Republican Who Backtracked on Calling Trump a Sexual Predator Wins Governor’s Race

In 2016, then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) endorsed Donald Trump for president. Then, the Access Hollywood tape dropped, and Ayotte revoked her endorsement, declaring that she wanted her young daughter to “know where [she] stood.” 

“I made the decision I made as a matter of principle,” she said at the time. “That’s more important to me than winning an election.” She lost her race for reelection the following month. 

Fast forward to 2024. Earlier this year, Ayotte, in her campaign for governor of New Hampshire, re-endorsed Trump, who more recently was found civilly liable for sexual abuse. On Tuesday, she was elected governor, defeating her opponent, Democrat Joyce Craig, by nearly 10 points.

Earlier this year, New Hampshire narrowly failed to pass a bill to codify a right to abortion in the state Constitution; it’s the last state in New England without one. So, naturally, New Hampshire Democrats fought to make the race about abortion. And they were right to do so: Ayotte has a long, packed record of hacking away at reproductive rights, and with her in charge of the state and Trump back in the White House, it’s chilling to think of what the future of reproductive rights in new Hampshire might look like holds. 

Despite Ayotte’s deceptively moderate posturing, pledging to not legislate further on abortion if elected and cynically shooting an ad in October that referenced her pregnancy loss, her record is entirely aligned with the average, vehemently anti-abortion Trump Republican. While she served in the Senate from 2011 to 2017, Ayotte backed two different policies to allow insurance companies and employers to deny coverage of birth control and IVF. She spearheaded legislation for a national abortion ban at 20 weeks, which is, indeed, an abortion ban. And, in 2017, months after publicly calling Trump a sexual predator, she served as a personal Senate liaison for Trump’s then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, who went on to overturn Roe v. Wade. Ayotte said she personally coached him on how to give non-answers on Roe. 

So, that’s who New Hampshire just elected to be their next governor! Oh, and did I mention? Ayotte has been endorsed by and actively campaigned with two of New Hampshire’s most, err, controversial estate legislators: State Rep. Jess Edwards, who railed against a bill to abolish child marriage because 16-year-olds are “ripe and fertile,” and inexplicably because child marriage would make abortion less “desirable.” And state Rep. Jon Stone, whose record as a former cop came under scrutiny in April when unearthed documents showed he was fired for his alleged sexual relationship with a minor and threatening to carry out a shooting spree at the police station. 

“Our state has so much to be proud of,” Ayotte said in a statement about her win. “We are unique in so many ways. And tonight’s victory is a victory for New Hampshire, but it’s also a victory for an even brighter future for the greatest state in the nation.”

Ayotte’s victory represents the worst of what politics represents—the hollowing of words and principles and really anything except whatever might help you get elected. And, given Ayotte’s pledge to not further legislate on abortion, the state’s fight to codify a right to abortion and protect and expand access under Trump faces a serious impasse.