and regarded as a leader on national security and foreign policy.

But Ayotte lost re-election in 2016 by a razor-thin margin of just over 1,000 votes at the hands of then-Democrat Gov. Maggie Hassan.

Now, as she takes over running the Granite State, she said that "my No. 1 priority is being a governor for everyone in New Hampshire, for all the people, and being accessible to the people of New Hampshire."

"Making sure that we continue to grow our economy, our prosperity, our freedom here in New Hampshire, having a responsible budget where we live within our means but serve the people of New Hampshire effectively, those will be my priorities on day one," she added.

Ayotte, who made history nearly two decades ago as the state’s first female attorney general, made history again in November as the first Republican woman to win election as New Hampshire governor.

"We have so many strong women that have served in this state, a great history," Ayotte said. "There are so many examples of women who have led and great men who have led, too."

She said her "hope is that every young girl out there understands that whatever position she strives to attain, it's available to her, and that we aren't even having these discussions about whether a woman's elected or a man's elected because it's just equal for everyone to understand that those opportunities are there, and I think that's what's happening in New Hampshire."

As Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire finishes up her tenure in the House of Representatives this week after a dozen years of representing New Hampshire in Congress, she has a message for some of her older colleagues.

"Some of my colleagues in the House of Representatives who have been in Congress for decades, and they get very comfortable in districts that are deep, deep blue. They haven't had a challenging election in a long time," Kuster told Fox News Digital.

The 68-year-old Kuster, who won election and re-election six times in swing state New Hampshire's competitive Second Congressional District, decided against running again for another term in 2024, partly because she felt it was time for a new generation of House Democrat leaders to take over and that she wanted to set an example.

"I did want to lead by example. I felt that 12 years was a good length of time to put my shoulder to the wheel and work hard for working families and veterans and farmers and save the planet and protect women's rights. These were all important to me. But I think the generational change that is going on in the House Democratic Caucus is really important," she emphasized.

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Kuster pointed to the generational shift among House Democrats with the overthrow of senior committee leaders in the weeks since November's election, when the party lost control of the White House and Senate majority and narrowly failed to regain control of the House.

Pointing to some of her House Democrat colleagues in their 70s or 80s, Kuster said "they served their country well, but I don't think there's any shame in stepping down and saying there are other people that can do this job."

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But Kuster highlighted that she was not referring to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who takes over in January as the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The former governor, who turns 78 next month, is considering running for re-election for a fourth six-year term in the Senate when she’s up in 2026.

"Let me just clarify. I'm not talking about Sen. Shaheen. I hope she will run for another term," Kuster said. "I think she’s at the top of her game and doing an extraordinary job."

Kuster says another reason she decided against seeking re-election was due to her time-consuming efforts as chair of the New Democrat Coalition.

"It's sort of the center left, pragmatic, get the job done, work across the aisle; I call it the can-do caucus," she said.

Kuster noted that the New Democrat Coalition has "both a policy arm and a political arm, and so one of the reasons that I was stepping down is that I was doing a great deal of travel all across the country recruiting candidates to run for the House, and then raising resources and supporting their campaigns with strategy and consultants and communications, and just spending a lot of time on it, myself, welcoming them and helping them."

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Kuster highlighted that while her party suffered major setbacks in the 2024 elections, "[A]mong the New Democrat candidates, we protected 20 out of 22 current members who were challenged in tough races. We call them the front line, and we will be welcoming 25 new members of the New Democrat coalition. It's going to be up to 110 members."

"We flipped nine seats from what we call red to blue, and most of those were won by [President-elect Donald] Trump, but our candidates outperformed the top of the ticket," she said.

Kuster said "the message that we had was successful" and that the message focused on "lowering costs, about bringing people together to get the job done. We focused in on safety and security, not just immigration and the border, but crime in the community and gun violence in the schools."

