Ayotte, Hassan battle over campaign spending

The latest showdown to emerge in the heated battle for the competitive New Hampshire Senate seat is over the limits on outside spending in the race. 

{mosads}Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) proposed last week that both candidates sign the People’s Pledge, which aims to reduce third-party spending. 

The agreement mirrors a pledge signed by both then-Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate election. 

Ayotte called on likely Democratic opponent Gov. Maggie Hassan to also agree to the pledge, which stipulates that if a third party runs an ad on TV, radio or online on behalf of a candidate, that candidate must donate 50 percent of the ad’s cost to a charity of the opponent’s choice. 

“Since you announced for Senate, you have repeatedly spoken out against third party special interest groups, and you have falsely accused me of standing with them despite my strong bipartisan record of delivering results for New Hampshire,” Ayotte said in a statement to Hassan. “If you are genuinely concerned about the impact of third party special interest groups, you should join me in signing this pledge to keep them out of our race.” 

Hassan’s team pushed back, highlighting the governor’s support for campaign finance reform and knocking Ayotte’s record, including the GOP senator’s opposition to reversing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. 

“Senator Ayotte has supported the Koch Brothers’ agenda nearly 90% of the time in her first four years in the Senate, called for more dark money groups like the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, and voted against overturning Citizens United,” Hassan campaign manager Marc Goldberg said in a statement. “This proposal seems awfully out of character coming from a Senator with a record and views like Kelly Ayotte’s.”

Hassan signed what her campaign called a “strengthened” pledge, adding that the candidates should also have a $15 million spending cap.

“Granite Staters know that it’s not just the outside spending, but the amount of spending on campaigns overall that should be reined in,” Hassan wrote in a letter to Ayotte. “I hope that you will join me and that we can lead the way with this groundbreaking agreement to curb political spending.”

But Ayotte fired back at Hassan’s added condition to the pledge and accused the governor from pivoting from the issue of outside spending. 

“No one should be fooled by Governor Hassan’s proposal which has nothing to do with the real issue, which is undisclosed third party special interest spending,” Ayotte said in a statement over the weekend. “This move is politician speak for ‘I do not want to sign the People’s Pledge.’ Governor Hassan’s decision to totally change the intent of the People’s Pledge is an attempt to kill it.” 

Hassan will likely challenge Ayotte in what is expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races this cycle. Both have raised $2 million for their bids, though Ayotte has a cash advantage. Early 2016 polling shows Ayotte ahead. 

Democrats need to net five Senate seats in 2016 to regain a majority in the upper chamber — unless they retain the White House. Then a net gain of four seats would give them the majority, with the vice president breaking a 50-50 tie. 

Democrats are considered to have an advantage in that they are only defending 10 Senate seats, while the GOP is defending 24 seats.