How Kelly Ayotte’s leadership in national anti-abortion group could undercut her latest run

With abortion rights a top issue among voters in the 2024 election, New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte’s leadership role in a group the Washington Post described as a “major player in getting more anti abortion women to Washington” is coming under renewed scrutiny.

Ayotte helped found the political action committee Winning for Women in 2017, pitched as an opposing conservative force to EMILY’s List, a Democrat-backed group with the goal of electing pro-choice women. She held a top leadership position on the board from the organization’s founding until at least December 2023.

Ayotte was so intimately involved in the operations of the group, NPR described Winning for Women as being “headed by former New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte.” 

Under her guidance, the group has become a powerful force in advancing the far-right anti-abortion agenda, supporting candidates such as former Senator Kelly Loeffler.

During Ayotte’s tenure, Winning for Women provided over $8.3 million in financial support to 44 candidates who backed anti-abortion legislation and sought to overturn Roe v. Wade. Ayotte’s leadership in the organization could be another obstacle as she tries to make a campaign-year pivot from her extensive legislative record rolling back abortion rights.

On the day Roe v. Wade was overturned, Winning for Women launched a joint fundraising committee for six candidates that had previously supported overturning Roe, providing them with $1,045,197 worth of financial support that cycle.

Ayotte’s two decade long-career in politics has been defined by repeated attacks on reproductive rights, having voted to ban abortion nationwide while in the Senate, voting to defund Planned Parenthood multiple times and acting as Donald Trump’s sherpa for Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch was called Trump’s “downpayment” on his promise to overturn Roe and was later a deciding vote on the vote to roll back the historic legislation.

She voiced no opposition when New Hampshire Republicans tried to enact a 15-day abortion ban, and tried to limit abortion care to only 2 hospitals in the state.

Ayotte now says she would not back legislation that would further curtail abortion rights in the state, a change she said during a recent interview on WMUR, that began at the start of her campaign for governor. She has also said she would not codify abortion protections into New Hampshire law. New Hampshire is the only state in New England that does not enshrine affirmative abortion protections into law, leaving the door open for conservative lawmakers to enact further restrictions.

Many in New Hampshire, especially those in healthcare, are deeply skeptical of her commitment to this change.

“From her earliest days in public office, Ayotte has consistently opposed abortion access and worked to defund family planning programs. Now, as she campaigns for governor, she wants voters to believe she’s had a sudden change of heart,” Said Kayla Montgomery, New Hampshire spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes. ”Granite Staters deserve better than a politician who attempts to rewrite her history to suit her own political ambitions.” 

Backing Extremist Candidates

Among the candidates backed by Ayotte and Winning for Women were some of the most hardline figures in the Republican Party. As a key leader of Winning for Women, Ayotte helped shape the organization’s strategy to boost far-right candidates.

Ayotte was intimately involved in the organization’s fundraising efforts, helping far right candidates connect with donors. Her leadership was crucial in securing millions of dollars in campaign funding for these candidates, which helped boost their electoral success.

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The group was a prominent backer of Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who called a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects the rights of married couples to obtain and use birth control “constitutionally unsound.”

Blackburn is widely credited with spurring singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s public rejection of Donald Trump and Republican politics, with Swift calling Blackburn “Trump in a wig” and saying Blackburrn “represents no female interests. She won by being a female applying to the kind of female males want us to be in a horrendous 1950s world.”

Blackburn, like many the majority of Winning for Women candidates, opposed abortion rights and rights for same sex marriage.

In addition to Blackburn, the group supported former Senator Kelly Loeffler, who donated a portion of her Senate salary to anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion organizations.

Ayotte penned an op-ed with Congresswoman Barbara Comstock in support of Loeffler, who at the time was among the most extreme conservative members of the senate during her brief tenure taking a number of racist, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion votes and positions, ultimately losing her seat to Raphael Warnock.

Under Ayotte’s leadership, Winning for Women became a major player in the anti-abortion movement, particularly after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In response to the ruling, Ayotte’s organization launched a joint fundraising committee, funneling over $1 million to six candidates who supported the reversal and advocated for further abortion restrictions.

Under Ayotte’s leadership, Winning for Women not only endorsed candidates who supported the reversal of Roe v. Wade but also pushed for policies that could ban abortion nationwide. This could raise concerns among moderate and independent voters who are wary of the influence of extreme, anti-abortion figures on the national stage.