"We also talked about democracy, and we also talked about women's reproductive health, but we really leaned in on costs and the economy and where the voters have the greatest concern. And so, it's a message that I think will resonate," she added.

Kuster said she's going to spend the next two years helping fellow Democrats as they reach for the House majority in 2026.

"My north star is for the Democrats to win back the House," she said.

Kuster added that she wants to help "create the next generation of Democratic leaders" who advocate for a "center-left, pragmatic approach, working across the aisle getting the job done. I know from this cycle that that was very, very successful, and that's where we won the seats."

RYE, N.H. - EXCLUSIVE - Scott Brown is on the move.

The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, who later served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President-elect Trump's first administration, is seriously considering a 2026 run to return to Congress.

If Brown moves ahead and launches a campaign in the months ahead, it would potentially set up a high-profile rematch with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in what would likely be a competitive and expensive Senate clash in a key swing state.

The 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who on average performs around 40–50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just thinking about running to return to the Senate.

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He's been meeting in recent weeks with various Republican and conservative groups in New Hampshire.

Brown, in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, said he's doing his "due diligence, meeting with anybody and everybody. So you'll be seeing me a lot around, whether it's parades, triathlons, my rock band, meeting and getting out and really learning."

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And Brown is taking aim at New Hampshire's all-Democrat congressional delegation.

"The thing that really ticks me off is how they've basically covered up for [President] Joe Biden for the last four years, what they've done or not done on the border, what they've done and not done in inflation, and they're just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better," Brown argued.

Brown made headlines in 2010 as the then-state senator in blue-state Massachusetts won a special U.S. Senate election to serve the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. 

After losing re-election in 2012 to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he had spent the first years of his childhood and where his family had roots dating back to the colonial era. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.

After hosting nearly all the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he termed "No BS backyard BBQs," Brown eventually endorsed Trump in the weeks ahead of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years.

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Returning to New Hampshire at the end of the first Trump administration, Brown supported his wife Gail, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022. 

And the Browns also stayed politically active in other ways, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their "Backyard BBQs" during the 2024 presidential cycle.

Asked in May 2023 if he'd consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital "of course."

Now, as Brown considers another Senate run, time isn't working against him.

Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.

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This time around, he emphasized, "I have a long runway. I didn't have that obviously the first time, and I'm going to do what I have been doing for almost a decade now, going around, meeting with people participating in the process."

During his first Senate run, which came months after he changed his residency to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced carpetbagger accusations.

Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire took aim at Brown.

Amplify NH claimed in a release that "the gentleman from Massachusetts is clawing for another chance at power, framing himself once again as a Senate candidate for New Hampshire."

Brown says he's not concerned.

"We've had a house here for over three decades, and we've been fully engaged full-time here for over a decade. So now I think that's old news."

And he argued that New Hampshire's congressional delegation "votes 100% with Massachusetts."

While Shaheen cruised to re-election in 2020, winning by roughly 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won re-election in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are eyeing New Hampshire in 2026 as they aim to expand their incoming 53-47 majority in the chamber. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be heavily targeted by Senate Republicans.

Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but he cut his deficit to just three points in his face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020.

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And the GOP kept an open gubernatorial seat in party hands – former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded longtime Gov. Chris Sununu – while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire state House and Senate.

Asked if he'd like Trump to join him on the Granite State campaign trail if he decides to run, Brown said "if he's got the time, of course."

And pointing to Trump, Brown said "not only did he help obviously, nationally, he helped here in New Hampshire."

Shaheen has yet to announce if she’ll seek another term in the Senate. That decision will likely come early in the new year.

But Shaheen, in a fundraising email to supporters on Friday, didn't sound like she was getting ready to retire.

"Democrats need to be ready to fight back" against the incoming Trump administration, she wrote. The senator added that last month's election setbacks for Democrats highlight that "early preparation has never been more important."

And Shaheen, a former three-term New Hampshire governor, is taking over next month as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the top two positions on the powerful panel.

