Ayotte and Morse seek Republican nomination for NH governor: What voters need to know

CONCORD — With New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu not seeking re-election in 2024, two Republican candidates are vying to be his replacement.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former state Senate President Chuck Morse have both announced their candidacies for their party’s nomination.

The Sept. 10 primary winner will run in the general election against the Democratic party’s nominee, likely either Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington or former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.

Who are the Republican candidates for governor?

Morse, New Hampshire’s longest serving Senate president, announced his candidacy for governor on July 19, 2023, the same day Sununu announced he would not run for a fifth term.

“I decided to run for governor because the fact is that we are the most livable state in the nation and I helped produce that,” said Morse.

Morse served as Senate president from 2013 to 2023, where he presided over the creation of Education Freedom Accounts, New Hampshire’s 24-week abortion law, and helped craft New Hampshire’s state budget every year. “And I'll remind everybody, 'You paid me $125 a year to do that job,'” he said. “I did it for the right reasons.”

Morse served in the New Hampshire legislature for a total of 16 years, and was acting governor of New Hampshire for two days in 2017. Under New Hampshire law, the Senate president serves as acting governor whenever the governor is out of the state or otherwise unable to perform the duties of the office.

Morse said his top priority as governor would be the nation's border, both southern and northern. It’s the reason, he said, that he endorsed former president Donald Trump.

“I've been to the northern border, and I've actually been to the southern border in Texas,” Morse said. “It's a problem. We need to deal with it.”

Ayotte announced her run for the corner office just five days after Morse, on July 24. Ayotte was a U.S. senator for New Hampshire from 2010 to 2016. Before that, she was New Hampshire’s first female attorney general, serving from 2004 to 2009.

“I'm a lifelong New Hampshire resident, and New Hampshire is a phenomenal state,” Ayotte said of her decision to run for governor. “I'm running to make sure that New Hampshire remains safe, prosperous and free. I don't want us to become like Massachusetts. We're a very special state.”

Ayotte’s first priority as governor, she said, would be to make sure “New Hampshire remains safe” by recruiting and retaining police officers, “fix” New Hampshire’s bail law, strengthen penalties for fentanyl dealers, and make sure New Hampshire doesn’t become a sanctuary state, or a state that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Ayotte has been largely out of politics since narrowly losing her re-election bid for senator in 2016 to then Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is now serving her second term in the U.S. Senate. Ayotte took the time to raise her teenagers, she said, and work with companies like the U.S.-based subsidiarity of BAE Systems, a multinational arms, security and aerospace company.

“It’s been a good period, but service is part of my family,” she said. Her husband served in the Air Force, and her daughter is currently at the Air Force Academy. “We feel like that this country and this state has given so much to us, and we want to give back.”

Ayotte's endorsements include former Gov. Craig Benson, former Gov. and Sen. Judd Gregg and former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.

State Rep. Emily Phillips, R-Fremont, Merrimack County Commissioner David Lovlien II (D-3), and 603 Alliance, a conservative grassroots organization, are a few of those who have endorsed Morse.

In the last campaign finance report in December, Ayotte far outraised the other candidates on both sides of the aisle with $2.74 million. That report also showed her having spent $400,000 so far, also the most of the four main candidates.

Morse raised the least of the candidates with $902,000, and spent the least: just over $50,000.

Candidates won’t file their next report until Aug. 21, but Candidate Committees, Political Committees, and Political Advocacy Organizations are required to report on June 19.

Ayotte's fundraising lead reflects her greater name recognition from her time as senator. The importance of name recognition should never be underestimated, said UNH associate professor of political science Dante Scala. But Scala thinks Morse could have some name ID from his run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. Morse said he is focused on campaigning in every town throughout the state.

The candidates are required to officially file for candidacy between June 5 and 14 to appear on the primary ballot in September.

Where do the candidates stand on the issues?

The border

Ayotte said she thinks it’s “critical” to secure the border. She has visited the state's northern border with Canada, where, she said, residents and law enforcement told her about increased illegal immigrant activity and drug interdiction.

Data obtained by the ACLU of New Hampshire showed 21 apprehensions at the state's northern border over a 15-month period from October 2022 to December 2023.

Ayotte also emphasized the need to prevent New Hampshire from becoming a sanctuary state or allow sanctuary cities, something Massachusetts does.

“We can just look over the border at Massachusetts and see that the governor of Massachusetts has had to declare a state of emergency on illegal immigration,” Ayotte said. Last August, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency due to an increase in the number of migrants seeking shelter in the state at the same time as a housing crunch. She asked the federal government for financial help and expedited work authorizations, and launched a new migrant relief fund.

“That's something that we should not have as a policy here in New Hampshire,” Ayotte said.

The border is Morse’s top issue. He wants to make sure the nation’s borders are secure and opposes an open border amnesty plan, which he says would increase illegal crossings.

Crime and law enforcement

Crime is Ayotte’s biggest priority, and both Ayotte and Morse talked about the problem of retention of police officers.

They also both said there's a need to crack down on fentanyl dealers.

“I think anyone dealing in fentanyl needs to be treated like the murderer as they are,” said Morse. “We need to pass legislation that reflects that.”

Education

Ayotte said she wants New Hampshire to have the best education system in the country.

“I support our public schools. I’m a product of public schools. And I certainly want to make sure that we recruit and retain the very best teachers in our public schools and really treat our teachers well," said Ayotte. "I also support education freedom, and that means education freedom for parents to choose what is the best place and setting for their children, and so I support the education freedom accounts.”

