Republicans find reasons to stay away
CLAREMONT, N.H. — 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.
Among the sitting elected officials, the list of prominent Republican absentees seems to correspond with GOP elected officials who represent Democratic-leaning constituencies most likely to reject Trump.
Republican Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland won surprise victories in Democratic-controlled states in 2014. Neither is in Cleveland. Baker has even publicly declared he won’t vote for Trump.
Kasich is keeping a busy schedule this week in Cleveland, greeting delegations and attending various events, but he’s avoiding the floor at Quicken Loans Arena.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who also faces a tough re-election bid against former Gov. Ted Strickland, says he will appear on the convention floor this week, but will not be speaking from the podium — another notable departure from custom for any host-state senator.
It’s not uncommon for elected officials from one party to walk a fine line when they represent a constituency that generally leans to the other major party. Several former Democratic senators and governors tried to distance themselves from President Barack Obama heading into the 2014 elections — and they lost anyway.
