New Hampshire’s potential next Republican governor is a mess

We can all remember where we were in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected president—all of us, except perhaps Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. senator and, as of last week, the current Republican candidate for governor of New Hampshire.

Ayotte, who is running in one of the tightest gubernatorial races against Democrat Joyce Craig, served one term in the Senate from 2011 to 2017, when she lost her seat shortly after she withdrew Trump in October 2016. Ayotte then took a stand for what was objectively right: She said she disagreed with Trump’s comments in the unearthed Access to Hollywood tape, in which she compared his “grab ’em by the pussy” line to sexual abuse and said she wanted her young daughter to “know where (she) stood.” Eight years and a New York jury finding Trump civilly liable for sexual abuse later, Ayotte has once again supported Trump in what is either a cynical bid for political power or a disturbing case of amnesia.

Flip-flopping is the bedrock of American politics, but Ayotte’s record—particularly as she tries to convince New Hampshire voters that she won’t further restrict abortion as governor—is particularly egregious. In April, Ayotte dismissed her 2016 assessment of Trump as a sexual predator and existential threat to women: “As you know, we had our differences in 2016, but I think looking at where we are as a country today, there’s no question that he’s the right choice for the White House—and just the contrast between the two administrations, particularly on this border issue,” she told reporters. Trump hasn’t really changed since 2016, other than more women have accused him of abuse and exploitation, a civil court has found him liable on at least one such charge, and he’s attempted to steal the 2020 election.

But even before April, Ayotte was clearly and quickly reconciling with Trump after losing her seat in 2017. That year, She worked closely with him and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, serving as his personal liaison, or official “sherpa,“for his then Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, who later overturned the 1949 law Roe vs. WadeAs a sherpa, Ayotte accompanied Gorsuch between meetings with various senators prior to his confirmation — and also personally coached him on how to give non-answers to Deer.

Kelly Ayotte alongside Mitch McConnell, Neil Gorsuch and Mike Pence in 2017.

All of this is particularly relevant to Ayotte’s current plight in New Hampshire, the last New England state that has not enshrined abortion rights in its state constitution. The legislature narrowly rejected a bill to that effect in February. In July and August, Ayotte ran ads trying to convince voters that she would not further legalize abortion. And like so many other GOP candidates around the country this cycle, Ayotte has not commented on Project 2025.

“We all know what they do: politicize abortion to win votes,” Ayotte says in the Advertisement July. She is referring to the “attacks” by Democrats pointing out her own record on this issue, which I will address in a moment. Ayotte continues: “The truth: In New Hampshire, women have the freedom to have an abortion for any reason in the first six months of pregnancy. … I am Kelly Ayotte. No matter what they say or how many times they say it, as Governor, I fully support New Hampshire’s abortion law and I will not change it.” In the Advertisement Augustshe says again: “The political BS attacks may increase because here in New Hampshire we are moving in the right direction.”

A cursory look at Ayotte’s record on reproductive rights is quite shocking, especially for someone who appears to be running as a moderate candidate. In her only term in the U.S. Senate, Ayotte led legislation for a national abortion ban at 20 weeks. She supported two different policies: the Bot amendment and the Law on Respect for the Rights of Conscience—to allow insurance companies and employers to deny coverage for birth control and IVF.

INBOX: Joyce Craig campaign responds to poll #NHGov breed falls within the margin of error.

“Granite State residents remember they can’t trust Kelly Ayotte, who has dedicated her career to stripping women of their reproductive rights and cashing in on corporate executives” #NHPolitics photo.twitter.com/A2OosDLC1E

— Colin Booth (@ColinGBooth) September 16, 2024

On top of all this, when it comes to tough endorsements, Trump is the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this year, the New Hampshire legislature made headlines for scandals involving two Republican state lawmakers: There is a state Representative Jess Edwardswho spoke out against a bill to abolish child marriage, because 16-year-olds are “ripe and fertile,” and inexplicably because child marriage would make abortion less “desirable.” And then there’s the state Representative Jon Stonewhose record as a former police officer came under scrutiny in April when unearthed documents showed he had been fired for his alleged sexual relationship with a minor and for threatening to carry out a shooting at the police station. Stone’s voting behavior in the state House of Representatives this session includes upholding several abortion restrictions, while his campaign social media accounts proponent for possession of assault rifles.

Both men have expressed their support and actively campaigned for Ayotte, and she is not yet denied their approvals, even if pressured about their data.

We’ve emailed Ayotte’s campaign asking questions about her relationships with Edwards and Stone; what she tells her daughter about her support for Trump; and why voters should trust her not to further restrict abortion, given her record on the issue and her history of flip-flopping. We’ll update this if they respond.

This is all… a mess. And it perfectly sums up the current state of the Republican Party: spineless Trump cronies who are terrified of campaigning on their own records—on abortion, women’s rights, and Trump himself.