Shaheen also turns 78 next month.

Asked if age would be a factor in a potential Shaheen-Brown rematch, Brown said he likes Shaheen and really appreciated her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added that "that's certainly up to her."

"I'm 65. I can't believe it. I feel like I'm 40. My wife says I act like I'm like 12, he added.

An appearance by Pete Buttigieg on Friday morning on New Hampshire talk radio is fueling ongoing speculation that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in President Biden's administration may be mulling another White House run in 2028.

Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who is considered a potential contender for the next nomination race, has made numerous radio appearances across the country during his four years steering the Department of Transportation, including a bunch in New Hampshire, which prides itself on being the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state.

But with President-elect Trump a month away from returning to the White House, and Democrats scrambling in the wake of November's election setbacks to find a path out of the political wilderness, Buttigieg's latest radio appearance in New Hampshire is grabbing increased attention as the extremely early preseason moves in the party's 2028 presidential primary race will soon start.

And the guest segment by Buttigieg on the statewide morning news-talk radio program "New Hampshire Today" is bound to spark more 2028 speculation.

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"The only thing I'm sure is next is a little vacation," Buttigieg said when asked by host Chris Ryan about his plans once his tenure as transportation secretary sunsets on Jan. 20.

Buttigieg said he and his spouse, Chasten, "are ready to spend a little time together. I'm ready to be around our three-year-old twins a little more, and I'm determined not to make any life decisions too quickly in the new year."

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"But I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that's running for office, and maybe that's not. I'll take the next few weeks and months to work through that," Buttigieg shared.

And he emphasized that "I know what I care about. I care about how communities, like the place where I grew up, find a better future. I care about how to make sure technology makes us all better off and not worse off. I care about how the infrastructure issues and opportunities I've worked on can develop. I care about public service. I care about our democracy, and I will find ways to work on that, whatever shape that might take."

Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a longshot when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. 

But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to win the Iowa caucuses before coming in close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.

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During his tenure as Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg has made a handful of official visits to New Hampshire, most recently earlier this year. And two years ago, in a political trip, he headlined the New Hampshire Democratic Party's major autumn fundraising gala.

Asked in the interview whether he'll be returning to the Granite State in the near future, he quipped, "I'm sure I'll turn up before too long."

Buttigieg, in recent years, has also made regular appearances on the Fox News Channel to highlight the Biden administration's efforts. This year, he served as a high-profile surrogate on Fox News and elsewhere across the media landscape for Biden, and later for Vice President Kamala Harris, on the campaign trail.

After his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttiegieg moved from red-state Indiana to neighboring Michigan, which is a key battleground, and now calls Traverse City, Michigan, home.

In recent weeks, Buttigieg has fielded calls by some Michigan Democrats urging him to consider a 2026 run for governor, to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited.

"I haven’t made any decisions about, big decisions about my future," Buttigieg told reporters earlier this month in Detroit, in a line that he would repeat in this week's New Hampshire radio interview.

CONCORD, N.H. – Presidential electors are gathering at state capitals across the country on Tuesday to cast their electoral votes in the 2024 election, a key step in formalizing President-elect Trump’s White House victory last month over Vice President Kamala Harris.

At the New Hampshire Statehouse, the state’s four electors cast ballots on behalf of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, in a largely ceremonial vote. 

Harris edged Trump by roughly three percentage points to carry New Hampshire, the only swing state in New England.

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"This is the formal vote for President and Vice President of the United States," New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, who presided over the procedure, said. "Every state in the country right now is going through this process."

New Hampshire was one of four states, along with Indiana, Tennessee and Vermont, to lead off Tuesday's Electoral College voting.

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When Americans cast their ballots in a White House election, they’re technically voting for state electors committed to supporting their choice for president and vice president. The electors are expected to vote in accordance with the outcome of the popular vote in their state. 

