Kelly Ayotte
Encyclopedia
Kelly A. Ayotte is the junior United States Senator
from New Hampshire
and a member of the Republican Party
. She earlier served as the Attorney General
of New Hampshire
.
, New Hampshire
on June 27, 1968. She attended Nashua High School
. She received a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University
majoring in political science. In 1993, Ayotte graduated from Villanova University School of Law
, where she had served as Editor of the Environmental Law Journal.
Ayotte clerked for Sherman D. Horton Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
, for one year. From 1994 to 1998, she was an associate at the Manchester
law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton. In 1998, she joined the office of the New Hampshire Attorney General
as a prosecutor. In 2003, Ayotte became legal counsel to Governor Craig Benson
. She returned to the Attorney General's office three months later, becoming Deputy Attorney General. In June 2004, Ayotte was appointed Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire by Governor Craig Benson
following Peter Heed's resignation as Attorney General amid allegations that he had sexually harassed a female state employee.
. Governor John Lynch, upon assuming office as governor, submitted an amicus curiae
brief in opposition to the Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act.
In Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of New England
, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling by the District Court and remanded the case back to the District Court. The Supreme Court held that (1) "invalidating the statute entirely is not always necessary or justified, for lower courts may be able to render narrower declaratory and injunctive relief" and (2) "when confronting a statute's constitutional flaw, this Court tries to limit the solution to the problem, preferring to enjoin only the statute's unconstitutional applications while leaving the others in force or to sever its problematic portions while leaving the remainder intact."
In 2007, the New Hampshire Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act was repealed by the New Hampshire legislature, rendering a rehearing by the District Court moot.
In 2008, a Federal District Court judge ordered the New Hampshire Department of Justice to pay Planned Parenthood's attorney fees and court costs, finding that Planned Parenthood's position had been upheld at every level of judicial review. In April of 2009, Ayotte, as Attorney General, authorized a payment of $300,000 to Planned Parenthood.
. New Hampshire has not carried out the death penalty in over seventy years and lacks an execution chamber. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections estimated in 2008 that it would cost $3.4 million to build and staff a chamber to carry out death by lethal injection. Several non-profit groups have argued that the money spent seeking the death penalty sentence would be better spent on assistance to the surviving families of the victims. In 2009, the New Hampshire legislature established the Commission to Study the Death Penalty in New Hampshire to study whether New Hampshire should abolish the death penalty. Some have also questioned whether race and class played a role in the jury's decision to impose a death penalty sentence in the case. The victim in the case was white and the defendant an unemployed indigent black man. Ninety-five percent of the New Hampshire population is white.
Members of the slain police officer's family have appeared in television ads for her Senate campaign praising her leadership.
Emails exchanged in 2006 between Ayotte and her 2010 campaign strategist Rob Varsalone, in which they discussed both her political future and her decision to seek the death penalty in the Briggs case, became public during her 2010 campaign for the Senate. Her Democratic opponent Paul Hodes, accused Ayotte of using the case for political gain and politicizing the case.
Two former prosecutors turned personal-injury attorneys alleged that Ayotte's conduct in the case violated American Bar Association standards of conduct which state that "in making the decision to prosecute, the prosecutor should give no weight to the personal or political advantages or disadvantages which might be involved" and "should not permit his or her professional judgment or obligations to be affected by his or her own political, financial, business, property or personal interests."
" in Etna, New Hampshire
. In 2001, a married couple, both professors at Dartmouth College originally from Germany, were murdered in their home. The two defendants charged in the case, both high school students at the time of the murders, accepted plea bargain
s and pleaded guilty. The "Dartmouth Murders
" were widely reported on by national and international media.
In May of 2010, New Hampshire's current Attorney General Michael Delaney issued a report faulting New Hampshire's Attorney General's office during Ayotte's tenure, the state Banking Department and the state Securities Bureau for failing to investigate complaints against Financial Resources Mortgage. Concurrently, a joint state legislative committee conducted an independent investigation and held public hearings. The Joint Legislative Committee to Review the State’s Regulatory Oversight Over Financial Resources Mortgage reached conclusions similar to those of Delaney's report, according to a draft report.
Republican candidate for Governor John Stephen has criticized Ayotte for her lack of oversight of Financial Resources Mortgage's activities. Stephens has said that Ayotte "has to be held accountable" for her and the New Hampshire Department of Justice's failure to act on complaints received about Financial Resources Mortgage's conduct.
