Craig and Ayotte accuse each other of becoming pawns in party politics

October 31st. In their latest and most contentious debate Wednesday night, Republican Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Joyce Craig accused each other of becoming pawns of their party leadership.

A question about Ayotte’s decision to endorse former President Donald Trump — after running against him as a candidate in 2016 — sparked the most heated exchange of the hour-long debate on WMUR-TV.

Three times, a WMUR news anchor asked how Ayotte, a former attorney general, could support Trump, convicted of more than 30 financial crimes and after a civil jury ordered him to pay a multimillion-dollar verdict for committing sexual misconduct.

“Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, everything has become more expensive, the situation at the border has been a mess, illegal immigration is crossing the border, it is not safe for this country, we need to enforce this border, and also energy costs are rising,” Ayotte began.

“It’s about whether we would be better off, and that’s the choice we have in this election.”

When Craig was repeatedly asked about her campaign with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, she ignored the question and instead attacked Ayotte.

“I would like to know, Kelly, where do you draw the line when it comes to Donald Trump? Is it when he sexually assaults women, when he brags about Hitler, or when he tries to overthrow democracy?” Craig asked.

“The truth is when it comes to Kelly Ayotte there are no boundaries, she does, says and supports whoever she wants because it will move her forward in her political career. We can’t trust Kelly Ayotte. She does it for herself; she won’t fight for the Granite Staters.”

Ayotte said it was Craig, the former three-term mayor of Manchester who has always been a political partisan and has been unable to work with Republicans such as outgoing four-term Gov. Chris Sununu.

“I think the bigger question for viewers is who is going to fight for New Hampshire no matter what, and who is going to even stand up to their party when it’s tough. I did it. I was the third most bipartisan senator in the United States Senate and never hesitated to cross the path when it was right,” Ayotte began.

“I have repeatedly spoken out against my party. I’ve never seen her do that or walk down the aisle.”

Craig said Ayotte is trying to do both as a U.S. senator who opposed Trump in 2016 but now supports his candidacy.

“You didn’t support him last time when it was believed he was sexually assaulting women, but now that he has been proven to do so, now you support him,” Craig said.

Ayotte replied: “You know, you will never stand in the corner of the office because you are a party man.”

Craig had the final say on this topic.

“You support a convicted felon for president; he is unfit to be president,” Craig concluded.

The topic of abortion dominated at first

It’s the only televised debate in the contest and comes less than a week before voters decide the most competitive gubernatorial race in the country.

WMUR spent the first 12 minutes of the debate on a series of questions about abortion rights, a topic on which both candidates spent millions of dollars on advertising on their airwaves.

Craig again criticized Ayotte’s past support for a federal abortion ban.

Ayotte insisted that she supports state restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks and that Craig and others are deliberately misleading voters about her current views.

Ayotte said that if Congress ever passes federal legislation that would impose additional restrictions on New Hampshire, she would fight in federal court to uphold the preemption of state law.

When asked if she believed the unborn fetus had any legal rights, Craig said there should be no restrictions on reproductive freedom.

“I believe and believe that women make their own health care decisions and abortion is health care and we need to make sure that we protect reproductive health care in this state,” Craig said.

There were no questions on another topic that has attracted a lot of paid media in recent weeks – Ayotte’s attack on Craig, who wants to bring back the 3% tax on interest and dividends, which is due to end on January 1.

The two were just discussing it. Craig attacked Ayotte for supporting “tax breaks for millionaires like herself.”

“She just wants to talk about things that are lies and misleading about me. I want people to understand that unfortunately she wants to raise taxes, you just heard that,” Ayotte said.

“She wants to bring back the $160 million tax increase that the governor and Legislature have already decided to get rid of.”

Craig said she would veto a general sales or income tax.

“I will not raise taxes on middle class families or small businesses. I’m working to save our working families money,” Craig said.

They agree that Manchester’s Doorway should be moved.

As in other debates, the pair argued over whether Craig should do more to tackle homelessness and violent crime in Manchester.

Craig said crime dropped 40% during her tenure, but Ayotte countered that the homicide rate rose 250% during that period.

“You simply cannot allow homeless people to break the law,” Ayotte said.

Craig responded: “I’m sorry she’s lying and she’s misleading the public right now,” Craig said.

Both candidates agreed that the Sununu administration made a mistake when it decided to create the Doorways drug rehabilitation program next door to the state parole office.

Many who need supportive housing or addiction treatment are reluctant to seek help there, Craig added.

The debate has focused on a variety of other issues, such as housing, child care, energy, gun control and the polarized state of political discourse.

Libertarian Party candidate Stephen Willey did not receive the pre-debate support in the polls needed to be invited to this debate.

The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce was the sole sponsor of these five debates, where Willie shared the stage with Craig and Ayotte.

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