The electoral votes from the states will be certified on Jan. 6 during a joint session of Congress. And Trump will be inaugurated as president two weeks later, on Jan. 20.

The political parties in each state choose their slate of electors ahead of the general election. 

Trump convincingly won the presidential election, winning the popular vote for the first time in three tries, and carrying all seven of the crucial battleground states that were heavily contested. 

The former and future president ended up winning the electoral vote, 312 to 226, over Harris.

A satanic "nativity" display involving an occult statue erected on Concord city property near the New Hampshire State Capitol was destroyed shortly after several vandalism incidents last week. Now, Democratic state Rep. Ellen Read is saying that the temple "probably should" get to erect a new display in its place.

"I think they probably should, because I think the vandalism and the hatefulness shouldn’t go without a response. But it’s up to them," Read said, the Catholic News Agency reported.

Read told the outlet she came up with the idea to suggest that The Satanic Temple (TST) put up the Christmas display, which was a statue of Baphomet – despite significant pushback from local officials – arguing that a Catholic groups' Nativity scene of Jesus should not be the only decoration there. She also said she is a member of TST but has not participated in any of its meetings or events. 

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According to its website, TST's mission "Is To Encourage Benevolence And Empathy, Reject Tyrannical Authority, Advocate Practical Common Sense, Oppose Injustice, And Undertake Noble Pursuits."

"We have publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict people's reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, organized clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations, and engaged in other advocacy in accordance with our tenets," the website states. 

Avoiding a legal dispute over the First Amendment, the Concord City Council approved the organization's permit to show the display, despite the mayor saying earlier this week he wished the city had not approved it. 

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"I opposed the permit because I believe the request was made not in the interest of promoting religious equity but in order to drive an anti-religious political agenda, and because I do not respond well to legal extortion, the threat of litigation," Concord Mayor Byron Champlin said during the council's meeting last Monday. "Some on social media have celebrated the Satanic Temple’s display as a victory for religious pluralism and a reflection of our growing diversity as a community. I disagree with this. This is about an out-of-state organization cynically promoting its national agenda at the expense of the Concord community."

Meanwhile, the city put out a statement saying that due to the First Amendment and the potential for a lawsuit, the city was forced to choose between banning all holiday displays or allowing TST's statue.

"After reviewing its legal options, the City ultimately decided to continue the policy of allowing unattended displays at City Plaza during this holiday season and to allow the statue," the city said in a statement. "It is anticipated that the City Council will review next year whether permits for unattended holiday displays should be allowed at City Plaza."

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Read rebuked the mayor in an interview with the Catholic news outlet this week, saying, "I think it’s the narrow-mindedness of the mayor, who can’t seem to wrap his head around that this represents a large percentage of the community and its beliefs."

In a video posted to Facebook, two TST representatives unveiled the statue Monday. One spokesperson recalled the group's core tenets, before chanting, "Hail Satan!" and showcasing the statue. 

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Concord Deputy Police Chief John Thomas told a local news outlet that the investigation into who vandalized TST's property is ongoing. 

TST has erected several holiday displays near city or state properties, often alongside traditional Christian exhibits, in recent years. In 2022, the Illinois chapter of TST installed a holiday display in the state Capitol rotunda, which featured a crocheted serpent atop a book and a pile of apples. In December 2023, the Iowa TST chapter set up a Baphomet statue at the state Capitol, which was also vandalized shortly after its placement. 

NEWFIELDS, N.H. – After eight years in office, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is in his final weeks steering New England's only swing state.

Sununu announced last year that he wouldn’t seek an unprecedented fifth two-year term as governor. New Hampshire and Vermont are the only two states in the nation to hold gubernatorial elections every two years.

And he's leaving office on a high note, with his approval ratings remaining firmly in positive territory.

So what's next for the 50-year-old Sununu, who eight years ago, when first elected, was the nation's youngest governor?

