Jon Huntsman’s days on the campaign trail are over.The former Utah governor, who ran a short-lived presidential campaign in 2012, said he would not run in 2016 and has no plans to run for governor again.
“I can’t describe a pathway through the early primary states up to Super Tuesday, and if you can’t find that pathway or describe what that pathway is, then you had [better] not be in the race,” Huntsman said in an exclusive interview for POLITICO’s “Lessons from Leaders” series.
Huntsman also dismissed any future run for state office. “I’ve been governor, elected twice as governor, but when you get elected with about 80 percent of the vote, if you try to do that over again, you’re never going to be as good as the first time around. I think its fool-hearted to try,” he said. Huntsman, who came in third in New Hampshire in the 2012 Republican primary, is now serving as co-chairman of the bipartisan No Labels group that is striving to make Washington more functional.
Heading into her 2014 reelection bid, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was already a fixture on 2016 shortlists for vice president. No less a figure than Mitt Romney name-dropped her as presidential material. And after her easy victory over Democratic Attorney General Gary King on Tuesday, expect to hear a whole lot more about Martinez's national potential.