NH GOP Senate Primary Descends into Chaos as Candidates Attack Each Other for “Breaking the Law"

After an embarrassing fundraising quarter for the entire NH GOP Senate field – where the top fundraising spots went to two recent Massachusetts transplants – it’s clear that the desperation is sinking in and the candidates are going all out by viciously attacking each other. Morse’s Campaign Attacks Smith For “Exaggerating” His Fundraising Numbers and “Breaking the Law.” Kevin Smith’s campaign published his FEC report late Friday night, and it was… bad. Smith raised a pathetic $317,000, which is a far cry from the number he gave reporters last week. In an eyebrow-raising move, the Smith campaign tried to inflate its numbers by announcing the campaign’s fundraising and the fundraising haul of the Super PAC they can’t legally coordinate with. Dave Carney, Chuck Morse’s top advisor, wasted no time attacking Smith and tweeted that Smith exaggerated his numbers “3 to 1 & inadvertently admitting to breaking the law to do so.”

Vikram Mansharamani Accuses His Primary Opponents of “Cooking the Books” to “Hide How Poorly They Did.” In a press release, the Mansharamani campaign echoed Carney, saying “it’s also clear that some candidates are ‘cooking the books’ when it comes to declaring their fundraising numbers, trying to hide how poorly they did” and added a bar graph to show that he raised more from donors than the rest of the GOP field.

Morse and Smith Ramp up Their Attacks on Each Other. Carney isn’t done pummeling Smith after HuffPost reported that as Londonderry Town Manager, Smith made sexist comments toward a female employee and mishandled a sexual harassment case. Over the weekend, Carney implied that Smith is a “serial” offender. This comes after Smith’s campaign accused Carney and Morse of planting the story in the first place.

Smith’s campaign is adding fuel to the fire after The Union Leader reported that “none of the five companies Morse created to build his Freshwater Farms garden and landscaping centers use E-Verify, the 26-year-old free and voluntary federal program widely viewed as the best way private employers can detect undocumented workers.” Smith, who wants to “mandate E-Verify, fine and jail corporate evaders” said, “I guess we know why it wasn’t part of Senator Morse’s border security plan.” Morse Supporter Scott Brown Appears to Jump Ship and Back Bolduc. The Union Leader reported that “the PAC of former U.S. Sen. and 2014 Senate nominee Scott Brown gave Bolduc $1,000” even though Scott Brown had originally urged Morse to get into the race. Scott jumping ship from Morse to Bolduc is another blow to Morse’s campaign that has barely been able to tread water after a terrible fundraising quarter, where Morse brought in only $535,000 — nearly $215,000 less than last quarter. Morse’s number would have been much lower, but he cut himself a $100,000 check on the last day of the quarter to prop up his failing campaign.