Former Republican Senator Kerry Ayot ran for Governor of New Hampshire on Monday, following Gov. Chris Sununu’s announcement last week. will never run again For 2024 inauguration.
“Until New Hampshire becomes Massachusetts – something different from us – one election to go, I’m running for governor,” Ayotte wrote in her campaign announcement. Democrat Maura Healy overthrew the governor of Massachusetts last year after Charlie Baker declined to run for re-election. Baker and Sununu are popular moderate Republicans in both states.
Ayot was the former Attorney General of New Hampshire. was expelled from the Senate seat in 2016 by Democrat Maggie Hassan, formerly a popular governor.
Ayot’s gubernatorial run comes at a time when the state is receiving renewed attention from Republican presidential candidates, many of whom have made repeated trips to appeal to voters who go first to the polls in the Republican primary.
Ayot is expected to draw broad support among Republicans in the state in a campaign reported by the bipartisan Cook Political Report. moved to toss-up, from a staunch Republican after Mr. Sununu said he would not run again.Chuck Morse Former Speaker of the New Hampshire Senate Lost in the Republican Senate primary In the race against Hassan last year, I entered the race immediately after Sununu’s announcement.
Two Democrats from the state, New Hampshire Executive Council member Cinde Warmington and Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, announced their candidacy ahead of Sununu’s declaration.
Mr. Ayot faced a tough re-election In 2016, the election campaign took place despite Republican gains in power nationwide. She served only her one term in the Senate.
New Hampshire, which recently has several Republicans in statewide officials, has turned pale during the presidential campaign and has favored Democrats for the past five years.
At the same time as the announcement, Mr. Ayot said, long list of recommendations From dozens of Republicans across the state who rallied in support of her candidacy.
But National Democrats were quick to criticize the former senator, announcing plans to put abortion protection at the center of their campaign.
“Kelly Ayot has spent her career confronting New Hampshire’s working families, attacking their most basic liberties, and spearheading a nationwide abortion ban. That’s why New Hampshire voters forced her out of the Senate for a single term seven years ago,” writes Izzie Levy, Deputy Director of Communications for the Democratic Governors Association.
In a statement on Monday, Ayot said he aimed to “stand up for law enforcement officers” to fight crime and “defend and strengthen New Hampshire’s economic advantage.”
She also showed a commitment to the cultural issues that motivate Republican voters, writing that she “stands with parents, not bureaucrats, when deciding what’s best for their children.”
