Cinde Warmington launches New Hampshire governor campaign against Kelly Ayotte
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With the November election less than nine months away, Democrats finally have a key candidate to take on Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s second-term seat in the swing state of New Hampshire.
Cinde Warmington, a former member of New Hampshire’s elected Executive Council, officially launched her second consecutive campaign for governor on Wednesday.
Republicans have controlled the governor’s office in the key battleground state of Northern New England for nearly a decade — first under former Gov. Chris Sununu’s administration, now under Ayotte, who replaced Sununu 13 months ago — and Democrats are finally aiming to win back what’s known in New Hampshire as the “corner office” in the State House.
In his campaign release and launch video, Warmington took aim at Ayotte on affordability, a winning issue for Democrats amid persistent inflation in the year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
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Former New Hampshire Executive Council Member Cinde Warmington, seen in a campaign video, is launching her second straight bid for governor of the key northern New England state. (Cinde Warmington on behalf of the Governor)
“The prices of groceries, housing, utilities and property taxes are crushing working families. And Kelly Ayotte is making life in New Hampshire even more expensive,” Warmington said. he accused.
And Warmington criticized Ayotte for not pushing back more forcefully against Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda, which includes the administration’s ongoing push to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the state.
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“I will stand up to Trump when he raises health care costs and tariffs. I will say no to ICE warehouse and I will work for our small businesses and make sure we have no sales or income taxes,” she stressed.
Ayotte, a former U.S. senator who previously served as state attorney general, had some run-ins with the Trump administration last year and criticized Washington for a lack of transparency regarding the ICE facility. The governor also forced the resignation of a state official who had been in contact with Trump’s team without notifying Ayotte.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire emphasized her state’s status as the safest state in the country by signing two bills banning sanctuary cities at the Statehouse in Concord, NH, on May 22, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Ayotte’s approval ratings are in positive territory (50% to 45% in the most recent University of New Hampshire poll last month) and his fundraising has been terrific.
Although Democrats have controlled the state’s federal delegation to Congress for a decade, they haven’t won a gubernatorial election since 2014. But Democrats are energized as Republicans in New Hampshire and across the country face a challenging political climate. As the party in power in both Washington and Concord, the Granite State capital, the GOP will deal with the traditional political headwinds that incumbents typically face.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a former U.S. senator, is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., in January 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Ayotte’s campaign was quickly criticized for Warmington’s past lobbying for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.
“Cinde Warmington spent his career as a lobbyist for the opioid industry, promoting OxyContin and defending New England’s most notorious pill mill. Cinde chose to make money from big pharmaceutical companies that harmed Granite Staters and is absolutely disqualified from serving as our Governor,” Ayotte spokesman John Corbett said in a statement.
Warmington first ran for governor two years ago, losing the Democratic primary to former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, who lost to Ayotte by about 10 points in the general election.
Courtney Alexander, communications director for the Republican Governors Association, argued that “the fact that an already unsuccessful candidate is all New Hampshire Democrats speaks to their desperation.”
Warmington may not be able to take the Democratic primary field to itself.
Democratic Mayor Deaglan McEachern of Portsmouth, who is considering running for governor, said in a statement: “The stakes are too high to risk losing this race because of what’s happening in Concord and Washington, D.C., and I believe it’s time for New Hampshire Democrats to look to the future as we work to defeat Kelly Ayotte.”
“I look forward to saying more soon,” he added.
