New Hampshire GOP gubernatorial hopefuls debate a week ahead of primary

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A question about reducing anger and division in politics sparked one of the harshest exchanges of the night Tuesday when candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor met for a debate.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former state Senate president Chuck Morse are competing for a chance to succeed Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who is not seeking reelection. While four other names will be on the GOP primary ballot Sept. 10, only Ayotte and Morse were invited to debate on WMUR-TV.

Some of their most pointed criticisms of each other came when they were asked whether they were bothered by increasing polarization and anger in politics and how they would bridge the divide. Morse touted his work in the fall of 2016 to override then-Gov. Maggie Hassan’s veto of the state budget and then criticized Ayotte for losing her U.S. Senate to Hassan, a Democrat, that November.

“We didn’t unite because Kelly was running for the U.S. Senate again, and she lost that seat to Gov. Hassan,” Morse said. “She couldn’t support Donald Trump, and we lost the U.S. Senate seat for 12 years.”

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“That’s really rich, coming from someone who has never won a race outside of his hometown,” Ayotte shot back, referring to Morse’s failed campaign for U.S. Senate in 2022 and an earlier loss when he ran for Executive Council.

Ayotte answered the question by saying she would bring people together with a positive vision for the state and pointed to having served as state attorney general under both Republican and Democratic governors. But she also had to answer questions about her complicated relationship with Trump.

Ayotte rescinded her endorsement of Trump in 2016 over his lewd comments about women but now supports him again. She said Tuesday her shift is based on how his record stacks up to what she called the failed policies of the Biden administration.

“The record speaks for itself. Were you better off under the Trump administration? The answer is yes, and so I have to do what’s right for Americans,” she said.

Trump also came up when the candidates were asked about whether the state has done enough to address its opioid crisis. Ayotte praised the state’s Doorway program that connects people struggling with addiction with services and said she’d focus on partnering with communities on prevention and recovery programs. Morse focused on Trump.

“What hasn’t worked is the federal government. That’s why when I got into this race, I endorsed Donald Trump because I believe the first thing we need to do in New Hampshire is stop the drugs,” he said. “We need to close our borders.”

That led to criticizing Ayotte for voting for an immigration reform bill in the Senate that included a path to citizenship for people who entered the country illegally.

“I voted for more border security, doubling the amount of ICE agents and shipping back the criminals,” Ayotte said. “I’m a former murder prosecutor. We should have the toughest penalties for fentanyl dealers in the country here in New Hampshire.”

Morse also tried to hold Ayotte accountable for abuse at the state’s youth detention center, which has been engulfed in scandal for the last five years. Nine former state workers have been arrested and more than 1,100 former residents have sued the state alleging abuse spanning six decades.

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“Where the hell was she when she was attorney general when the Sununu Center was having problems with kids being raped and molested? Because those reports that came out said it was during her watch,” Morse said.

But the 2009 report Morse’s campaign points to involves an investigation into a single incident of two workers using excessive force in restraining a teenager, a far cry from the allegations that have emerged in the lawsuits and the ongoing criminal investigation.

Ayotte said she did not know about those allegations at the time.

“As governor, I will make sure that we stay safe and that children are protected,” she said.