MANCHESTER, N.H. – After a resounding victory in New Hampshire’s Republican Gubernatorial Primary, Kelly Ayotte addressed a packed room of supporters at Bonfire on Elm Street to celebrate and set the course for the upcoming general election campaign.
Just over a year after Ayotte kicked off her campaign nearby at the Goat, the newly minted GOP nominee expressed her appreciation for the Granite State and expressed her praise for the tenure of outgoing New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu.
“I got into this race because New Hampshire is worth it. We love New Hampshire. We were born here. Raised here. We’ve raised our children in our hometown of Nashua and New Hampshire is exceptional,” she said. “We have a phenomenal state and I would be remiss that over the last eight years under Governor Sununu’s leadership, this state has been rocking it.”
Also echoing a recurring theme over the course of her campaign, Ayotte emphasized the difference between New Hampshire and its southern neighbor, stating that no matter who the Democratic nominee is at the end of the night, they would transform the Granite State into Massachusetts.
“This future of our state is at stake, because the other side wants to take us down a very different path. Whether it’s Joyce Craig or Cinde Warmington, they don’t think the Sununu path has been a good path. I couldn’t disagree more,” said Ayotte. “This state is in a strong position and the path they want to take us down is the Massachusetts path, and that’s not the right path.”
Ayotte also thanked former New Hampshire State Senate President Chuck Morse for his concession after Morse finished second in the race, noting that Morse agreed with Ayotte about the importance of November’s election. She also asked for support in the next few weeks from the assembled crowd and pledged that her campaign, and term in office if she wins, would focus on collaboration.
“As governor, I want to listen to your ideas and the things you think are working and the things you think aren’t working and the shared vision we have for New Hampshire and how we can be an even better state,” she said. “This state, if I have the privilege of being governor, one of the wonderful things about New Hampshire is that we really respect civil discourse. We have a citizen legislature and as Governor, my door will always be open to your ideas and always open to the citizens of New Hampshire because that is the New Hampshire way.”
