Ayotte to Guinta: If I were you, I'd resign Last week, Guinta and the Federal Election Commission settled a case in which Guinta was accused of illegally accepting $355,000 in campaign funds from his parents.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte said fellow New Hampshire Republican Rep. Frank Guinta should resign following his admission that he accepted improper campaign contributions from his parents, but Guinta is digging in and has no plans to leave office.

“This is a decision he needs to make, but if I were in his position, that’s what I would do,” Ayotte said in an interview with WMUR-TV, an ABC affiliate in New Hampshire. “I told him that this what I believe was the right step to do. Obviously he needs to fully account to people in New Hampshire most of all.”


Last week, Guinta and the Federal Election Commission settled a case involving $355,000 that Guinta said he loaned himself during his first campaign for the House in 2010. Guinta initially said the money was his, but an FEC investigation concluded that the contributions came from his parents and exceeded donation limits.

The settlement requires Guinta to return the funds to his parents and pay a $15,000 fine to the FEC.

Guinta apologized to supporters in a statement posted on his website on Sunday.

In a statement released Monday after Ayotte’s comments, Guinta said he would not resign.

“I understand Senator Ayotte’s disappointment with this issue, I share in that frustration,” Guinta said. “I have been proactive in showing the documentation proving the assets in question were mine. I have apologized for the error on my part, made myself available for press inquiries and attended several events over the weekend. I will continue to meet with, listen to and serve Granite Staters of the First Congressional District.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sidestepped a question on whether Guinta should resign.

“I don’t know enough about that, and I haven’t talked to Frank,” McCarthy said Monday. “I’m going to withhold comment until I’m able to discuss” the issue with Guinta, he added.

But Ayotte’s comments dramatically escalate the political pressure on Guinta. Her call for Guinta’s resignation comes just days after the first-term senator called on Guinta to “fully explain and account for” what she called “serious, very troubling” discrepancies in the case.

Since the settlement, Guinta has faced fire from both Democrats and Republicans. In addition to Ayotte’s comments, the conservative New Hampshire Union Leader has also called for his resignation, and, last Friday, ran a six-word editorial signed by the paper’s publisher: “Frank Guinta is a damned liar.”

Guinta represents an Eastern New Hampshire swing district that includes the cities of Manchester and Portsmouth. It’s the more Republican of the state’s two congressional seats, but President Barack Obama won the district by a two-point margin in 2012. Guinta was first elected in 2010 but was defeated by former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter in 2012. He then won the rubber match in 2014, 52 percent to 48 percent.

Ayotte also faces a tough reelection campaign in 2016, especially if popular Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan decides to run for Senate rather than seek another two-year term in Concord.

If Guinta resigned before the end of his term, it would trigger a special election. Shea-Porter has said she is considering another run for the seat. Shawn O’Connor, the only Democrat already in the race, called for Guinta’s immediate resignation in a statement on Monday.

On the Republican side, Guinta hasn’t yet drawn a primary challenger, though former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) tweeted a photograph from his new condominium at Hampton Beach, N.H., last week with the hashtag, “#nhpolitics.”

Jake Sherman contributed to this report.