100 Days of Failure

Last Friday marked Governor Kelly Ayotte's 100th day in office, but for Granite Staters, there’s little to celebrate. After promising to lower costs and fight for every corner of the state, Ayotte’s short tenure has delivered rising prices, missed opportunities, and a lack of meaningful results.

While families pay more at the grocery store, on housing, and in property taxes, Ayotte has failed to deliver results and has been absent when New Hampshire needs strong leadership. Let’s take a look at how Ayotte’s inaction and misguided priorities have left Granite Staters in the lurch:

Ayotte Talked a Big Game, But She Hasn’t Delivered

Despite campaign promises to work towards progress across several key issues since the start of her term, Ayotte’s major “accomplishments” have been mostly for show, while real issues have been ignored. 

Her first executive order was launching a state DOGE task force, modeled after Elon Musk’s failing project and run by disgraced former Governor Craig Benson. Though despite the initial fanfare, since January 24th, Ayotte has mentioned it exactly zero times on social media.

Ayotte also launched New Hampshire’s third bail reform push in seven years, attacking a law her ally Governor Sununu signed that went into effect the same month she took office.

And while Ayotte claims to care about issues like housing and education, her focus tells a different story. Since taking office, she has posted on X (formerly Twitter) 40 times about bail reform, running a full-court press on the issue while barely mentioning the issues Granite Staters care most about, posting just 7 times about housing, 5 times about cell phones in schools, and never about tariffs or federal funding cuts. 

Ayotte’s Refusal to Fight for Granite Staters

Ayotte vowed in her inaugural address to fight for “all of New Hampshire” and protect New Hampshire’s interests. Instead, she has been wilfully missing in action when it comes to protecting the state from unprecedented and illegal federal funding cuts and actions, choosing not to criticize her ally President Trump.

She stood by as the Trump administration’s DOGE threatened millions in funding support for law enforcement, veterans, homelessness, and aviation safety in New Hampshire. Additionally, she failed to oppose federal job cuts that put Granite Staters out of work, including critical jobs at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

In the midst of ongoing debates surrounding the New Hampshire state budget, Ayotte admitted she was caught flat-footed by HHS funding cuts that contributed to the state’s $80M budget hole. And as Granite Staters and small business owners grapple with the impacts of the Trump Administration’s foolish tariffs, Ayotte said nothing. As Trump imposed and suspended and reimposed Canadian and global tariffs, threatening to spike the cost of winter home heating oil by $375 and goods from Canada, New Hampshire’s largest trade partner—jeopardizing $1.4 billion in trade, 182,000 jobs and the state’s tourism-driven revenue, Ayotte remained silent.

Looking towards Granite Staters’ access to critical health care services, she was silent as Trump threatened to cut $500,000 in family planning funds, despite her promise to defend reproductive rights as part of her campaign reversal on the issue. She also has not fought back against proposed federal Medicaid cuts, which could strip coverage from 60,000 Granite Staters while her state budget threatens to force Medicaid recipients to pay an extra $3,396 per year in premiums.

And instead of explaining her positions, Ayotte has avoided public accountability—holding few press conferences and holding no town hall forums to engage with constituents.

Under Ayotte, Prices Are Soaring With Tax Hikes To Follow

Despite campaigning on affordability, the cost of everyday essentials has surged since Ayotte took office:

• Propane prices rose 5.8% from January to March, jumping from $3.59 to $3.80 per gallon.

• Coffee prices climbed 8.9% from December to March, from $6.78 to $7.39 per pound.

• Eggs reached an all-time high, skyrocketing 50.1% from $4.15 to $6.23 while Donald Trump dismissed public concern, telling Americans to “shut up about egg prices.”

• Granite Staters, who already pay the 3rd highest grocery prices in the country, are spending an average of $7.04 more per month since Ayotte took office.

• Hot-rolled steel, crucial for construction and a key Canadian import, is up 22.6% from $750 per short ton in January to $920 in April.

• The average single-family home price has climbed $3,000 since January, and is now up 7.4% year-over-year.

  
  

And under Ayotte’s watch, New Hampshire’s finances are only getting worse:

• Ayotte created an $80 million deficit by refusing to join a lawsuit with other governors that protected their federal funding from cuts by the Trump administration.

• Through March, state business tax revenue is more than $129 million below plan, creating a larger hole in the state budget.  

• The NH House slashed $643 million from her proposed budget, forcing more service cuts that are now bound to force property tax hikes across the state.  

Join Our Training This Week! 

This Thursday, April 24th, at 6:30 PM, Amplify NH will be hosting a virtual Digital Storytelling training!

In this training, we will cover how to bring your personal stories and experiences to life online. We’ll be covering which platforms to use, how to best communicate with your online audience, details on joining our digital rapid response team, and more! You can sign up for the training here.

[RSVP Here To Join Us]

Take Action This Week!

• Attend a public input session on the state budget this Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30 PM in Hampton and make your voice heard!

• Join our storyteller training this Thursday at 6:30 PM

  
  

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Just like millions of Americans have done over the last few weeks, Amplify NH has now joined Bluesky! To make sure you’re getting the latest from Amplify, please make sure to follow us there, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Not signed up for Bluesky yet? Not sure how to best utilize this growing social media platform? Keep an eye out for our next Amplify NH training session on Bluesky early in 2025!

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Since its launch, the Granite Post has worked to add important new voices to New Hampshire’s media ecosystem -- not only fighting misinformation, but bringing important issues and unique stories to the attention of Granite Staters who don't get their news from traditional media sources. 

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Thank you,

Ryan Mahoney

Executive Director