Morse pointed to his record on education as Senate president on education, presiding over Education Freedom Accounts and constitutional carry, which requires no license to openly carry or conceal carry a firearm in public.

“Giving children and their parents’ choice is what’s working for our state right now,” he said of Education Freedom Accounts. Of constitutional carry, he said, “We passed that and we’re one of the safest states in the nation.”

Marijuana

Ayotte said doesn't support legalizing marijuana in New Hampshire as neighboring states have done.

“With the fentanyl crisis continuing and the increase of traffic deaths other states have seen who have legalized marijuana and also recent studies that have shown the negative impact of marijuana on on young people's mental health, I could not support legalizing it,” she said.

Morse said his votes against the legalization of marijuana in the legislature "stand for themselves."

“The legislature basically said a small amount of marijuana was legalized, even though I don't support that. We did it and it's it's the law in New Hampshire," Morse said. "Going any further during this drug crisis that we have in New Hampshire now with fentanyl and other drugs, I think, would be a mistake.”

Abortion

On abortion, Morse again touted his track record in the Senate, where he was the president when New Hampshire’s current law passed, which allows abortion before 24 weeks, and then prohibits it except in cases of fatal fetal anomaly or a medical emergency.

“On abortion, I have proven that I care. I have a wife and a daughter. I certainly have passed legislation in 2021 where I believe we should be as a state,” Morse said. “What I did, I thought was right for all the people in New Hampshire, and we got it passed. This the first time anything passed in 50 years, so I mean, we got people to agree on where New Hampshire should stand.”

Morse thinks it is unlikely any more abortion proposals would lead to agreement.

Ayotte said she supports New Hampshire’s current law and would not change it. In 2014, she pushed for a federal abortion ban at 20 weeks. In July, she said that New Hampshire does not have an abortion ban.

Homelessness and the housing crisis

To address New Hampshire’s housing issues, Ayotte said, the state government should make sure that the process of building more workforce housing is efficient.

Morse said he would work with charities and the government to end homelessness.

“Homelessness is a huge issue right now and has been and it's something we shouldn't as New Hampshirites, let be acceptable,” said Morse. He also said he has worked hard on mental health issues in the past. In 2021, he directed some of the federal aid heading to the state to be spent on mental health care.

The Trump factor in the Republican primary

In the 2024 presidential primary, 54.3% of Republicans voted for Trump. Whether the candidates like it or not, Trump will play a role in the governor’s race, Scala said. That could present a challenge for both Ayotte and Morse.

“The Trump factor is a question. Neither one is especially Trumpy,” said Scala. “Morse, pretty much his whole career, has been very establishment Republican. Although I think he's trying to make friends with what's become the new establishment in Republican politics, which is Trump Republican. Kelly Ayotte, of course, has had a long, difficult relationship with Donald Trump dating back to 2016.”

In 2016, Ayotte had not endorsed Trump for president but said she would vote for him until the release of the Access Hollywood tape, which caught Trump's explicit sexual comments about women. Shortly after, she lost her bid for re-election to the Senate.

“I’ve disagreed and denounced Donald Trump on many issues and called him out,” Ayotte said told reporters in Manchester in 2016. “But the tapes that were released on Friday, the statements talked about in those tapes and the action talked about in those tapes, are fundamentally different. He’s talking about assault of women.”

This year, Ayotte has said she will back Trump if he is the nominee, but has made little mention of him otherwise. When asked about him, she avoided mentioning him directly.

“I've been building a broad grassroots coalition in this campaign. And if you look at the endorsements that I've received, I'm really uniting the party,” Ayotte said when asked about her relationship with Trump and how that might affect the race. “I had among those endorsements, really leaders of all the presidential campaign who endorsed my candidacy, and they want to win in November and that's really the focus and so people are coming together to support me.”

Scala thinks Ayotte would like to emulate Sununu’s success in New Hampshire, which he has been able to achieve separate from Trump. But he doesn’t think Ayotte or Morse can count on being able to do the same thing as Sununu, who he calls a “unique case.”

“My guess is Kelly Ayotte would like to ignore Donald Trump and basically run her own race in New Hampshire and pretend Donald Trump doesn't exist,” said Scala. “But I don’t know that’s a world she’s going to get to run for governor. And I think Chuck Morse endorsing Donald Trump before the presidential primary is a pretty good hint of that.”

Indeed, Morse has been vocal about his support for the former president, especially for his stance on the border.

“Since 2016, I voted to support the President and I, honestly on the campaign trail, it was made very clear to as, I mean, we started back in last July, the majority of the Republicans in the state of New Hampshire are supporting him,” said Morse. He said that on energy policy, taxes, and inflation, “Trump provides all the right answers.”

Asked about the criminal indictments Trump is facing, Morse said the former president is “dealing with that. What I see happening right now is a president that’s hitting the campaign trail as hard as anybody."

Scala thinks the Trump factor in New Hampshire's Republican primary for governor could become even stronger if another candidate joins the fray as a “Trump clone of sorts.”

However, while it’s not good to be an opponent of Trump in a Republican primary in New Hampshire, Scala said, being connected with Trump in the general election “doesn’t tend to help you very much.”

After the primary in September, whichever candidate gets the nomination, he said, will have to quickly pivot from appealing to the ideological extreme to connecting with the general New Hampshire voter in order to win the governor's race in November.

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kelly Ayotte, Chuck Morse: NH Republican candidates for governor