A Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Hampshire is running away from her longtime opposition to abortion, in the latest test of Republicans’ ability to distance themselves from the unpopular policy in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion.

As a U.S. senator and in the years after she left elected office, Kelly Ayotte was consistently involved with efforts to limit reproductive autonomy. But in her race against Democrat Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, Ayotte has tried to assure voters that she wouldn’t impose additional abortion restrictions in the Granite State, though she’s stopped short of disavowing her previous positions. The state currently bans abortions after 24 weeks, with limited exceptions.

Craig and her supporters have made abortion a central issue in the race, while Ayotte has slammed Democrats for “politicizing abortion to win votes.” The two are facing off in a tight race that the Cook Political Report has described as the only “toss-up” governor’s race this year. Neither Ayotte’s campaign nor Craig’s campaign responded to a request for comment.

Ayotte is far from the only Republican candidate who’s attempted to distance herself from opposition to abortion. Vice presidential nominee and Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance was caught earlier this year wiping anti-abortion messages from his website. And in some congressional races this cycle, Republicans have attempted to rebrand as “pro-choice,” despite their records to the contrary. GOP candidates are seemingly looking to avoid a repeat of the 2022 midterm elections, when Democrats successfully tied their Republican opponents to the deeply unpopular Dobbs decision, which came down in June of that year.

“New Hampshire voters overwhelmingly support abortion access,” said Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, which has endorsed Craig. “So Kelly is trying to rebuild her record on this. And at the end of the day, I don’t think voters are going to be fooled because she has a long record of being anti-abortion.”

No Constituency for Abortion Opposition

A year before Dobbs, New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a 24-week abortion ban — which includes exceptions for fatal fetal diagnoses and to save the life of the pregnant person — along with additional restrictions, including a mandatory ultrasound for anyone seeking an abortion. The measures “hugely backfired” for Republicans, said Linda Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth University. Last year, lawmakers repealed the ultrasound mandate.

Though New Hampshire’s abortion law is far less restrictive than those of many Southern states, Democrats have noted that it’s out of step with the rest of New England. Neighboring states have all codified a guaranteed right to abortion and pro-actively expanded access to abortion care.

Anti-abortion politics have never been particularly popular in the Granite State, said Fowler. “There’s not much of a constituency for it,” she said.

Craig has vowed to codify abortion rights and to repeal the existing restrictions past 24 weeks. In a platform promise to “champion women’s health,” Ayotte, meanwhile, said she supports the state’s current law and would not change it.

She has emphasized that message in a series of campaign ads. In one ad, Ayotte, who was endorsed by the current Republican governor, argues that Democrats are lying about the state’s abortion ban and that women in New Hampshire have the right to choose. In the same ad, she says that she would “veto” any law that was more “restrictive” than the current abortion ban. However, in a later debate, she refused to answer whether she would support criminal or civil penalties for abortion providers after 24 weeks.

Ayotte, who as a senator supported a measure that state Democrats argue would have allowed employers and insurers to deny coverage for in vitro fertilization, has proactively affirmed her support for the treatment. In another advertisement, the former senator discusses finding out during one of her pregnancies that her fetus wasn’t viable and argues that because she’s experienced loss, she would never outlaw treatments like IVF.

A Clear Record

Democrats and their allies, meanwhile, have been encouraging voters to look at Ayotte’s relatively recent record on reproductive rights.

“Ayotte is purposely rewriting her record on abortion and is, at times, outright lying to Granite Staters about what she would do as Governor of New Hampshire. The reality is that she cannot be trusted to protect reproductive rights in New Hampshire,” wrote the state Democratic Party in a memo outlining Ayotte’s abortion record.

As a senator, Ayotte received a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee, the largest and oldest anti-abortion organization in the United States, and an A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a large anti-abortion lobbying group.

In 2014, Ayotte was one of four senators who led the charge to implement a national abortion ban. Ayotte also voted for the controversial Blunt Amendment, which would have weakened the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate. And she repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Ayotte also served as one of the senators who shepherded Neil Gorsuch through his Supreme Court confirmation process, a crucial vote for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Ayotte lost her reelection bid in 2016 and continued her anti-abortion advocacy outside the Senate.

In 2017, Ayotte reportedly helped found Winning for Women, a political action committee pitched as a counter to EMILY’s List, a liberal group that backs “pro-choice” Democrats. She served on Winning for Women’s board and was listed on its website as recently as 2023, but her name was removed by February 2024, according to a review of internet archives.

