Kelly Ayotte

Kelly Ann Ayotte (ˈeɪɒt; born June 27, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Hampshire from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she was the second-youngest of the 20 female senators, and the twelfth-youngest overall. Born and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, Ayotte is a graduate of Nashua High School, Pennsylvania State University and Villanova University School of Law. She worked as a law clerk for the New Hampshire Supreme Court before entering private practice. She also worked as a prosecutor for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, and briefly served as the legal counsel to New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson, before returning to the Department of Justice to serve as Deputy Attorney General of New Hampshire. In June 2004, Governor Benson appointed Ayotte as Attorney General of New Hampshire, after the resignation of Peter Heed. She became the first and only woman to serve as New Hampshire's Attorney General, serving from 2004 to 2009, after she was twice reappointed by Democratic governor John Lynch. In July 2009, Ayotte resigned as Attorney General to pursue a bid for the U.S. Senate, after three-term incumbent Judd Gregg announced his retirement from the Senate. In September 2010, Ayotte won a close victory over lawyer Ovide M. Lamontagne in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. She then defeated Democratic congressman Paul Hodes in the general election with 60% of the vote and was sworn into the U.S. Senate as a member of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2011. Ayotte was mentioned as a possible running mate for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. An August 2013 Newsmax magazine cover story named Ayotte No. 1 among the 25 most influential women in the GOP, calling her “an emerging force in Congress.” In 2016 New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan defeated Ayotte in her bid for reelection by a very narrow margin of 1,017 votes (0.14%). After President Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, the administration chose Ayotte to lead the White House team escorting the nominee to meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill.