In 2010, Kelly Ayotte said all the right things and won the Republican US Senate Primary and the General Election. Once elected, Senator Ayotte discarded her campaign promises and positioned herself firmly on whichever side of the bread the butter was on. Most notably, she immediately joined Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham as the Third Amigo, replacing retired Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. The Three Amigos, as they were derisively referred to by Washington insiders and the press corps, never saw a conflict they didn’t think could be improved by American military participation and increased military expenditures. Wildly expensive military misadventures were, it seems, right up the former Attorney General of New Hampshire’s alley.
In 2016 Kelly Ayotte ran for reelection. With nearly unlimited funding from supporters of perpetual wars and grateful K Street lobbyists, she evidently believed her “My Way or the Highway” attitude and support for military misadventures were something unhappy New Hampshire voters would have to get over. The Democrats nominated Governor Maggie Hassan. Independent candidate Aaron Day was also on the ballot. Day spent very little on his campaign and rarely, if ever, appeared at campaign forums or put up signs. His message “I’m not Kelly Ayotte,” however, got the votes of 17,742 of us disgusted with Senator Kelly Ayotte. Hassan beat Ayotte by 1,017 votes.
After retiring, Kelly Ayotte became a director at BAE and Caterpillar, eventually becoming chairwoman of BAE’s US subsidiary. Losing or retiring Senators who’ve made a career of deferring to lobbyists and contractors are always lavishly rewarded, as anything less can lead to awkward questions from Senators still in office.
In 2024, Governor Chris Sununu decided not to seek reelection. Former NH Senate President Chuck Morse and Kelly Ayotte entered the Republican Primary for Governor. As a State Representative, I served with Senator Morse and, in spite of periodically butting heads with him, I hold him in high regard as entirely principled and extremely capable. In my view, comparing Senator Morse to Senator Ayotte is like comparing Quail Shooting to Chicken Stealing. During the campaign, Ayotte, as she had in 2010, said all the right things. While that by itself might not have done the trick a second time, she also went to Washington and came back with $20 million dollars to buy the election. Her contributors were, I think it’s safe to say, not concerned she’d be able to veto any measures requiring cats to wear collars. Being able to influence the 2028 Republican Presidential Primary, however, makes $20 million dollars a rounding error. Ayotte won the Primary and General Election.
The most egregious example of a prominent 2024 campaign promise which it is now evident Ayotte didn’t intend to keep was her commitment to keep biological men out of women’s sports and private places. In vetoing the four bills passed by the legislature addressing this issue, she had the gall to argue that all four were “overly broad, poorly drafted and create the potential for substantial litigation.” Had she had any intention of honoring her campaign promise, there was, after all, an attorney in the Governor’s office who could have helped the bill’s sponsors draft suitable legislation.
In spite of an approval rating that, at best, barely tops 50%, Ayotte is positioned to easily win reelection against former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, the Democratic candidate. Any realistic analysis of the race puts Warmington’s odds of winning next month only marginally ahead of my odds of becoming the first Presbyterian Pope. Governor Ayotte’s further ambitions require a substantial margin of victory. Voters who recognize Ayotte intentionally threw the women and girls of New Hampshire under the bus should do as I’m doing and write in Jane Doe for Governor. Ayotte’s still going to win, but a vote for Jane Doe narrows Ayotte’s margin and makes an important point.
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