NH GOP Leaders Fire 'Warning Shot' Over Morse Attacks On Ayotte

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Granite State GOP leaders released a statement Thursday that appears to be a generic call for “decorum and respect” from all the Republican primary candidates. But multiple sources confirmed to NHJournal that their message had a very specific audience:

Chuck Morse.

“Today, New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager and New Hampshire Republican National Committee members Juliana Bergeron and Bill O’Brien issued a unified call for decorum and respect among candidates in the upcoming primary elections,” the statement reads. “This call reinforces the importance of adhering to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.'”

The press release comes days after Morse, the former state Senate president running for governor, used his appearance before the state GOP’s biennial gathering on Saturday to criticize his opponent, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, on illegal immigration and amnesty.

The Morse campaign also launched an “Amnesty Ayotte” website, and staffers handed out baseball card-style campaign literature to the convention delegates. They featured the name and face of Darlin Navarro-Turcios, an illegal convicted of assault in a 2014 stabbing death in Philadelphia.

“Just say NO to Amnesty Ayotte this September!” the card read.

While the convention was closed to the press, several attendees contacted NHJournal afterward to criticize Morse for attacking Ayotte while she stood on stage with him. They were also unhappy that Morse chose to go negative just minutes after Ager addressed the crowd and urged Republicans to remain positive and united through the primary season in order to improve their odds in the general election.

“Chuck’s tone wasn’t great, with Sen. Ayotte standing right there beside him,” one Republican insider in attendance told NHJournal. “And remember, there aren’t many things they (Ager, Bergeron, and O’Brien) agree on. They wouldn’t have done this if there wasn’t a lot of negative feedback about Morse’s comments.

“This press release is obviously a shot across Chuck’s bow, letting him know he needs to be more of a Republican team player,” the Republican added.

In the statement, Bergeron said, “Every candidate has the opportunity to present their policy platforms and achievements. We urge them to focus on what they will do for the people of New Hampshire and the United States and how they will uphold the values we hold dear.”

The Morse campaign did not respond to the press release, but campaign manager Maya Harvey told NHJournal after Saturday’s event that the Ayotte campaign had already begun taking shots at them, and Morse didn’t say anything out of line in a competitive primary.

“If [Ayotte] can’t take a 100 percent fact-based argument about her abysmal record in Washington, then how is she going to hold up against the tactics of New Hampshire’s Democrat Party?” Harvey said.

Asked about the press release, Ayotte campaign spokesman John Corbett said, “Kelly is focused on keeping New Hampshire safe, prosperous, and free and ensuring that the Democrats don’t turn our great state into Massachusetts. As for Joyce Craig, Cinde Warmington, and Chuck Morse, it’s clear that Kelly Ayotte is beating them, and they don’t like it!”

What many Granite State Republicans really don’t like are primaries themselves, believing they hurt GOP candidates more than Democrats. One reason is Republicans tend to have ideologically-motivated contests that highlight the divide between the traditional vs. more libertarian or populist wings of the party. The GOP also tends to have more contested primaries in general. And given the election calendar — New Hampshire’s Sept. 10 primary is tied for the latest in the nation — there are only a few weeks to unify the party and raise money before the November election.

“I’ll tell you one reason that press release went out,” a GOP legislator told NHJournal on background. “It’s because our candidates are attacking each other while the Democrats are doing press conferences together.”

Two days before the GOP convention, former Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington held a joint press event attacking the Republican Party on the abortion issue despite running against each other in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Efforts by New Hampshire’s GOP leadership to prevent political bloodshed aren’t new.

“It’s not unprecedented for the party to step in like this,” said veteran GOP strategist Michael Dennehy. “Back in the 1990s when Steve Duprey was state party chair, he would hold a meeting with the candidates every two weeks to hold them accountable for their actions. It was one of Steve’s many good moves as party chair.”

However, one Morse supporter told NHJournal that this is how campaigns work.

“What’s a primary campaign for if not to make distinctions between the candidates?”

But O’Brien urged Republicans to “lead by example, showing that politics can be about the issues that matter and not about tearing down one another.

“In doing so, we honor President Reagan’s legacy and build a stronger foundation for our party and our country.”

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.