Democrats promise to block the far right in NH; unfortunately for them, Ayotte is already doing it

New Hampshire Democrats’ all-in campaign motto of “Vote for Us: We’ll Minimize the Damage!” took another hit last week, especially when it comes to the race for governor.

It turns out that Gov. Kelly Ayotte is pretty effective at blocking her party’s ever-emergent far right, too.

Last week, Ayotte shared the news that she had signed 74 bills into law. There’s some bad legislation in there, including a wrongheaded teacher disclosure bill that risks placing some LGBTQ+ students in real danger. And there are bills that might look good on the surface but seem destined to disappoint in practice, like a childcare tax credit that marks another win for large corporations but is unlikely to boost capacity as intended because it leaves small businesses out of the picture. Many of the signed bills, however, represent piecemeal attempts, sometimes bipartisan, to address larger problems or tweak existing statutes.

But while Ayotte wants to emphasize the dozens of bills she did sign, her nine vetoes have garnered even more attention.

Again, there were a couple of misguided decisions there, such as her rejection of legislation that would give the wrongfully convicted more time to petition for a new trial. She also balked at even considering toll increases in support of the state’s 10-year transportation plan. Neither of those vetoes were particularly surprising, however, for a former prosecutor with a strong distaste for fee increases.

But here’s a few others she nixed: a new attack on abortion rights in the form of a “right of conscience” bill; a money grab by landlords at the expense of low-income tenants; the repeal of the state’s volunteer Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders; yet another attempt to pass a book-banning bill; and the formation of a commission to study transitioning all public schools to charter schools.

For each veto, Ayotte shared her reasons for breaking with her own party, which holds majority power in both the House and Senate. She was especially blunt on the charter school bill, effectively issuing a warning to Free Staters like House Majority Leader Jason Osborne and House Education Committee member Rep. Dan McGuire, along with all of the behind-the-scenes powers pushing the steady destruction of the public school system in New Hampshire and the nation.

“As a proud product of New Hampshire public schools,” Ayotte wrote, “I believe providing every child the opportunity and choice to attend a public school is important and necessary. While I fully support education freedom allowing every child to be in the learning environment best for them, including innovative public charter schools, I cannot envision a future that does not include public schools.”

I can’t either, but plenty of lawmakers in New Hampshire fantasize about it regularly. And they’ve made steady progress in making that nightmare a reality, sometimes with Ayotte’s help. 

A year ago, the governor signed legislation to remove income limits on the state’s school voucher program, assuring that even the wealthiest of private-school parents could get a taxpayer-funded coupon toward their child’s elite education. I believe that when the full extent of the damage caused by the voucher program becomes clear, that decision will go down as one of the biggest missteps of her first term. I also believe that Ayotte signed it not because she was fully on board but because she felt that, politically, she didn’t have a choice.

Now that she’s showing signs of resistance to the Free State Project cult, maybe that spirit will start to make its way onto the campaign trail. After all, a little more moderation in the Republican legislative caucus would be good for everybody, Republican voters included.

In the meantime, it would be refreshing if Democrats stopped trying so hard to paint Ayotte as President Donald Trump’s doppelganger. Nobody’s buying it, and it also means they’re missing the opportunity to challenge her where she’s most vulnerable, where all Republicans are vulnerable.

Much like the rest of her party, Ayotte’s fiscal approach seems to be based on two things. First, you throw money at people and corporations that don’t need it in hopes that their windfall trickles down to the masses. And then, when it inevitably doesn’t (as the Elon Musks and Jeff Bezoses of the world prove time and time again), you make cuts that disproportionately affect people who can least afford to take the hit.

The Democrats’ counterstrategy sounds nice, but it’s only half-baked. We know what they promise not to do (throw money at rich people and actively harm poor people), but I don’t think anybody in this state has a sense of what they would do with power beyond playing a more aggressive style of defense. That’s not going to get it done in a state with so many mounting budgetary challenges, none so great as the overreliance on local property taxes and the broad economic strain that creates.

Unfortunately for all of us, it’s shaping up to be a very long summer. And I have my doubts that November will deliver any relief at all.