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Former Senator Kelly Ayotte talking on the Heart for a New American Safety annual convention in Washington, DC.
CNN
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Former New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte introduced a marketing campaign for governor on Monday, getting into the race to succeed in style Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in 2024.
Sununu’s shock announcement final week that he wouldn’t search a fifth two-year time period has sparked what is predicted to be a aggressive election in Granite State that might appeal to a number of candidates.
“I’m operating for governor as a result of New Hampshire is one election away from changing into Massachusetts — from changing into one thing we aren’t,” Ayotte stated in a press release.
Ayotte is a veteran Republican politician from New Hampshire, first serving as state lawyer common in 2004 after which elected as a U.S. senator in 2010. She was defeated in 2016 by the then-governor. Maggie Hassan in an especially shut race, dropping by simply over 1,000 votes.
As a senator, Ayotte had a popularity as a bipartisan negotiator, however when she ran for re-election in 2016, she struggled to navigate a political atmosphere dominated by Donald Trump’s first presidential marketing campaign.
Throughout this election, Ayotte suffered a high-profile stumble when she tried to backtrack on feedback she made throughout a debate, calling Trump a “position mannequin.” Initially supportive of Trump’s candidacy, albeit hesitantly, Ayotte ultimately stated she would write Mike Pence on her poll that 12 months following the revelations from the notorious “Entry Hollywood” tape.
Ayotte will first must advance in a GOP main that already consists of longtime former New Hampshire Senate Speaker Chuck Morse, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2022. Manchester’s Democratic Mayor Joyce Craig has additionally declared his candidacy.
The race gives a gap for Democrats to take management of New Hampshire’s governorship. Sununu, a frequent Trump critic, received re-election by huge margins in 2020 and 2022, whereas Democrats received different statewide races on the ticket.