Kelly Ayotte

Kelly Ann Ayotte (/ˈeɪɒt/ AY-ott; born June 27, 1968) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2025 as the 83rd governor of New Hampshire. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2011 to 2017 as a United States senator from New Hampshire and from 2004 to 2009 as the 27th attorney general of New Hampshire.

Born 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 at the New Hampshire Supreme Court before entering private practice. She served as a prosecutor for the New Hampshire Department of Justice and briefly as the legal counsel to Governor Craig Benson before returning to the New Hampshire Department of Justice to serve as deputy attorney general. In 2004, Benson appointed Ayotte as attorney general of New Hampshire after Peter Heed resigned. She became the first and only woman to serve as New Hampshire's attorney general. She was twice reappointed by Governor John Lynch. Ayotte resigned as attorney general in 2009 to run for the U.S. Senate after Senator Judd Gregg announced his retirement.

In September 2010, Ayotte narrowly defeated 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. Ayotte was mentioned as a possible running mate for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. In 2016, Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan defeated Ayotte in her reelection bid by 1,017 votes (0.14%). After President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, the Trump administration chose Ayotte to lead the White House team escorting the nominee to meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill.

Ayotte was elected governor of New Hampshire in 2024, defeating Democratic nominee Joyce Craig. She is the third woman to be elected the state's governor, after Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, and took office on January 9, 2025. Ayotte, Shaheen, and Hassan are the only women in U.S. history to be elected both governor and U.S. senator.