On September 10, 2010, the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office released copies of many, but not all, of Ayotte's deleted emails in response to Right-to-Know requests. The Attorney General's Office also reported that many of Ayotte's "deleted" emails could not be recovered because backup tapes on which they had been stored had been re-used.
The legality of the permanent deletion of Ayotte's emails by New Hampshire's Attorney General's office is the subject of a law suit currently pending in New Hampshire's Merrimack County
Superior Court.
On October 11, 2010, Paul Hodes, Democratic candidate for the Senate, accused Ayotte of using a capital murder case that Ayotte prosecuted in 2006 for political gain and for politicizing the case. Hodes based his accusation upon emails exchanged between Ayotte and Rob Varsalone, currently Ayotte's campaign strategist, during 2006. The emails were released to the public by the New Hampshire Department of Justice on September 10, 2010 under a Right-to-Know request. Subsequently, Hodes has suggested, based on Ayotte's released emails, that Ayotte's political ambitions may have in part motivated Ayotte's decision to seek the death penalty in the case.
while Attorney General.
decided to retire, instead of seeking re-election in the 2010 senate election in New Hampshire
. Ayotte resigned as Attorney General on July 7, 2009 to explore a run for U.S. Senate in 2010
. Ayotte was recruited by the National Republican Party (National Republican Senatorial Committee) in Washington to enter the race. On September 14, 2010, Ayotte defeated lawyer Ovide Lamontagne, businessman Bill Binnie and Jim Bender in the Republican Senate primary. In the general election, Ayotte ran against Democratic nominee U.S. Representative Paul Hodes
, Libertarian nominee Ken Blevens, and Independent Chris Booth.
, Sarah Palin
, Mitt Romney
, Haley Barbour
, and Rick Santorum
. According to one senior GOP aide, “The addition of a Republican woman from New England who’s young, who’s a mom ... all of these things broaden the Republican party’s appeal and say to different segments of the population, ‘This party has folks in it that are just like you.’”
and believes that abortion should be prohibited except in cases of rape, incest or health of the mother. Where abortion is legal, Ayotte supports parental notification before abortions may be performed on unemancipated minors and opposes any federal funding for elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment
. Ayotte has expressed her determination to be a strong vocal advocate for unborn children in the U.S. Senate.
and adoption by same-sex couples which are both legal in New Hampshire. Ayotte believes marriage should be left up to respective churches not the state. Ayotte resigned as state Attorney General shortly after Governor John Lynch signed a set of three same sex marriage bills into law to which she was opposed.
In 2008 Ayotte joined other Attorneys General to repudiate same-sex marriages performed in other states, however she changed her position when informed that New Hampshire already recognizes these marriages.
("Card Check"), a bill currently under consideration by Congress that proposes to amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform the process by which employees decide whether to form or join a labor union.
Ayotte opposes passage of legislation that would subject the minimum wage to automatic cost-of-living adjustments. Ayotte opposes any increase in the minimum wage and opposes efforts to make the minimum wage a "living wage."
Ayotte opposes passage of legislation that mandates that employers provide paid sick leave to their employees.
.
In contrast, however, Ayotte opposed establishing a Castle Doctrine
on the 2nd amendment. In 2006 Ayotte opposed a Republican-backed bill that would clearly establish a Castle doctrine for New Hampshire. Democratic Governor John Lynch
sided with Ayotte and vetoed the bill.
system. Ayotte opposes restrictions on purchasing insurance across state lines
, supports a ban on insurance discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and supports tort reform
. Ayotte supports the adoption of electronic medical records and processes that coordinate patient care. Ayotte supports state administered healthcare programs such as SCHIP and federal tax credits that serve to reduce the number of uninsured.
Ayotte has pledged to sponsor and support legislation to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
("ObamaCare") passed in 2010.
Ayotte opposed the confirmation of Justice Elena Kagan
, stating that Kagan is unqualified. Ayotte has said that she probably would have voted in favor of confirming Justice Sonia Sotomayor
.
(the"Stimulus Bill") and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
("TARP").
Ayotte believes that Congress should end the process of earmarking.
"I wouldn't have supported the TARP or the bailouts," Ayotte told a reporter. "Let the market adjust and pick the winners and losers. I do not think we should have bailed out the private sector. You start a business and when you succeed, the fruits of that is profits and when you fail, you pay the price."