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"I'm excited to get back to the private sector. I like businesses, I like deal sourcing," the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview. "I'm not sure exactly what the private sector is going to bring, but I think it's going to be pretty exciting."

New Hampshire, a perennial swing state, will likely have a competitive Senate contest in 2026 when longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, is up for re-election. And Sununu is likely to be courted by national Republicans to run for the Senate.

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But Sununu reiterated what he told Fox News Digital in July.

"Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card," he said.

But the governor predicted that Republicans will "have a good candidate. There's no question about it. A couple of different folks that might be interested in running. I think that'd be fantastic. We've had an all-Democrat [congressional] delegation for a long time. I think the people in the state… would love a different voice, would love just some sort of change."

Sununu, one of the more recognizable governors nationwide thanks to his regular appearances the past few years on the Sunday talk shows and cable news networks, mulled a Republican presidential nomination run before announcing a year and a half ago that he wouldn't seek the White House in 2024.

Asked if there's another run for office in his future, the governor said he's "not thinking about that at all, excited for the private sector. And that's all… that's in my windshield."

But he didn't entirely shut the door, adding, "We'll see what political chapters write themselves down the road."

Sununu will be succeeded as New Hampshire governor by Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, a fellow Republican and former state attorney general and former U.S. senator.

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The governor was a top surrogate on the campaign trail and on the airwaves for Ayotte, who pledged to continue the Sununu agenda.

Asked if Ayotte's nearly nine and half point win over former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, the Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee, was also a victory for him, Sununu said, "It was a victory for New Hampshire."

"Kelly's going to be phenomenal. She has that experience as an attorney general, as U.S. senator. She understands how the systems work," Sununu emphasized. "Our transition is already going incredibly smoothly; discussions virtually every single day about all aspects of government, where it's going, how to build good teams and, most importantly… the opportunities to listen to what's happening in the communities."

Asked if he'd be offering advice to his successor, Sununu said "she'll have my cell number. I don't know if she'll need it, because I think she's going to be fantastic on her own, but she'll always have my cell number."

Sununu pointed to John Lynch and now-Sen. Maggie Hassan, his Democratic predecessors as governor, who Sununu said shared their cellphone numbers with him. He noted, "We want New Hampshire to be successful. So, it's not just me helping Kelly out. It is always a team effort. She's going to have a host of people that she can lean on for any advice when she needs it."

Roughly two months after barring parents who wore "XX" wristbands during a high school soccer game against a transgender athlete, a school district is confident in its decision to do so.

Anthony Foote of Bow, New Hampshire, told the New Hampshire Journal he had received a notice of trespass from Bow and Dunbarton School Districts Superintendent Marcy Kelley after he had worn armbands in support of biological girls-only sports to his daughter’s high school soccer game back in September.

Foote, his wife Nicole, Kyle Fellers, and Eldon Rash then filed a federal lawsuit against the Bow School District, Superintendent of Schools Marcy Kelley, Principal Matt Fisk, Athletic Director Mike Desilets, Bow Police Lieutenant Phil Lamy and soccer referee Steve Rossetti several days later.

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The "silent protest" at Bow High School, the lawsuit says, intended to "show solidarity" with the Bow team and oppose a policy that allowed a transgender girl to play on Plymouth's team.

Fellers and Foote testified Thursday that they hadn’t intended to harass or otherwise target a transgender player on the opposing team, but the school district said differently.

Kelley and Desilets believed that the protest wouldn't stop at just wristbands, saying they had received strongly worded emails from Foote in which he called himself a "real leader" who was prepared to take action. They also said Foote urged others to attend the game on social media.

In the days leading up to the game, another parent told school officials that she had overheard others talk about showing up to the game wearing dresses and heckling the transgender player.

"When we suspect there’s some sort of threat . . . we don’t wait for it to happen," Kelley said on Friday.

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Kelley also pushed back on the idea that the plaintiffs were simply expressing support for their daughters and the girls' teammates in general, noting that they had chosen the one game involving a transgender player to begin wearing the wristbands.

