A familiar face has entered the New Hampshire governor’s race, becoming the first prominent Democrat to challenge Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte this November.
Cinde Warmington, a former executive councilor from Concord, launched her campaign on Wednesday.
She pitched voters a platform of affordability that echoes national Democrats’ criticism of President Donald Trump for the rising cost of living. That message worked in Virginia last year, where Democrats handily won control of state government.
“The prices of groceries, housing, electricity and property taxes are crushing working families, and Kelly Ayotte is making your life more expensive,” Warmington said in her launch video.
Warmington ran for governor in 2024, losing the Democratic primary to former Manchester mayor Joyce Craig by about 7,500 votes. She’ll rematch with Jon Kiper, a progressive underdog who said he got into the race last time to keep Warmington from clinching the nomination.
Her work lobbying for Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin that played a part in fueling the opioid crisis in New Hampshire, received sharp criticism from her opponents in 2024.
That history is already coming to the surface again, as both the Ayotte and Kiper campaigns released statements attacking Warmington’s record as a lobbyist following her announcement.
“The Democratic Party has an important choice to make,” Kiper said. “Will they become the party of corporate lobbyists and Purdue Pharma, or will they stand with the people, and become the party of the working class?”
Ayotte’s campaign called Warmington “absolutely disqualified from serving as governor.”
Warmington was not available for an interview prior to publication.
In her announcement, Warmington focused on attacking Ayotte as unwilling to stand up to Trump on rising healthcare costs, tariffs and the proposed immigration detention center in Merrimack.
Ayotte has opposed the Trump administration’s tariffs on Canada and federal funding uncertainty but has not taken a public position on the ICE facility beyond stressing that local residents should have a say in its construction.
Warmington went a step further.
“Kelly Ayotte refuses to fight for Granite Staters,” Warmington said. “She won’t even stand up and tell Trump that we don’t want his ICE warehouse in Merrimack or anywhere else in our state.”
Warmington is Ayotte’s first prominent opponent, but other candidates from both parties still have time to jump into the race.