The New Hampshire Department of Justice says it is looking into the voting behavior of Republican congressional candidate Matt Mowers, after a report that he voted twice in the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
The Associated Press reported Monday that Mowers voted by absentee ballot in New Hampshire in that year’s Republican primary, and then four months later in his native state of New Jersey.
“Our Election Law team is aware of the Associated Press report and is reviewing the matter,” the Attorney General’s office said in a statement Tuesday.
It’s far from clear that Mowers, who was a 2016 presidential campaign staffer for both Chris Christie and Donald Trump broke any laws – state or federal – by voting in two state primaries.
But at minimum, the report is a political headache for Mowers, who was his party’s 2020 nominee in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas beat him by five points, but Mowers is now gunning for a rematch in a crowded Republican primary where “election integrity” is a key issue.
Mowers' opponents were quick to pounce Tuesday on the AP report. Among other things he was urged to quit the race. All emphasized Mowers New Jersey roots.
”Here’s my question for ‘Jersey Mowers,’ ” fellow GOP primary candidate Tim Baxter said, “Are you running to represent New Hampshire or New Jersey?"
Mowers, 32, now lives in Gilford, and emphasizes that New Hampshire is where he and his wife, a political producer for CNN, chose to raise their toddler son.
But Mowers was a Christie political operative before moving to New Hampshire to take a job with the state Republican Party in 2013.
He rejoined Christie as a presidential campaign staffer in 2015
After Christie’s 2016 campaign flamed out, Mowers took a job with a New Jersey-based lobbying firm. He later joined the Trump campaign, before moving to Washington, D.C. to serve in the Trump Administration State Department.
Mowers returned to New Hampshire, living in Bedford, to mount his first bid for Congress in 2020.
