Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott found out the same way everyone else did that their top recruit to help secure the Senate majority was a no-go: They saw it on a local television livestream.

After months of courting Gov. Chris Sununu to run for Senate — a campaign that strategists believed would have been a slam-dunk for Republicans as they angle to win back Senate control — the New Hampshire Republican unexpectedly dashed party hopes Tuesday. Not only that, he insulted the Senate in the process, thoroughly ruining what was otherwise expected to be a triumphant day for the GOP…

“The takeaway was this was handled so poorly,” said one Republican operative familiar with how Sununu’s announcement was received by McConnell’s team. “He publicly flirted with it. He hyped it up as this big announcement to the national press, and then bailed in a way that hurts the party’s momentum after a big week in Virginia last week.”