MANCHESTER, N.H. —
Gov. Kelly Ayotte made a splash in the Big Apple earlier this week with a mobile billboard trying to recruit businesses in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory.
Ayotte’s quick public relations strike against the New York City mayor-elect got a lot of people talking earlier this week, but political analysts said there could be a deeper dimension to the effort.
Some called the mobile billboards “genius,” while others found it “gimmicky.” But beyond making a point about New Hampshire’s business-friendly tax structure, political analyst Scott Spradling said Ayotte also put herself back into a more national spotlight in a way she has previously avoided.
“Whether she intended to or not, this puts the Kelly Ayotte name and brand into a new conversation,” Spradling said.
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Ayotte is expected to seek re-election in 2026, and so far, she does not have a high-profile Democratic challenger.
If she wins a second term, that will further build on a political résumé that already includes six years in the U.S. Senate and a stint shepherding the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch during the first Trump administration.
Regarding the billboard, analysts say it’s worth noting that while the target was Mayor-elect Mamdani, it was the governor’s face being displayed in Midtown Manhattan.
“If she is viewed inside the Beltway as someone who can work behind the scenes, and now she’s building a résumé outside of the Beltway as a governor who seems pretty popular in New Hampshire given she’s a freshman governor, that’s a pretty strong resume for a next step that could bring her right back into the national spotlight,” Spradling said.