"This was organized and targeted," she said. "If we were to allow harassment, we’re liable."

A federal judge in the case, Steven McAuliffe, pushed back on the parents for repeatedly referring to the athlete as a boy on Thursday.

"You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl," McAuliffe said during the hearing. 

The transgender player in question, Parker Tirrell, and another student athlete are challenging the state law that bans transgender athletes in grades 5 to 12 from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. A federal judge ruled in their case that they can play sports during the ongoing lawsuit that seeks to overturn the law.

Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law in July, has said that it "ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions." 

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj, Landon Mion, Jackson Thompson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — With his convincing White House victory this month, President-elect Donald Trump's grip over the Republican Party is firmer than ever.

But a popular Republican governor who has long been a vocal critic of the former and future president says that there's still room in the GOP for those outside of the MAGA and America First base.

"The party is a big-tent party. There's no question about it," Sununu said in a Fox News Digital interview this week along the sidelines of the Republican Governors Association winter meeting, which was held at a waterfront resort in southwest Florida.

Sununu, who was a top surrogate and supporter of former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump's final challenger in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries, backed the Republican nominee in the general election.

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"It was a huge victory across the country, and the people of this country have spoken very loudly and unequivocally," Sununu said of Trump's electoral college and popular vote victory.

And the governor acknowledged that Trump is "the standard-bearer of the party" and "the voice of the party."

"But this is a very large party. If it wasn't, he (Trump) wouldn't have won. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have had convincing wins all across this country in a variety of different states," Sununu said.

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Asked about the president-elect's flurry of announcements on Cabinet nominations this month, Sununu said that "he definitely has a couple of controversial Cabinet picks that … I don't mind saying I'm not the biggest fan of, but the vast majority of them are terrific." (Sununu was interviewed before former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., withdrew his name from consideration as attorney general amid a growing scandal.)

"He's bringing folks from the private sector, he's bringing in governors, he's bringing in folks that have real experience in all of these issues and that understand the mission, which is fiscal responsibility," Sununu said, "getting regulations out of the way, which effectively lowers costs on business, lowers costs on consumers, lowers costs for everyday citizens."

Sununu didn't stump on Trump's behalf in swing state New Hampshire, but he crisscrossed the campaign trail on behalf of down-ballot Republicans. The governor was a top surrogate for former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the GOP gubernatorial nominee who emerged victorious on Election Day and has pledged to continue the Sununu agenda.

Asked if Ayotte's nearly nine and half point win was also a victory for him, Sununu said, "It was a victory for New Hampshire."

"Kelly's going to be phenomenal. She has that experience as an attorney general, as U.S. senator. She understands how the systems work," Sununu said. "Our transition is already going incredibly smoothly; discussions virtually every single day about all aspects of government, where it's going, how to build good teams and, most importantly … the opportunities to listen to what's happening in the communities."

"She'll have my cell number. I don't know if she'll need it, because I think she's going to be fantastic on her own, but she'll always have my cell number," Sununu said when asked if he'd be offering advice to his successor.

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And pointing to his two Democrat predecessors as governor, who Sununu said shared their cellphone numbers with him: "We want New Hampshire to be successful. So it's not just me helping Kelly out. It is always a team effort. She's going to have a host of people that she can lean on for any advice when she needs it."

After mulling a 2024 White House run, Sununu announced in the summer of 2023 that he would launch a presidential campaign, and weeks later he also said he wouldn't seek an unprecedented fifth two-year term steering the Granite State. (New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont are the only two states in the nation to hold gubernatorial elections every two years.)

"I'm excited to get back to the private sector. I like businesses, I like deal sourcing," he said. "I'm not sure exactly what the private sector is going to bring, but I think it's going to be pretty exciting."

New Hampshire will likely have a competitive Senate contest in 2026 when longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, is up for re-election.

