North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson both face steep uphill climbs for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

So maybe it’s no surprise that both Republican White House hopefuls went out of their way to praise New Hampshire’s cherished century-old position of holding the first presidential primary.

“We just want to say thank you to all the citizens because New Hampshire picks presidents,” Burgum declared, as he filed Thursday at the Secretary of State’s office at the State House in Concord, to place his name on the Republican presidential primary ballot.

Taking part in the time-honored tradition, the former software company CEO turned two-term governor called New Hampshire an “amazing state” as he signed his paperwork in front of Secretary of State David Scanlan and members of the media.

“The reason why the first-in-the-nation primary exists is so that the power can reside with the people and with the voters of New Hampshire and so for that, we share our gratitude today,” he said.

He noted that “in this time where so much attention seems to be reduced to an eight-second sound bite,” New Hampshire’s primary and the state’s emphasis on retail-style politics and candidate-to-voter interactions “matters more than ever.”

Burgum is a long shot for the GOP nomination, in a race that’s currently overwhelmingly dominated by former President Donald Trump. The North Dakota governor reached the polling and donor thresholds needed to make the stage for the first two Republican presidential debates but has yet to qualify for the third showdown, which will be held on Nov. 8 in Miami, Florida. He’s repeatedly railed against what he calls the Republican National Committee’s “clubhouse rules” for making the debate stage.

“We always know that polling trails people’s impressions,” Burgum said about his low single-digit standing in the polls, and he pointed towards what he said were his “high favorables” in the surveys.

Burgum, who’s a multi-millionaire and has infused his own money into his presidential campaign, reiterated that “we’re the least known” of the GOP presidential candidates, adding that means “we’ve got market upside for us. The more people that know us, our polling numbers go up.”

“We love our position,” the governor said. “We feel very confident about where we are.”

A day earlier, Hutchinson also praised New Hampshire but was more candid about his position in the 2024 race.

“For over 100 years, New Hampshire has served as the first in the nation primary where they have been responsible for interviewing presidential candidates and narrowing the field for the rest of the nation,” Hutchinson highlighted in a statement Wednesday. “Today, I am honoring that tradition by filing my candidacy for the New Hampshire Primary Election.”

Hutchinson, who served as a U.S. attorney, congressman, and was a high-ranking official in then-President George W. Bush’s administration before winning two terms as Arkansas governor, was the only one of the eight candidates on the stage at the first debate in August who failed to qualify for last month’s second showdown. He’s currently facing a steep climb to qualify for the third debate.

Speaking with reporters, he took aim at the “diminishing value” of the debates, which Trump has skipped. “I think the voters in New Hampshire have shifted from looking at the debate stage to looking at the town hall meetings here and meeting with candidates. And that’s more important to me.”

Hutchinson said he is going to work to win over more voters and move up in the polls.

“I want to see movement in the polls by Thanksgiving, and that’s the criteria I’ve set. I think it’s reasonable. And let’s see what happens to me between now and then,” he added.