Jon Huntsman Headlines Fundraiser for Local Senator

Jon Huntsman, a 2012 presidential candidate who could contend again in 2016, headlined a fundraiser for State Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) in Stratham Tuesday morning.

The event was held at Itaconix.

Stiles endorsed Huntsman in the New Hampshire Republican primary.

"She's a supporter, a friend, an independent voice," Huntsman said after the fundraiser, which was closed to the media. "(She's) the kind of person you really have to work hard to win over ... I thought it would be a very nice thing to return that friendship and sense of support."

The fundraiser capped a brief swing through the Granite State for Huntsman, a former Utah governor. On Monday, he gave an interview at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

In 2012, he finished third in the New Hampshire primary. He said he treasured that experience.

"You make a lot of friends and deepen your regard in which politics play out in the state, which is critically important to the entire country and therefore the world," he said.

Will he return to New Hampshire in the runup to 2016 race?

"Who knows?" he said. "We may get a speech invitation here and there but we have nothing planned beyond that."