To counter the federal government's debt and deficit problem, Ayotte proposes that every government department cut its budget by 20 percent from current levels, though "some may cut more, some may cut less". "We are on the path to bankrupt the greatest nation in the world."
("Bush tax cuts
") which cuts the federal taxes paid by all taxpayers including the wealthiest, saying: "to increase taxes on anyone is the wrong approach", and "[I] fully support extending the tax rates the way they are now for everybody in this country". Ayotte supports the permanent elimination of all estate taxes
, an immediate cut in payroll tax rates, additional income tax cuts for all corporations, cuts in capital gains taxes and reduced tax rates for small business owners who file individual income tax returns, accelerated depreciation for investments in equipment by small businesses and a simplified tax code.
Ayotte's opposition to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is based on the Act's failure, in Ayotte's opinion, to directly address the "problem of" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Ayotte's belief that the Act imposes additional regulatory burdens on community banks.
Ayotte believes that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist, and that Abdulmutallab should be treated as an enemy combatant and not as a criminal. Abdulmutallab is the Nigerian man who unsuccessfully attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan
on December 25, 2009. On January 6, 2010, Abdulmutallab was indicted by a U.S. Attorney in the Federal District Court in Michigan on six criminal counts, including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and the attempted murder of 289 people. Abdulmutallab is currently in U.S. custody, awaiting trial and has been cooperating with the FBI.
Ayotte believes that Abdulmutallab should have been held in military custody and tried before a military commission, a process whereby Abdulmutallab would not be accorded the rights accorded by U.S. law to defendants in criminal proceedings. She also supports drone strikes in Yemen
and tribal areas of North Waziristan
(Pakistan), where Al-Qaeda terrorists are believed to be sheltered. She opposes a civilian criminal trial for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York City, and bringing Guantánamo detainees onto U.S. soil.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. She earlier served as the Attorney General
New Hampshire Attorney General
The New Hampshire Attorney General is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New Hampshire who serves as head of the Department of Justice...
of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
.
Early life, education and career
Ayotte was born in NashuaNashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
on June 27, 1968. She attended Nashua High School
Nashua high school south
Nashua High School South is a public high school located in Nashua, New Hampshire. The school's current location was erected in 1975 with its first class graduating in June 1976. The school was remodeled between 2002 and 2004 when a second school, Nashua High School North, was built...
. She received a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
majoring in political science. In 1993, Ayotte graduated from Villanova University School of Law
Villanova University School of Law
Villanova University School of Law is the law school of Villanova University, the oldest and largest Catholic University in Pennsylvania. Villanova was founded 150 years ago by the Augustinians, a prominent Roman Catholic teaching order...
, where she had served as Editor of the Environmental Law Journal.
Ayotte clerked for Sherman D. Horton Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
New Hampshire Supreme Court
The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the supreme court of the U. S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices appointed by the Governor and Executive...
, for one year. From 1994 to 1998, she was an associate at the Manchester
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton. In 1998, she joined the office of the New Hampshire Attorney General
New Hampshire Attorney General
The New Hampshire Attorney General is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New Hampshire who serves as head of the Department of Justice...
as a prosecutor. In 2003, Ayotte became legal counsel to Governor Craig Benson
Craig Benson
Craig R. Benson is an American politician and businessman. He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 2003 to 2005...
. She returned to the Attorney General's office three months later, becoming Deputy Attorney General. In June 2004, Ayotte was appointed Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire by Governor Craig Benson
Craig Benson
Craig R. Benson is an American politician and businessman. He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 2003 to 2005...
following Peter Heed's resignation as Attorney General amid allegations that he had sexually harassed a female state employee.
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
In 2003, the Federal District Court for the District of New Hampshire found the New Hampshire law requiring parental notification of a minor's abortion, the Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act, unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement. In 2004, New Hampshire Attorney General Peter Heed appealed this ruling to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling. In 2004, Ayotte, having replaced Heed as New Hampshire Attorney General, appealed the Appeals Court's ruling to the Supreme Court, over the objection of incoming Democratic governor John Lynch. Ayotte personally argued the case before the Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. Governor John Lynch, upon assuming office as governor, submitted an amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
brief in opposition to the Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act.
In Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of New England
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of New England
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, 546 U.S. 320 , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving a facial challenge to New Hampshire's parental notification abortion law. The First Circuit had ruled that the law was unconstitutional and an injunction against...
, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling by the District Court and remanded the case back to the District Court. The Supreme Court held that (1) "invalidating the statute entirely is not always necessary or justified, for lower courts may be able to render narrower declaratory and injunctive relief" and (2) "when confronting a statute's constitutional flaw, this Court tries to limit the solution to the problem, preferring to enjoin only the statute's unconstitutional applications while leaving the others in force or to sever its problematic portions while leaving the remainder intact."
In 2007, the New Hampshire Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act was repealed by the New Hampshire legislature, rendering a rehearing by the District Court moot.
In 2008, a Federal District Court judge ordered the New Hampshire Department of Justice to pay Planned Parenthood's attorney fees and court costs, finding that Planned Parenthood's position had been upheld at every level of judicial review. In April of 2009, Ayotte, as Attorney General, authorized a payment of $300,000 to Planned Parenthood.
Prosecution of high profile murder cases
Ayotte has prosecuted two high profile capital murder cases.Murder of police officer Michael Briggs
One case resulted in both a conviction and death penalty sentence for the killing of an on-duty Manchester Police Officer in 2006. Ayotte has been criticized for pursuing the death penalty in the case, as opposed to seeking a life sentence without parole. Prosecutions seeking the death penalty typically cost several million dollars to adjudicate. To date, the state of New Hampshire has spent $2.7 million on the case. The death penalty in the case is currently being appealed. The defendant in this case is the sole inmate on New Hampshire's Death RowDeath row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
. New Hampshire has not carried out the death penalty in over seventy years and lacks an execution chamber. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections estimated in 2008 that it would cost $3.4 million to build and staff a chamber to carry out death by lethal injection. Several non-profit groups have argued that the money spent seeking the death penalty sentence would be better spent on assistance to the surviving families of the victims. In 2009, the New Hampshire legislature established the Commission to Study the Death Penalty in New Hampshire to study whether New Hampshire should abolish the death penalty. Some have also questioned whether race and class played a role in the jury's decision to impose a death penalty sentence in the case. The victim in the case was white and the defendant an unemployed indigent black man. Ninety-five percent of the New Hampshire population is white.
Members of the slain police officer's family have appeared in television ads for her Senate campaign praising her leadership.
Emails exchanged in 2006 between Ayotte and her 2010 campaign strategist Rob Varsalone, in which they discussed both her political future and her decision to seek the death penalty in the Briggs case, became public during her 2010 campaign for the Senate. Her Democratic opponent Paul Hodes, accused Ayotte of using the case for political gain and politicizing the case.
Two former prosecutors turned personal-injury attorneys alleged that Ayotte's conduct in the case violated American Bar Association standards of conduct which state that "in making the decision to prosecute, the prosecutor should give no weight to the personal or political advantages or disadvantages which might be involved" and "should not permit his or her professional judgment or obligations to be affected by his or her own political, financial, business, property or personal interests."
John Brooks case
In the second capital murder case that Ayotte prosecuted in 2008, a Rockingham County jury convicted a wealthy white businessman of capital murder for hiring three men to kill a handyman whom the defendant believed had stolen from him. In that case, the jury rejected the death penalty and elected to sentence the defendant to life in prison without parole even though the jury had found that aggravating factors had outweighed mitigating factors in their consideration of the sentence. Some have questioned whether race and class played a role in the jury's decision not to impose the death penalty in the case.Dartmouth Murders
In an earlier case, Ayotte, while serving as an assistant Attorney General, had prosecuted two defendants for the "Dartmouth MurdersDartmouth Murders
The Dartmouth Murders were the double homicide of Dartmouth College professors Half Zantop and his wife Susanne Zantop , who were killed at their home in Etna, New Hampshire , on January 27, 2001...
" in Etna, New Hampshire
Etna, New Hampshire
Etna, originally named "Mill Village," is a small village within the town of Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. It is located in southwestern Grafton County, approximately east of Hanover's downtown and south of the village of Hanover Center, on Mink Brook...
. In 2001, a married couple, both professors at Dartmouth College originally from Germany, were murdered in their home. The two defendants charged in the case, both high school students at the time of the murders, accepted plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
s and pleaded guilty. The "Dartmouth Murders
Dartmouth Murders
The Dartmouth Murders were the double homicide of Dartmouth College professors Half Zantop and his wife Susanne Zantop , who were killed at their home in Etna, New Hampshire , on January 27, 2001...
