Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s (R., N.H.) vote on background check legislation has inspired a deluge of outside spending and heightened media attention.
Ayotte—seen as a key swing vote—was the only Republican senator in New England to vote against expanding background checks for firearm sales last month.
The National Rifle Association launched an ad supporting Ayotte Wednesday, directly hitting back at attack ads against the senator by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
An NRA spokesman said the group ran the ad "to thank her for her true support of law enforcement and prosecutors."
The spokesman also said the NRA will engage in a nationwide mailing campaign to members in the coming days, as well as mailers in New Hampshire and Arizona that will include non-members.
Following the failure of new gun control measures in the Senate, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and other groups, such as President Barack Obama’s Organizing for Action (OFA), launched a campaign against senators responsible for scuttling the legislation.
The groups urged gun-control supporters to travel to town hall events and question Ayotte on her vote.
The New Hampshire Journal documented a large number of cars with out-of-state license plates at one of Ayotte’s town hall meeting.
Groups that joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns included Moms Demand Action, Granite State Progress, Organizing for Action, and the New Hampshire Project For Safer Communities.
The most potent moment for the groups came at a town hall meeting on April 30, where Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Hochsprung, confronted Ayotte.
The strategy paid off in terms of media coverage: The Washington Post headlined an article, "Sen. Kelly Ayotte becomes focus of gun-control groups after voting against background checks"; Politico ran a story titled, "Kelly Ayotte on defense over gun vote"; and the New York Times’ story was called, "In New Hampshire, Senator Finds Her Vote on Gun Bill Is Hot Topic."
An analysis by the Washington Free Beacon shows MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN mentioned the town hall exchange 48 times between April 29 and May 3. Of those TV hits, the video was shown in 29 instances.
Another town hall meeting where a constituent pressed Ayotte also received extensive play on MSNBC.
"I really don’t understand," a constituent asked. "It doesn’t make sense to me, what is wrong with universal background checks?"
"In terms of a universal background check, as it’s been framed, I have a lot of concerns of that leading to a registry that will create a privacy situation for lawful firearms owners," Ayotte replied.
OFA recently published an interactive map showing dozens and dozens of local media hits its rallies have garnered.
Ayotte penned an op-ed in the Concord Monitor Monday defending her record.
"Out-of-state special interests are running false advertisements attacking me and even lying about my efforts to prevent gun-related violence," Ayotte wrote. "I want to set the record straight: I support effective background checks and in fact voted recently to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System."