RINO Sen. Kelly Ayotte Bites the Political Dust in New Hampshire … Concedes to Democrat Maggie Hassan

GONE GIRL, RINO CONCEDES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE…

Incumbent GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte has conceded the New Hampshire senate election to Democrat Maggie Hassan Wednesday evening. In the end, she lost the vote by a little of a thousand votes, but declined to have a recount. The GOP lost two seats in the past 2016 elections, having had to defend many seats. Many pundits predicted the Republicans would lose control of the Senate in this past election cycle, they got that wrong too. The GOP remains in control of the U.S. Senate 52-48.

GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte conceded to Democrat Maggie Hassan Wednesday evening, declining to pursue a recount in the nation’s closest Senate race and tipping a second seat to Democrats after Tuesday’s election.

Hassan led Ayotte by just 1,019 votes out of more than 738,000 cast, according to the secretary of state’s official tally. The margin was well within the limits for a recount, but Ayotte conceded to Hassan a day after the polls closed.

“I just spoke with Governor Hassan to congratulate her on her election to serve in the U.S. Senate,” Ayotte said in a statement. “I wish Governor Hassan, her husband Tom, and their children Ben and Meg the very best.”

Hassan was one of Senate Democrats’ most prized recruits this year, and Democrats needed every bit of the sitting governor’s popularity to take on Ayotte, who also remained more liked than not by New Hampshire voters throughout the campaign. Both Senate nominees picked up thousands more votes than the two major-party presidential candidates did in the state.

Ayotte’s defeat knocks a rising Republican star — and one of the party’s most prominent women — out of the ranks of GOP elected officials, while adding another female Democratic senator in a key state.