Rubens Launches Primary Bid to Challenge Ayotte

MANCHESTER, NH - Former state Sen. Jim Rubens, R-Hanover, has decided to challenge U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the Republican primary later this year.

Rubens made his announcement during a taping of “CloseUP” on WMUR-TV that will air on Sunday, March 6, 2016, according to a press statement.

Rubens has been hinted as a potential challenger for months by the liberty-conservative wing of the GOP after Ayotte voted to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. Attorney General in 2015. A number of activists have been meeting privately since that time, in an effort to get someone to run. Aaron Day of the New Hampshire Republican Liberty Caucus and Stark360 PAC, started a Draft Bill O’Brien for US Senate page in 2015 but after a trial balloon, O'Brien quickly backed out.

“I worked for her to get her election in the 2010 election we had a good hug when she won,” Rubens said in a statement. “But the problem is, she has gone completely off the rails on the big issues.”

The interview airs at 10 a.m. on WMUR-TV on March 6, 2016.

Rubens ran in the U.S. Senate Republican primary in 2014, to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH. He placed second with 23 percent of the vote. Ayotte and other Republicans backed the primary winner – former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA – who was bested by Shaheen in the final by 2.3 percent of the vote.

The winner of the 2016 primary will face Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, in the general election.