Kelly Ayotte is all about Kelly Ayotte, anything outside her personal wish list be damned. We’ve seen it with her serial vetoing of women’s bills, and don’t forget school “library lewdness,” because she vetoed SB434 today.
Like any other governor, she has signed many bills that may or may not be relevant to most ordinary Granite Staters. She sometimes signs popular bills, like HB361 (prohibiting mandatory mask policies in schools). The Damn Emperor vetoed HB1131 and HB1093, but Rep. Kristin Noble persevered and got HB361 signed.
If I’m not mistaken, it was quietly signed along with a big pile of other bills on 7/15/25, less than a month after the budget bill. It was clearly not a bill that she wanted, as she gave me a deliberately vague response (in the presence of Norm Silber, a lawyer like Ayotte) over a year earlier when I asked if she would sign HB1093.
I’ll add that the encounter occurred at the Pine Tree Riot event that Chuck Morse, her primary opponent, was also attending. Spoken like a lawyer, she said she had to see the bill first. I had no skin in that game, but I’m happy for students, faculty, staff, parents, and fellow mask-refusniks that she did sign the bill after a 40-day wait following its passage by the Senate!
As far as I know, Kristin Noble didn’t get any special fanfare as the prime sponsor, like getting to keep the pen, or even the courtesy of a notification or invitation to the signing. I’m aware that some people “have moved on” in their minds regarding Mask Madness, but let’s consider the budget bill, the Grand Cadillac of all bills. In 2023, the Damn Emperor had a bipartisan full room of legislators surrounding him at his seat at the executive council table. Just look at old tweets or search the internet for pictures.
Now compare that to 2025, when Kelly Ayotte only had 6 legislators in attendance (3 of House leadership, Sharon Carson, and both Tims). Did she even invite Regina? She is, after all, the Senate leadership counterpart to Osborne. My theory is that Kelly hates her fellow women and couldn’t stop Sharon from attending without making a scene, but I digress.
Before moving on from talking about women, let’s talk about Victoria Sullivan, the sponsor or SB418 (prohibiting municipalities from requiring licenses, restrictions, or exclusions for the production and sale of homestead food products).
We’ve all heard about Picklegate from multiple outlets, podcasts, and platforms, so I don’t need to retell the story. SB418 was Victoria’s response to the Ruais Administration and all its Red Guard minions’ poor treatment of her constituent, the Ward 6 moderator and pickle maker. Let’s keep in mind a few things about Manchester. It’s our largest city, and its Republican mayor got reelected last year while sabotaging the Board of Aldermen in the process. It’s a blue city that has been turning purple in the past few years in city and state elections, and it’s located about halfway between the governor’s home and the Corner Office. I mention the location because it’s not a nuisance trip from Concord, like Lebanon, Portsmouth, or Keene.
I can’t say enough times that Kelly Ayotte is all about Kelly Ayotte, and if she wants a bill signing to be some huge, showy affair, she will see to it that it happens. Sometimes, she will do the deed inside a police or fire station, flanked by Prentiss or McGough or both. Sometimes you will see the nearest parking meters to the state house covered as though the legislature is about to meet, but it’s because she wants all her VIP guests to have easy parking for whatever dog and pony show she fancies. That stupid draconian DUI bill comes to mind, but also that expansion of Gold Star status bill(which I have no hostility toward, for the record).
The level of fanfare for any bill signing varies, and one can look at the records of previous governors or governors of other states. Yeah, I know it’s theater, and the important thing is that good bills get signed, preferably sooner than later, and bad bills get vetoed. As for vetoed bills, I’ll add that the Damn Emperor vetoing that income tax in 2019 was about the most theatrical event that I can recall of all bills vetoed. And when I say “theatrical,” I am only referring to him writing a commentary on the document with a red Sharpie and it offending Donna Soucy.
Beth Scaer called attention to a routine “bill dump” that occurred today by asking where she could find a list of the bills. I knew where to look and took a look upon copying the link. That’s when I spotted SB418.
At 3:37pm, I sent Victoria Sullivan a “congrats on SB418” message, to which she said, “Thanks for letting me know, I asked for a bill signing, and apparently I’m not getting one.” She also included the appropriate emoji to convey her disappointment that her request was ignored.
The correct thing to do, especially seeing that it’s election season, was to reply to Victoria’s request with something like “I am going to sign your bill on July 2 at (time), and you’re invited to attend.” Then Victoria could notify “the pickle guy” and any other interested people and the press, and request to keep the pen(for herself or give to the pickle guy). Furthermore, a governor that’s a true team player, which Ayotte is not, would be amenable to bringing the event to the community that the bill is near and dear to. In SB418’s case, that’s Manchester, and signing it at City Hall would have made the event extra special for a lot of people, especially Jay Ruais!
