Ayotte tries to distance herself from her anti-abortion record in new ad

Republican candidate for New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte released a video Wednesday morning attempting to rewrite her position on abortion, admonishing Granite Staters who would question her stance, suggesting they were “politicizing” her record on abortion.

“We all know what they’re doing, politicizing abortion to win votes,” Ayotte says in the ad, not specifying who “they” are. She then says politicizing abortion is wrong and that she would not alter New Hampshire’s existing abortion ban after 24 weeks of pregnancy, signed into law by Republicans in 2021.

The ad offers little in the way of tangible reason to believe Ayotte, however, and conveniently skips her legislative record in the US Senate, where in 2014, she demanded a vote on legislation that would have enacted a national abortion ban. It also excludes  her vote in favor of the Blunt amendment, which would have allowed insurers and employers to deny coverage of IVF treatments, birth control, and more.

Language from the ad echoes efforts by the state Republican party, which recently launched videos and a website trying to distance themselves from their own record on abortion, reframing the abortion ban they passed in 2021 and minimizing the fact that the NH GOP platform  seemingly includes support for a national abortion ban.

Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now!, a New England based reproductive health advocacy organization, said public perception of Ayotte would not change on a dime given her long legislative history attacking reproductive rights on the national level.

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“This ad is, once again, another attempt by Kelly Ayotte to deceive New Hampshire voters and hide her anti-repro equity record and agenda,” Holder said. “Ayotte knows that a majority of Granite Staters support abortion access and the ability to make their own decisions about their reproductive health care—which is exactly why she’s attempting to run from her far-right, anti-abortion agenda.” 

In a post on social media, Philip Shulman, a staffer at American Bridge 21st Century, a research and response organization supporting Democratic candidates, said Ayotte’s own record on making promises during elections should be called into question.

He brought up her history of politically aligning herself with Donald Trump at different times in different elections depending on the political circumstances of the moment. Ayotte recently re-endorsed Trump, after having unendorsed him during her Senate reelection campaign in 2016, a move some say cost her the Senate seat.

“Ayotte also pulled her endorsement of Trump in 2016 because of who he was…but then endorsed him in her campaign for governor after nearly 8 years of seeing his weirdness. Seems trustworthy,” Shulman said.

New Hampshire Political leaders similarly challenged the idea that Ayotte could credibly make promises that so drastically diverged from her political history.

“Ayotte knows her extensive history of attacking a woman’s right to make their own healthcare decisions is a massive red flag for Granite Staters,” said NHDP Chair Ray Buckley. “No matter how hard she tries to mislead voters, the truth is clear: Ayotte has pushed relentlessly to roll back reproductive freedom at every opportunity. All today’s ad does is serve as another reminder to Granite Staters of exactly why they can’t trust Kelly Ayotte.”

One of Ayotte’s Democratic opponents in the contest for Governor, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig issued a blistering statement holding up Ayotte’s record against her promises.

“Kelly Ayotte has spent her entire career attacking reproductive freedom and access to abortion. She has voted for multiple abortion bans, voted to defund Planned Parenthood six times, attacked access to IVF, and helped build the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade,” said  Craig. “Now that her extreme record is a political liability, she wants voters to just trust that she won’t keep attacking our rights. As Kelly would say, that’s nuts.”