" were widely reported on by national and international media.
Financial Resources Mortgage fraud
Ayotte has been criticized for her former office's alleged refusal to investigate charges against mortgage investment firm Financial Resources Mortgage (FRM) which has been accused of orchestrating a $80–100 million Ponzi scheme. Scott Farah, the former president of Financial Resources Mortgage, was accused of swindling investors out of millions of dollars, using investor funds to pay other investors and his own personal expenses, and has agreed, under a plea agreement, to plead guilty to federal wire and mail fraud charges in exchange for a nearly 20-year prison sentence.In May of 2010, New Hampshire's current Attorney General Michael Delaney issued a report faulting New Hampshire's Attorney General's office during Ayotte's tenure, the state Banking Department and the state Securities Bureau for failing to investigate complaints against Financial Resources Mortgage. Concurrently, a joint state legislative committee conducted an independent investigation and held public hearings. The Joint Legislative Committee to Review the State’s Regulatory Oversight Over Financial Resources Mortgage reached conclusions similar to those of Delaney's report, according to a draft report.
Republican candidate for Governor John Stephen has criticized Ayotte for her lack of oversight of Financial Resources Mortgage's activities. Stephens has said that Ayotte "has to be held accountable" for her and the New Hampshire Department of Justice's failure to act on complaints received about Financial Resources Mortgage's conduct.
Deleted emails
Ayotte's office deleted Ayotte's email and calendar of appointments from their computer systems prior to Ayotte's resignation as New Hampshire Attorney General. Two days before Ayotte resigned her post as Attorney General and less than one week before Ayotte filed to run for the Senate Republican primary, Ayotte's office issued a policy memorandum covering deleted emails. The memorandum states that, "While courts have not yet addressed the issue, it is our view that electronic records that have been legally deleted and are available only on system back-up storage media are properly treated as no longer subject to disclosure" under New Hampshire's Right-to-Know Law.On September 10, 2010, the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office released copies of many, but not all, of Ayotte's deleted emails in response to Right-to-Know requests. The Attorney General's Office also reported that many of Ayotte's "deleted" emails could not be recovered because backup tapes on which they had been stored had been re-used.
The legality of the permanent deletion of Ayotte's emails by New Hampshire's Attorney General's office is the subject of a law suit currently pending in New Hampshire's Merrimack County
Merrimack County, New Hampshire
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 136,225 people, 51,843 households, and 35,460 families residing in the county. The population density was 146 people per square mile . There were 56,244 housing units at an average density of 60 per square mile...
Superior Court.
On October 11, 2010, Paul Hodes, Democratic candidate for the Senate, accused Ayotte of using a capital murder case that Ayotte prosecuted in 2006 for political gain and for politicizing the case. Hodes based his accusation upon emails exchanged between Ayotte and Rob Varsalone, currently Ayotte's campaign strategist, during 2006. The emails were released to the public by the New Hampshire Department of Justice on September 10, 2010 under a Right-to-Know request. Subsequently, Hodes has suggested, based on Ayotte's released emails, that Ayotte's political ambitions may have in part motivated Ayotte's decision to seek the death penalty in the case.
New Hampshire Institute of Politics
Ayotte previously served as a board member of the Public Advisory Board at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm CollegeSaint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...
while Attorney General.
2010 election
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Judd GreggJudd Gregg
Judd Alan Gregg is a former Governor of New Hampshire and former United States Senator from New Hampshire, who served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics...
decided to retire, instead of seeking re-election in the 2010 senate election in New Hampshire
United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 2, 2010, alongside other midterm elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as to the United States House of Representatives. A primary election was held on September 14th. Incumbent Republican U.S....
. Ayotte resigned as Attorney General on July 7, 2009 to explore a run for U.S. Senate in 2010
United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 2, 2010, alongside other midterm elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as to the United States House of Representatives. A primary election was held on September 14th. Incumbent Republican U.S....
. Ayotte was recruited by the National Republican Party (National Republican Senatorial Committee) in Washington to enter the race. On September 14, 2010, Ayotte defeated lawyer Ovide Lamontagne, businessman Bill Binnie and Jim Bender in the Republican Senate primary. In the general election, Ayotte ran against Democratic nominee U.S. Representative Paul Hodes
Paul Hodes
Paul Hodes is an attorney, musician, and the former U.S. Representative for , serving fom 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was New Hampshire's first Jewish representative....
