ROUNDUP: With Abortion Rights on the Line, New Hampshire Voters Remember Why They Can’t Trust Kelly Ayotte to Protect Their RightsLatest News Year in Review

ROUNDUP: With Abortion Rights on the Line, New Hampshire Voters Remember Why They Can't Trust Kelly Ayotte to Protect Their Rights

New Hampshire independent voter on Ayotte: "That's the problem I have - her just wavering with whichever way the wind is blowing"

Two new reports from the Associated Press and the Boston Globe today lay out the stakes of New Hampshire's race for governor and the clear contrast between the candidates: while Joyce Craig has pledged to protect abortion rights and reproductive freedom, Kelly Ayotte has spent her career attacking those rights and continues to show she can't be trusted to keep her word to Granite Staters.

While the Globe reports that a majority of New Hampshire voters across the political spectrum support the kinds of nationwide protections for abortion rights that Ayotte has long opposed, she has repeatedly tried to rewrite her record and mislead voters about the threat she poses to personal freedoms - reminding voters that she'll say or do anything she thinks will help her politically.

Here's what Granite Staters are reading about their state's critical race for governor:

AP: With 2 women running, the New Hampshire governor's race is both close and personal

• "I was able to end my pregnancy without interference," says Craig, the former mayor of Manchester. "I'm running for governor because these decisions belong to women, not politicians."
• But the "trust women" slogan comes with an asterisk in New Hampshire, where Craig often highlights Ayotte's support for a federal abortion ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy and her role shepherding Justice Neil Gorsuch through his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he joined in overturning Roe v. Wade.
• "We can't trust what she's saying right now because she has shown where she is on the topic of reproductive freedom," Craig said in an interview last week.
• Ayotte rescinded her support for Trump in 2016 over his lewd comments about women but says she now backs him again because his record in office was better than the Biden administration's.
• Victoria Hill, an independent voter from Gorham, echoed that sentiment, though she is voting for Craig. After meeting the candidate in a guitar shop in Littleton, Hill praised Craig's commitment to public education while criticizing Ayotte's support for former President Donald Trump. Ayotte rescinded her support for Trump in 2016 over his lewd comments about women but says she now backs him again because his record in office was better than the Biden administration's.
• "That's the problem I have - her just wavering with whichever way the wind is blowing," Hill said.

Boston Globe: Abortion rights a big concern for Democrats in N.H. governor's race

• While Ayotte has said she "will not change" New Hampshire's current abortion law, Craig has called for the addition of affirmative protections for abortion rights, with a state law akin to those on the books in every other New England state.
• "For me, it's trusting women to make their own health care decisions," Craig said at the end of the roundtable. "We need to codify access to abortion in New Hampshire, and I will work to do that as governor."
• "With no protections for abortion in New Hampshire, this issue will be top of mind for Granite State voters on Election Day and is poised to be the deciding factor up and down the ballot," said Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund.
• When asked whether she would agree to eliminate the law's criminal and civil penalties, Ayotte said she hadn't heard of any problems related to those provisions and would have to look into that issue further.
• Democrats have contended throughout this campaign cycle that Ayotte's latest comments don't align with her track record. They cite, for example, how during her time as a US senator she pushed for federal restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and after leaving office took on a role shepherding Justice Neil Gorsuch through his confirmation to the US Supreme Court, where he joined in overturning Roe v. Wade.
• At Friday's roundtable, Craig was flanked by former governors and current US senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, who said Ayotte cannot be trusted to keep her word on abortion policy.
• [Ayotte's] position isn't shared, however, by most Granite Staters, according to polling conducted this month by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion.
• Two-thirds of likely New Hampshire voters said they would either strongly support (51 percent) or somewhat support (15 percent) a law establishing a nationwide right to abortion, according to the polling.
• Montgomery said the poll makes clear "there is a strong consensus among Granite Staters that abortion rights must be protected."

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