One of the two Republicans running for governor in New Hampshire sought to use the news of former president Donald Trump’s conviction Thursday as an opportunity to differentiate himself from his GOP rival.
Chuck Morse’s campaign promptly released a statement denouncing the guilty verdict as a symptom of corruption. The statement also called Morse the “sole New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate to have endorsed” Trump in the 2024 race.
“This weaponization of justice to target a political opponent is an affront to American values and will only embolden President Trump’s supporters, rallying millions of voters to his side,” he said, claiming President Biden had manipulated the system “for electoral gain.”
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Morse, a former New Hampshire Senate president, is up against former US senator Kelly Ayotte in the Republican primary. While Morse has aligned his candidacy with the former president, endorsing Trump at a campaign rally in December, Ayotte has taken a more measured approach, saying she would support whoever wins the GOP presidential nomination.
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Ayotte confirmed in March that she’ll support Trump, the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee, despite having withdrawn her 2016 endorsement over the “Access Hollywood” tape. (“I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” she said at the time.)
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Former US senator Kelly Ayotte spoke at a campaign rally in 2020 at the Laconia Municipal Airport in Gilford, N.H.Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press
Unlike many other political candidates, Ayotte did not immediately share a statement about Trump’s conviction on social media, nor did spokespeople for her campaign respond to The Boston Globe’s request for comment. But she released a statement Thursday evening to the New Hampshire Journal.
“Today’s verdict is disappointing, and I don’t believe our justice system should be politicized,” she said. “Our country is on the wrong track with Joe Biden in the White House, and that’s why I’m supporting Donald Trump.”
The two leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates singled out Ayotte for criticism. Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, said Ayotte lacks “the spine” needed to stand up to Trump and “the dangerous extremists in her party.” Cinde Warmington, the lone Democratic executive councilor, said New Hampshire needs a governor “who has the backbone to stand up to the likes of Trump and Ayotte.”
This story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
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