Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): Ideology and Voting

The Voting Record of Senator Ayotte

This shows she is not extreme in her party, and much more moderate then some members of the Republican party, but she is still not moderate with this score.

This is simply because she knows she will have a tight race in a state that is not either Republican or Democrat overall.
The Washington Post last week referred to the 2016 New Hampshire race as one of the top 10 races in 2016.

The party unity scores shows you how often a member of Congress will vote with their party.
A party unity vote is defined as one where at least 50 percent of Democrats vote against at least 50 percent of Republicans.
Senator Ayotte had a score of 77.273

This score much like the DW-NOMINATE score she received in the fact that she is not extreme in her party, but is not crossing party lines on a regular basis.
Her score was determined from the 340 party line votes she casted out of 440 party votes that she voted on.

Again, realizing she will most likely be in a competitive race, she will want to be able to go back and point at her voting record to say she is not an extremist in the Republican Party. It will be much harder for democrats to hit her on not working with both parties.

Presidential support scores shows the number of time a member of Congress voted in agreement or disagreement with the POTUS on particular issues.
Senator Ayotte

For a Republican, Senator Ayotte voted in agreement with the President more often than most Republicans. This is because she is going to be running for re-election in a competitive race where Obama won in 2012. New Hampshire is not a red state by any means, and Ayotte needs to show she can be moderate in order for reelection purposes.

Senator Ayotte has received a 100% rating from Global Exchange, a group that promotes economic freedom, along with rights to Real Estate and Insurance companies.

It is no surprise Ayotte has this rating as much of her campaign funds comes from groups dealing with Real Estate and Insurance.
In the last campaign cycle, her largest funding came from the sector of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate

In 2013, Senator Ayotte received significant funding for Gun Rights.
She will vote to keep a good rating from the National Rifle Association so she does not lose that funding. Ayotte currently has an "A" rating from the NRA

It is not often that United States Senators cross party lines, but when you are fighting for reelection, you are much more apt to do so.
Senator Ayotte according the political and economic online website New Republic, Senator Ayotte is crossing party lines on environmental issues.

Why? She is trying to appeal to all voters. By taking more moderate or slightly left-leaning positions, Ayotte can claim she is working across the aisles on various issues.
Polling done by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit environment advocay group, has given strong indications that the citizens of New Hampshire believe in Climate Change and that more needs to be done with the environment.
Ayotte recognizes the stances her constituents are taking on particular issues such as the environment and she wants to make sure she is appealing to them.