But Sununu reiterated what he told Fox News Digital in July.

"Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card," he said.

But the governor predicted that Republicans will "have a good candidate. There's no question about it. A couple of different folks that might be interested in running. I think that'd be fantastic. We've had an all-Democrat [congressional] delegation for a long time. I think the people in the state, especially with Kelly's convincing win, would love a different voice, would love just some sort of change."

Asked if there's another run for office in his future, the 50-year-old governor said he's "not thinking about that at all, excited for the private sector. And that's all … that's in my windshield."

But he didn't entirely shut the door, adding, "We'll see what political chapters write themselves down the road."

New Hampshire Judge Steven McAuliffe presided over a case involving parents in the state who wore pro-girl armbands at a high school girls soccer game that included a transgender athlete. During the case, McAuliffe pushed back on the parents for repeatedly referring to the athlete as a boy. 

"You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl," McAuliffe said during the hearing. 

McAuliffe's federal judicial service dates back to 1992, when he was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush. On Thursday, McAuliffe heard arguments in a case in which plaintiffs Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow School District after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters' soccer game in September. 

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The wristbands said "XX" in reference to the natural female chromosomes. The "XX" logo has become an unspoken symbol of the ongoing legal and political battle against transgender inclusion in girls and women's sports across the country. Many consider it a women's rights phenomenon. 

The no-trespass orders have since expired, but McAuliffe is deciding whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to wear the wristbands and carry signs at upcoming school events, including basketball games, swim meets and a music concert, while the case proceeds.

They wore the wristbands because another federal judge in New Hampshire, Landya McCafferty, who was appointed to her seat by President Obama in 2013, ruled two transgender athletes would be allowed to play on high school girls soccer teams, overruling a state law in place to prevent that from happening. 

Fifteen-year-old Parker Tirrell, a transgender athlete, was allowed to compete for Plymouth Regional High School. In a lawsuit filed by Fellers and Foote, they alleged they were told by school officials to remove the armbands or they would have to leave the game. 

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Both of the fathers say the intention of the armband was not to protest Tirrell, but to support their own daughters in a game that featured a biological male. 

McAuliffe questioned the notion that the wristbands were in support of their own daughters.

"Sometimes the message you think you’re sending might not be the message that is being sent," he said.

McAuliffe asked Foote whether it occurred to him that a transgender person might interpret the pink XX wristbands as an attempt to invalidate their existence.

"If he’s a trans female, pink might be a color he likes," Foote responded.

Transgender inclusion in girls' and women's sports emerged as a mainstream political issue in the last few years. Instances of athletes discovered to be male and then legally protected to continue playing have emerged in rapid succession since the start of the Biden administration. 

This includes instances like those involving Tirrell in New Hampshire and others in Virginia and California. At the college level, a situation at San Jose State University involving a transgender volleyball player has prompted multiple lawsuits and a media firestorm. It became a talking point of Donald Trump's presidential campaign before his recent election win. 

Trump and even his wife, Melania, who has admitted to disagreeing with Republicans on issues of LGBT rights, each announced they are opposed to letting biological males compete in girls and women's sports. Trump advocated for a blanket ban during a Fox News town hall event on the campaign trail. 

Multiple states filed lawsuits and enacted their own laws to address the issue after the Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on "sex" discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and "pregnancy or related conditions," in April. 

The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women's sports. 

The Supreme Court then voted 5-4 in August to reject an emergency request by the Biden administration to enforce portions of that new rule after more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states.

During the most recent election cycle, multiple Democrats, including Texas Rep. Collin Allred backtracked on past support for transgender inclusion in women's sports. 

That trend continued after the election when Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton spoke out against his party's stance and actions in enabling transgender inclusion in multiple interviews, inciting fierce backlash and even a massive pro-transgender rally outside his office. 

Now, multiple judges like McAuliffe across the country are presiding over cases about the eligibility of transgender athletes in sports. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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