, Libertarian nominee Ken Blevens, and Independent Chris Booth.
Endorsements
Many prominent GOP figures went to New Hampshire to help Ayotte in her 2010 campaign, including John McCainJohn McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Haley Barbour
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007...
, and Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
. According to one senior GOP aide, “The addition of a Republican woman from New England who’s young, who’s a mom ... all of these things broaden the Republican party’s appeal and say to different segments of the population, ‘This party has folks in it that are just like you.’”
Committee assignments
- Committee on Armed ServicesUnited States Senate Committee on Armed ServicesThe Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
- Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipUnited States Senate Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipThe U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.-History:The...
- Special Committee on AgingUnited States Senate Special Committee on AgingThe United States Senate Special Committee on Aging was initially established in 1961 as a temporary committee; it became a permanent Senate committee in 1977...
Abortion
Ayotte is pro-lifePro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
and believes that abortion should be prohibited except in cases of rape, incest or health of the mother. Where abortion is legal, Ayotte supports parental notification before abortions may be performed on unemancipated minors and opposes any federal funding for elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment
Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions. It is not a permanent law, rather it is a "rider" that, in various forms, has been routinely attached to annual appropriations bills since 1976...
. Ayotte has expressed her determination to be a strong vocal advocate for unborn children in the U.S. Senate.
Gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples
Ayotte opposes same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and adoption by same-sex couples which are both legal in New Hampshire. Ayotte believes marriage should be left up to respective churches not the state. Ayotte resigned as state Attorney General shortly after Governor John Lynch signed a set of three same sex marriage bills into law to which she was opposed.
In 2008 Ayotte joined other Attorneys General to repudiate same-sex marriages performed in other states, however she changed her position when informed that New Hampshire already recognizes these marriages.
Labor rights and minimum wage
Ayotte opposes passage of Employee Free Choice ActEmployee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act was a legislative bill that was introduced into both chambers of the U.S. Congress on March 10, 2009. The bill's purpose was to,...
("Card Check"), a bill currently under consideration by Congress that proposes to amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform the process by which employees decide whether to form or join a labor union.
Ayotte opposes passage of legislation that would subject the minimum wage to automatic cost-of-living adjustments. Ayotte opposes any increase in the minimum wage and opposes efforts to make the minimum wage a "living wage."
Ayotte opposes passage of legislation that mandates that employers provide paid sick leave to their employees.
Gun rights
Ayotte supports an individual's right to bear arms and Second Amendment rights. Ayotte supported the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Washington, DC and City of Chicago gun ownership bans. As Attorney General, Ayotte fought against the reauthorization of the Federal Assault Weapons BanFederal assault weapons ban
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law in the United States that included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms, so called "assault weapons"...
.
In contrast, however, Ayotte opposed establishing a Castle Doctrine
Castle Doctrine
A Castle Doctrine is an American legal doctrine arising from English common law that designates one's place of residence as a place in which one enjoys protection from illegal trespassing and violent attack...
on the 2nd amendment. In 2006 Ayotte opposed a Republican-backed bill that would clearly establish a Castle doctrine for New Hampshire. Democratic Governor John Lynch
John Lynch
John H. Lynch is the 80th and current Governor of New Hampshire. Lynch was first elected in 2004 and has been re-elected every two years since. On September 15, 2011, Lynch announced he would not seek a fifth two-year term in 2012....
sided with Ayotte and vetoed the bill.
Immigration
Ayotte supports Arizona SB 1070, Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law passed in 2010. Ayotte believes that the Arizona legislature was justified in their passage of this law. Ayotte supports the enforcement of all existing immigration laws and is against the granting of amnesty to any illegal immigrant.Climate change
Ayotte questions the finding of many climate change scientists and scientific societies that human activity has caused significant climate change. Ayotte says that "there is scientific evidence that demonstrates there is some impact from human activities. However I don't think the evidence is conclusive."Health care
Ayotte opposes a single-payer health careSingle-payer health care
Single-payer health care is medical care funded from a single insurance pool, run by the state. Under a single-payer system, universal health care for an entire population can be financed from a pool to which many parties employees, employers, and the state have contributed...
system. Ayotte opposes restrictions on purchasing insurance across state lines
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
, supports a ban on insurance discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and supports tort reform
Tort reform
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...
