Entering the final two weeks of the campaign, Kelly Ayotte won three editorial endorsements from the Portsmouth Herald, Nashua Telegraph, and New Hampshire Union Leader.
In case you missed it…
PORTSMOUTH HERALD: Re-elect Kelly Ayotte to U.S. Senate
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Ayotte has tirelessly worked to achieve results for New Hampshire, especially the Seacoast in her work with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in securing millions of dollars to strengthen Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and site the Air Force’s next generation KC-46A refueling tankers at Pease Air National Guard Base. These investments have a massive economic ripple effect throughout New Hampshire, as well as Maine. They also help assure the United States maintains its military strength at a critical time.
Ayotte broke with her party last fall and was the first Senate Republican to support the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
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An endorsement weighs the good and bad. Ayotte is a powerful senator, serving on the Armed Services, Homeland and Commerce committees. New Hampshire benefits from her representation on those important bodies. Ayotte’s foreign policy experience gives her a clear advantage over Gov. Hassan.
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The Lugar Center ranks Ayotte as the 11th most bipartisan U.S. senator.
Despite her rhetoric, Hassan’s record is largely partisan. Her work on the state budget points to this. Her first budget included millions of projected funds from a casino, despite New Hampshire’s consistent opposition to casinos. Including a bet on gambling left Republican leadership to craft its own budget, which Hassan fought until it was clear it was a losing battle. She then called it bipartisan. Her second budget plan also paled in comparison to Republicans’. Faced with having to accept this budget, Hassan, after vetoing it, again called it bipartisan, but could not give any credit to Republicans.
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Hassan’s appointment of a “drug czar” to help with the opioid abuse crisis was such a debacle he was forced to resign, costing the state valuable time to get ahead of the crisis.
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NASHUA TELEGRAPH: It’s Kelly Ayotte for U.S. Senate
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She [Ayotte] has been a leading advocate in combating New Hampshire’s opioid crisis along with fellow U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and the two have formed a powerful partnership in fighting this epidemic with their work on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.
Few politicians have attended more heroin forums than Ayotte. She has stopped by breakfast forums in Bedford, community meetings after dinnertime in Hudson, and countless tours of Nashua-based medical centers and hospitals. She has done ride-alongs with ambulance crews in Manchester to get an up-close look and has worked to eliminate the stigma surrounding addiction.
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Ayotte also is a true fiscal conservative. With the help of her peers in the Senate, she helped pass the first balanced budget in 14 years for fiscal 2016. She also has fought against and successfully stifled unnecessary government spending. For instance, in 2013, Ayotte introduced a bill that successfully ended a missile program that the Pentagon said would never reach the battlefield. She also helped introduced a bill that eliminated more than 50 duplicate or unnecessary government reports.
Ayotte and Hassan have some clear differences. We believe Ayotte is right that Obamacare is a disaster and needs to be repealed and replaced.
Hassan thinks the Obama administration’s deal with Iran is the best way to keep nuclear weapons out of that terrorist-sponsoring state’s hands. We agree with Ayotte, who thinks this deal has emboldened Iran’s leadership and made the world a more dangerous place.
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In our opinion, Ayotte is more likely to break from Republican ranks to serve her constituents than Hassan. When it comes to New Hampshire’s best interests, we know Granite Staters are the priority with Ayotte.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER: Ayotte for Senate, NH’s independent leadership
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Ayotte took the lead on the nation’s response to the deadly opioid epidemic, working across the aisle for two years to win passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.
Ayotte joined New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on a campus sexual assault bill that treats rape on campus as a crime, and not an honor code violation to be handled behind closed doors.
Ayotte opposed the Iran nuclear deal from the start, while her opponent continues to stand by it despite mounting evidence that Iran is using it as cover to maintain its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Ayotte has been the Senate’s leading voice against the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and the need to keep terrorists behind bars and off U.S. soil.
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Ayotte isn’t afraid to break from her party to do the right thing, including opposition to the pointless government shutdown in 2013.