New Hampshire Democrats took to social media to celebrate Tuesday after Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced she had vetoed seven bills passed by the GOP-controlled legislature. In particular, Democrats and their progressive allies praised Ayotte’s veto of legislation allowing males to be barred from private spaces for women, such as bathrooms, locker rooms, jails, and prisons.
“New Hampshire won’t discriminate!” House Democrats posted on social media.
The bill (HB148) states that there are circumstances in which it is legal and appropriate to treat people differently based on their sex, an argument progressives reject.
“House Democrats will keep fighting until every Granite Stater can live freely, openly, and safely, no matter who they are.”
A similar bill was vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, and Ayotte followed in his footsteps.
“I believe there are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities,” Ayotte wrote in her veto statement. “At the same time, I see that House Bill 148 is overly broad and impractical to enforce, potentially creating an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.”
And she added, “I have concerns about the broadness of this bill, the unintended impacts accompanying its implementation, and that it will spur a plethora of litigation against local communities and businesses.”
Ayotte also earned rare praise from Megan Tuttle, president of the state chapter of the NEA, for her veto of HB324, prohibiting obscene or harmful sexual materials in schools.
“Every student deserves to see themselves reflected in the pages of their books. We hope this book ban bill veto represents a changing tide at the State House and call on lawmakers to listen to Granite Staters who overwhelmingly oppose classroom censorship efforts,” said Tuttle, head of the state’s largest teachers’ union.
“We defeated the book ban,” House Democrats posted on social media, inspiring one Republican to respond, “Who’s ‘we’?”
HB324 was championed by House Republicans like Rep. Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro), who had been contacted by parents upset over graphic sexual content — including images — in school libraries, and who were told they had no recourse to address the issue.
The bill would have created a system allowing parents to challenge materials they believed were age-inappropriate or offensive, and required school officials to review the content and issue a written decision on whether it was offensive. The law would also have given parents the ability to take schools to court if they refused to follow the law, exposing the district to financial penalties.
Cordelli repeatedly caused outrage in the House by reading allowed from some of the books currently found in school libraries. Among them is “Gender Queer,” which includes both the description and graphic art of two boys engaged in oral sex.
“As a parent, I understand and appreciate the concerns parents have about their children being exposed to age-inappropriate or objectionable materials in schools,” Ayotte wrote in her veto statement. She noted that current law allows parents to exempt their children from “course material” they find objectionable.
“Therefore, I do not believe the State of New Hampshire needs to, nor should it, engage in the role of addressing questions of literary value and appropriateness, particularly where the system created by House Bill 324 calls for monetary penalties based on subjective standards.”
Ayotte allies pointed out that the first-term governor has already signed high-profile legislation that Republicans have tried to enact for years, including the Parents’ Bill of Rights, universal Education Freedom Accounts, and a ban on sanctuary city policies.
And, they noted, she signed several bills on Tuesday that conservatives have fought for, including one prohibiting mandatory mask policies in schools (HB361) and another requiring a supermajority vote to override local property tax caps.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) confessed his confusion over Ayotte’s vetoes.
“The governor does appear determined to carry Lebanon in 2026,” he told NHJournal.
“The governor let women and parents down,” added Rep. Liz Barbour (R-Hollis).
Several Republicans expressed anger over Ayotte feeding the Democrats’ narrative that these issues are only embraced by Republican extremists. They pointed to a new NHJournal poll released Monday showing Granite Staters support the so-called “bathroom bill” by a three-to-one margin (65 percent approve/21 percent disapprove).
“You don’t need to be a ‘social conservative’ to oppose males invading female private spaces or graphic porn in school libraries,” Rep. Sam Farrington (R-Rochester) posted. “This is what lost the Democrats the election, and sadly, we can’t even deliver on something that 70 percent of normal people agree on.”
State Sen. Keith Murphy (R- Bedford) expressed his disappointment in his fellow Republican.
“The governor today vetoed seven bills. Every one of those bills was a Republican priority, and I voted for all seven. I believe she made a mistake, and I will vote to override her veto in every case,” he posted.
“Porn has no place in schools. Boys don’t belong in girls’ locker rooms. Male prisoners don’t belong in women’s prisons. Kids shouldn’t be forced to take intrusive surveys without parents giving the OK. And knowledge of basic biology should be taught, not hidden because some people find it inconvenient.”
Osborne looked for the silver lining to the obscene materials veto.
“The governor is just doing her part to encourage families to leave public schools and participate in the already wildly popular Education Freedom Account program.”