. Ayotte supports the adoption of electronic medical records and processes that coordinate patient care. Ayotte supports state administered healthcare programs such as SCHIP and federal tax credits that serve to reduce the number of uninsured.
Ayotte has pledged to sponsor and support legislation to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
("ObamaCare") passed in 2010.
Medical marijuana
Ayotte thinks marijuana should go through the FDA process before being approved.Social Security
Ayotte has stated that she is open to raising the Social Security retirement age for younger workers.U.S. Supreme Court
Ayotte has stated that she is in favor of increasing the diversity of the court by including candidates from the Executive branch of government such as former Presidential cabinet members or candidates who have held elected positions to avoid having a Supreme Court composed exclusively of former lower court judges.Ayotte opposed the confirmation of Justice Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
, stating that Kagan is unqualified. Ayotte has said that she probably would have voted in favor of confirming Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....
.
Congressional term limits
Ayotte is in favor of congressional term limits. She has vowed to serve no more than two terms (12 years) in office.Government spending
Ayotte favors passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ayotte favors ending any additional spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
(the"Stimulus Bill") and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of , commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis...
("TARP").
Ayotte believes that Congress should end the process of earmarking.
"I wouldn't have supported the TARP or the bailouts," Ayotte told a reporter. "Let the market adjust and pick the winners and losers. I do not think we should have bailed out the private sector. You start a business and when you succeed, the fruits of that is profits and when you fail, you pay the price."
To counter the federal government's debt and deficit problem, Ayotte proposes that every government department cut its budget by 20 percent from current levels, though "some may cut more, some may cut less". "We are on the path to bankrupt the greatest nation in the world."
Taxes
Ayotte supports an indefinite extension of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 , was a sweeping piece of tax legislation in the United States by President George W. Bush...
("Bush tax cuts
Bush tax cuts
The Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama that generally lowered tax rates and revised the code specifying taxation in the United States...
") which cuts the federal taxes paid by all taxpayers including the wealthiest, saying: "to increase taxes on anyone is the wrong approach", and "[I] fully support extending the tax rates the way they are now for everybody in this country". Ayotte supports the permanent elimination of all estate taxes
Estate tax in the United States
The estate tax in the United States is a tax imposed on the transfer of the "taxable estate" of a deceased person, whether such property is transferred via a will, according to the state laws of intestacy or otherwise made as an incident of the death of the owner, such as a transfer of property...
, an immediate cut in payroll tax rates, additional income tax cuts for all corporations, cuts in capital gains taxes and reduced tax rates for small business owners who file individual income tax returns, accelerated depreciation for investments in equipment by small businesses and a simplified tax code.
Financial regulation
Ayotte opposed passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law on July 21, 2010. The purpose of the act isAyotte's opposition to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is based on the Act's failure, in Ayotte's opinion, to directly address the "problem of" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Ayotte's belief that the Act imposes additional regulatory burdens on community banks.
War in Afghanistan
In September 2009 Ayotte stated that she supports a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan. Ayotte supports drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan.Al Qaeda
Ayotte believes that Al Qaeda and its affiliates are foreign enemies that have declared war on the U.S. and that the U.S. must treat all members of Al Qaeda and its affiliates as enemy combatants regardless of their nationality and location.Ayotte believes that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist, and that Abdulmutallab should be treated as an enemy combatant and not as a criminal. Abdulmutallab is the Nigerian man who unsuccessfully attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
on December 25, 2009. On January 6, 2010, Abdulmutallab was indicted by a U.S. Attorney in the Federal District Court in Michigan on six criminal counts, including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and the attempted murder of 289 people. Abdulmutallab is currently in U.S. custody, awaiting trial and has been cooperating with the FBI.
Ayotte believes that Abdulmutallab should have been held in military custody and tried before a military commission, a process whereby Abdulmutallab would not be accorded the rights accorded by U.S. law to defendants in criminal proceedings. She also supports drone strikes in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and tribal areas of North Waziristan
North Waziristan
North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...
(Pakistan), where Al-Qaeda terrorists are believed to be sheltered. She opposes a civilian criminal trial for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York City, and bringing Guantánamo detainees onto U.S. soil.
External links
- Senator Kelly Ayotte official U.S. Senate website