RGA Donates $1M To Ayotte Campaign As Her Fundraising Approaches $6M Mark

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

The Republican Governors Association reported donating more than $1 million to Kelly Ayotte’s campaign for governor on Wednesday, calling it a warning to Democrats that the GOP isn’t going to let them use New Hampshire’s late primary against their likely nominee.

Asked what the RGA’s decision means in the Republican gubernatorial primary, veteran GOP strategist Pat Griffin responded, “It means they’ve read the numbers.”

The $1,050,00o donation from the Live Free PAC — which is entirely funded by the RGA — brings Ayotte’s total raised in this filing period to $1.66 million, and a total raised to date of nearly $6 million.

In their filing with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office, the Ayotte campaign reported cash on hand of $1.76 million.

Beginning this summer, Ayotte has been the target of attack ads from the Democratic Governors Association, the two major Democrats running in their gubernatorial primary and, as of Wednesday morning, a TV ad from her Republican primary opponent Chuck Morse. His campaign is spending some $300,000 on WMUR and Boston TV hitting Ayotte on her record in the U.S. Senate.

The RGA cash comes in response to the spending from across the aisle, where the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) has placed more than $3 million in negative ads targeting Ayotte since late July. Just this week, the DGA placed more than $1 million in Ayotte attack ads.

“Democrats are nervous because both of their candidates are incredibly flawed and out of touch. The DGA should take note — We aren’t going to sit back and wait until after the primary to support our candidates and combat such desperate attacks,” said RGA Communications Director Courtney Alexander.

With the general election just seven weeks after the primary, Ayotte will have little time to respond to the damage Democrats are attempting to inflict on her now, should she win the primary. It’s a tactic Democrats, who have far fewer hotly-contested primaries than Republicans, have used effectively in the past.

“For once, we’re not being dumb,” one GOP insider told NHJournal. “We’re leveling the playing field.”

Meanwhile, the top two Democrats running for governor released their financial filings on Wednesday as well.

Former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, who has consistently led in the primary polling, reported raising just under $500,000 this filing period, bringing her total to $2.9 million since launching her campaign. Craig reported $631,000 cash on hand.

Her opponent, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, has struggled to keep up with Craig’s fundraising since entering the race. She’s raised $2.3 million total and reported about $468,000 this cycle, but that includes a $300,000 loan she made to the campaign. And her cash on hand has fallen to just over $150,000.

Morse’s campaign disclosures weren’t posted on the Secretary of State’s website as of press time.

The New Hampshire governor’s race is a top priority of the DGA, and its current chairman, Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) — who’s now the vice presidential nominee — was the featured speaker at a state Democratic Party fundraiser in April. The DGA is expected to dump millions of dollars into the race, and Republicans say the decision of the RGA to get in now is a vote of confidence.

“The RGA knows how to do math,” said Griffin. “They see two weak Democratic candidates and a strong Republican.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.