CLAREMONT, N.H. (AP) – As her fellow Republicans gathered in Cleveland, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte was back home touting her work on a bipartisan bill intended to address opioid abuse.
There was no mention of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or the presidential campaign fracas that began with the opening gavel of the Republican National Convention Monday and will continue through next week when Democrats gather for their convention in Philadelphia.
“I do have a re-election in November,” Ayotte told reporters. “As far as I can tell, the voters are here, not in Ohio.”
The first-term senator, who faces a re-election battle against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, is backing Trump but is careful to define her position as “support but not endorse.” She maintains that her absence from the Republican National Convention has nothing to do with her party’s presumptive nominee, but she’s not alone in avoiding any association with Trump’s coronation and fraying Republican Party on display in the convention’s opening session Monday afternoon.
The list of noteworthy Republicans not venturing into Quicken Loans Arena is long, starting with two living former presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush; former GOP presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney; vanquished Trump primary rivals, including the host-state governor, John Kasich, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; senators like Ayotte; and governors and congressmen who have found other things to occupy their time.