Winning for Women poured over $8.3 million into backing dozens of candidates with anti-abortion records during Ayotte’s tenure, according to local reporting. And on the same day the Supreme Court released its Dobbs decision, the organization reportedly launched a joint fundraising committee for six candidates who had previously supported overturning Roe v. Wade. The group has supported a variety of hard-line anti-abortion candidates, including Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Georgia.

Ayotte hasn’t explicitly changed her position on abortion — and that may prove to be a political liability, said Fowler, the Dartmouth professor. “She hasn’t said I’ve changed my mind about being pro-choice. She hasn’t had a Liz Cheney, you know, ‘The anti-abortion movement has gone too far’ kind of moment,” Fowler said. “She’s basically tried to say she won’t change the law and put it behind her. And so it becomes a basis for the Craig campaign to say, “You can’t trust her on this issue,” and anecdotally, when you talk to women about it, that resonates with them.”

DERRY, N.H. – One of the most contested governor’s races in the country is underway in New Hampshire but not only is the tone of the candidates’ ads turning off some voters, others admit they aren’t paying attention.

Downside of negative campaigning

The political ads are dominating the airwaves between Republican former Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former mayor of Manchester, Democrat Joyce Craig. Voters in the Granite State – taking notice.

“I hate the bashing that goes on back and forth between the two,” said voter Rick McNally. “I really wish they would talk about more about what they do. I think that would help me.”

If you ask New Hampshire voters where they stand on the candidates, you might be surprised.

“I haven’t really paid attention to the governor. I’m really more focused on the presidential,” said one voter.

“I don’t really know too much about the candidates there,” McNally added.

Saint Anselm College Political Science professor Chris Galdieri believes the negative campaigning can turn off voters.

A recent poll from Saint Anselm College among New Hampshire voters found Ayotte holds a three-point lead over her Democratic opponent Joyce Craig.

“The governor’s race, I think, has really been struggling to get voters to pay much attention to it. It’s also been a very negative campaign, a very ugly campaign,” Professor Galdieri told WBZ-TV.

National issues take center stage

That’s why the national issues, like the debate over reproductive rights, has taken center stage in this gubernatorial race. Where the candidates stand on abortion could be the deciding factor for voters come Tuesday.

“I’m still walking the fence right now on a lot of issues,” one voter explained.

“That’s a great question,” Galdieri explained, when asked if that makes it more difficult to vote among party lines. “New Hampshire is the most pro-choice swing state in the country.”

Homelessness, immigration, crime and the economy are at the top of mind for New Hampshire voters heading into the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

“Mind is not made up yet,” one voter said.

“Do I just stick with my party? Possibly,” McNally said. “That could be what I do.”

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire’s secretary of state predicts the highest voter turnout ever in the Granite State for the 2024 general election.

Secretary of State David Scanlan believes 824,000 voters in the state will cast ballots on Nov. 5. Along with the record voter turnout, he also said there would be many Election Day registrations.

Scanlan said many “inactive” voters — voters who have not cast ballots in several election cycles, were purged from the rolls in 2021.

Also Read

Voters can visit the Secretary of State’s Voter Information Lookup site at app.sos.nh.gov to find their polling location and hours.

The latest party registration numbers were not available at press time.

However, the last round of numbers, published on Sept. 30, showed 895,387 registered voters in the state. Based on that number, Scanlan calls for a 92 percent voter turnout on Nov. 5 — an unprecedented number.

In 2020, there were 1.12 million registered voters, and another 75,000 registered on Election Day, bringing the total number of registered voters to more than 1.19 million. Slightly less than 815,000 voters cast ballots, meaning the turnout was around 68 percent (although state records show 72.2 percent turnout, the highest since 1996).

In 2016, there were a little more than 1 million registered voters and 83,000 registering on Election Day. Nearly 756,000 voters cast ballots, or around 69 percent.

View the historical turnout for New Hampshire here.

In the latest registration data, “undeclared” voters made up the most in the state. There were 318,221 “undeclared” voters registered — but that was down by about 13,000 in June and 130,000 voters since November 2020. Republicans made up the second-largest registered voters at slightly more than 308,000. That is up by about 45,000 since December 2023 but down 25,000 since November 2020. Registered Democrats made up 269,000. That is up 11,000 since June but down 69,000 since November 2020.

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