The Washington Post has downgraded their ranking for the New Hampshire Senate race in light of questions raised by a controversy involving a former New Hampshire prep school teacher, Rick Schubart, who admitted to two instances of sexual misconduct. Schubart has previously donated to Governor Maggie Hassan and served on a campaign steering committee.
In addition, Hassan has changed her answer several times regarding what she knew about Schubart and when.
From The Washington Post:
New Hampshire (R): New Hampshire is still the clash of the titans as the state’s popular Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan, tries to take out the state’s popular Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte, in a race that could decide the fate of the Senate. Both have tried to be as visible as possible in the opioid epidemic, which polls show is the top issue in the state, and both can tout success in that category. What has the potential to make this race slightly less competitive is Hassan’s ties to a disgraced prep school teacher, who admitted to sexual misconduct while Hassan’s husband was principal at the time. Hassan has apologized for keeping him on a list of supporters, even though she said she didn’t know why the teacher abruptly retired, and her husband has apologized for not being as forthright about the misconduct when he found out about it, even though he went to the police right away. This could be a blip on Hassan’s radar, but Republicans are closely watching how she handles it to see if they can make it a potentially damaging campaign issue in November. (Previous ranking: 6)
The Washington Post covered this controversy in detail earlier this week noting, “it’s an open question how much New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) knew about it — especially since her husband was head of the school at the time.”