Kelly Ayotte? More Like Kelly Say-Not (Who She’s Voting For in New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation Primary)

Kelly Ayotte? More Like Kelly Say-Not (Who She’s Voting For in New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation Primary)

After saying “I cannot vote for Donald Trump” in 2016, Ayotte’s campaign “declined to make her available for an interview or respond to emailed questions” about how she will vote in 2024

Polls are open in New Hampshire, and as Republicans go to the polls to make their voices heard in the state’s first-in-the-nation GOP presidential primary, there’s one notable silence: former senator Kelly Ayotte.

While outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu and state Senator Chuck Morse have made their preferences known in this pivotal election, a new NBC News analysis of Ayotte’s ongoing Trump troubles notes that her campaign has “declined to make her available for an interview or respond to emailed questions” about who she will be voting for.

Ayotte’s refusal to tell Granite Staters how she is voting today has invited anger from Trumpworld – including a Republican voter who called her a “dynasty Republican” and a “career…politician” – and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who not so subtly jabbed at Ayotte for the infamous un-endorsement that cost her her Senate race in 2016.

While Ayotte has tried to avoid weighing in on the presidential race, she has had no problem staking out a stunningly extreme lane in her own primary, including receiving the endorsement of a hate group that she took more than a week to denounce, and bragging about endorsements from extremist legislators. And, as NBC News outlines, both candidates will be forced to grapple with their extreme track record of attacking abortion rights.

 “After her Trump Two-Step cost her the election in 2016, former senator Kelly Ayotte is dodging reporters and ignoring Granite Staters who all want – and deserve – to know who she’s supporting in today’s primary election,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “If Ayotte can’t even be honest with Granite Staters about who she’s voting for, how can they trust her to lead as governor?”

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