"I’m a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women," Ayotte said. | AP Photo Ayotte to write in Pence for president 'I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,' she says of Donald Trump.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Saturday that she will not vote for Donald Trump for president, becoming the first GOP senator in a tough reelection race to revoke her support for the GOP nominee since newly-released audio showed him making crude comments toward women in 2005.

"I wanted to be able to support my party’s nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country,” Ayotte said in a statement Saturday. “However, I’m a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”


Ayotte said she will not vote for either Trump nor Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Instead, she’ll write in the party’s vice-presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, for president. Ayotte is running against Democrat Maggie Hassan, the state’s current governor, and currently leads Hassan by 2.3 points, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

Hassan quickly responded to Ayotte's announcement that she will not vote for Trump, calling the decision an "attempt at craven political self-preservation."

"For months, Kelly Ayotte stood by Trump as he demeaned women, minorities, people with disabilities, Gold Star families, and was deemed a danger to our national security, even going so far as saying he should 'absolutely' be a role model for children," Hassan said. "What Kelly Ayotte doesn’t seem to understand is the chance to show courage has long past, and her hollow words today reveal as much about her own character as they do Donald Trump's. Her words are far too little and far too late.”

Most Senate Republicans in competitive reelection bids have long done a delicate dance with Trump, declining to renounce him altogether because they needed to drive support from the GOP base but distancing themselves from Trump’s inflammatory comments.

For much of the campaign, Ayotte struggled to walk that fine line, saying she would support Trump as the nominee but refusing to endorse him, like she did with the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. At a New Hampshire Senate debate earlier this week, Ayotte said she would “absolutely” call Trump a role model for children – comments that she immediately walked back yet prompted days of clean up.