About Kelly

Kelly Ayotte served her home state of New Hampshire for five years as its first female Attorney General where she earned a reputation as a tough on crime prosecutor. While Ayotte was serving as the state's top law enforcement officer, New Hampshire remained one of the safest states in the Nation. On July 17, 2009 Ayotte stepped down as Attorney General to run for the United States Senate to replace retiring Senator Judd Gregg.

As Attorney General, Ayotte fought to keep our children safe and our public officials honest. She led efforts to pass tough new laws to crack down on sexual and internet predators. Kelly vigorously pursued the prosecution of white collar crimes and public corruption regardless of a person's political party.

The Union Leader named Ayotte Citizen of the Year in 2008 for her successful prosecutions of the first capital murder cases in New Hampshire in over 60 years. Additionally, Business New Hampshire Magazine named her one of the ten most powerful people in New Hampshire, and New Hampshire Magazine named her one of the State's remarkable women.

Ayotte has had a distinguished career in public service. She served as the Deputy Attorney General and Chief of the Homicide Unit where she led the prosecution of numerous murder cases including the successful prosecution of two defendants for the brutal murders of two Dartmouth professors.

As a product of New Hampshire's public schools, Kelly went on to graduate from Pennsylvania State University (with honors) in 1990 with a B.A. in Political Science and graduated from the Villanova University School of Law in 1993, where she served as Executive Editor of the Environmental Law Journal. Ayotte spent one year as a law clerk to the Honorable Sherman D. Horton, Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Kelly's husband, Joe, an Iraq war veteran who flew combat missions over Iraq, currently serves in the Air National Guard. On the home front, Kelly worked side-by-side with Joe to create a landscape and snow removal company. She understands the importance of small businesses to the New Hampshire economy and the direct impact fiscal decisions made in Washington can have on small businesses and the jobs they create.

Kelly lives with her husband, five year old daughter Katherine, and two year old son Jacob, in Nashua.

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Hodes misses votes on benefits

A spokesman for the Hodes campaign said an unspecified "scheduling issue" prevented the congressman from voting July 22 when the U.S. House approved restoring jobless pay for millions of Americans who had been out of work six months or more.

Hodes Hypocrisy Alert

For months, Paul Hodes has attacked Kelly Ayotte regarding his desire to extend unemployment benefits, even without finding a way to fully pay for it by cutting other government spending.

Crickets- Paul Hodes Keeps Mum on Rangel Cash

Paul Hodes’ silence has been deafening since his political patron, disgraced New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, was charged with a slew of congressional ethics violations last week.

Senate hopeful Kelly Ayotte spent Friday mingling with patrons of Sumner Country Restaurant and Creamery and blasting runaway spending in Washington.
"We're spending money we don't have," the former attorney general said as she settled down for a family-style lunch.

Ayotte Announces Small Business Advisory Board

Former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, of Nashua, today announced the membership of her campaign’s Small Business Advisory Board. Comprised of business leaders from across the state, this group will work to build support for Ayotte in New Hampshire’s small business community.

Give It Back, Paul

With Hodes having received at least $17,000 in campaign contributions from the ethically challenged Rangel, Ayotte for Senate today once again called on Paul Hodes to return Rangel’s tainted donations. In doing so, the campaign noted that his colleague Carol Shea-Porter has already refunded contributions from Rangel.