New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan on Monday announced her bid to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the 2016 election, setting up one of the key battles in Democrats’ fight to retake the majority in the upper chamber.
“In order to continue working to realize our state’s full potential we need a response from Washington that meets the progress we’re making here at home,” Mrs. Hassan said in a statement. “Washington has given in to powerful special interests and lobbyists who rig the system for themselves and against the middle-class, and I believe we can do better for New Hampshire families.”
Mrs. Hassan, a Democrat in her second term as governor, waited to announce her Senate bid until she completed a hard-fought budget deal with the state’s Republican-led legislature.
Mrs. Ayotte, a first-term senator elected in 2010, is a top target of Democrats.
She was the first target of TV ads this election cycle by the Senate Majority PAC, a group run by former aides to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, that is dedicated to electing Democrats to retake control of the Senate.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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