New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte has released a new ad featuring a handful of local police chiefs who’ve commended her “common sense solutions” on dealing with mental illness and gun violence.
The digital ad, which began airing statewide on Wednesday, is in response to a recent ad by the pro-gun control group Americans for Responsible Solutions that highlights Ayotte’s 2013 vote against an amendment put forward by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have expanded background checks for firearm purchases to gun shows and the Internet.
The vote caused the New Hampshire Republican a headache at the time, particularly after she found herself in an emotional confrontation during a town hall event with the daughter of a Newtown shooting victim.
But in her campaign’s newest ad, titled “Trust,” four Granite State police chiefs claim the ARS ads against Ayotte are misleading.
“When you see those false ads attacking Kelly Ayotte – remember the truth: Kelly voted for background checks, with more prosecutions and tougher penalties on criminals,” Atkinson Police Chief Al Brackett tells viewers.
Brackett was referring to the 2013 Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act, a bill co-sponsored by Ayotte that would have reauthorized the National Instant Criminal Background Check System without expanding background check restrictions to gun shows and the internet.
“Kelly voted to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists,” adds Nashua Police Chief Don Conley in the ad.
“And Kelly is a leader in closing gaps in the mental health system,” says Berlin Police Chief Peter Morency.
The ad concludes with Brackett claiming Ayotte “supports common sense solutions – to protect our constitutional rights – while making New Hampshire safer.”
“Voters won’t be fooled by misleading attacks from Governor Hassan’s Washington special interest allies who are desperate to distract from her repeated absences from the state,” campaign spokeswoman Liz Johnson said of New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Ayotte’s Democratic challenger.
Ayotte and Hassan are currently locked in a tight battle for the Granite State Senate seat, with the incumbent Republican leading Hassan by 3.4 percentage points (43.6 to 40.2 percent) in the latest RealClearPolitics state-level polling average.
