Republican Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Cinde Warmington file for N.H. governor’s race, trade barbs

When first-term incumbent governors seek reelection in New Hampshire, they rarely lose. Only twice in the past century, in 1926 and 2004, have such candidates suffered electoral defeat.

Read more Democrats are increasingly frustrated with Graham Platner in Maine Senate race

That history is a good omen for Republican incumbent Governor Kelly Ayotte, who formally her paperwork Thursday morning to seek a second two-year term. But one Democratic challenger, Cinde Warmington, who filed her own candidacy a few hours later, said she’s nonetheless ready to pull off a rare win and prevent Ayotte from being reelected.

Warmington, a former executive councilor who finished second in the 2024 Democratic gubernatorial primary, said her 2026 campaign has been building momentum while Ayotte has failed Granite Staters and earned historically low approval ratings. People are “fed up” and want change, she said.

Ayotte, a former US senator who previously served as the state’s attorney general, said she’s proud of the work she’s done since taking the corner office last year. She expressed confidence that voters will see her actions as accomplishments and recognize “stark” contrasts between her and Warmington.

“We are very different,” Ayotte said. “She would take us in a direction of higher taxes, less freedom, and less opportunity: much more the Massachusetts way.”

“We can’t elect an opioid lobbyist to be our governor,” she added.

Warmington performed lobbying work 24 years ago on behalf of Purdue Pharma amid rising concern about OxyContin’s addictive potential. She told state lawmakers back then that the opioid was “a miracle drug” with “very few side effects.” Criticism of those comments weighed down her 2024 gubernatorial campaign and continues to cast a shadow, though she and her supporters contend she has since proven herself as a champion of addiction treatment and other forms of help for people grappling with substance misuse.

When reporters asked three times Thursday about how she plans to overcome lingering wariness of her past lobbying work, Warmington deflected by criticizing Ayotte. She faulted the governor for “sky-high” housing prices, an expanded voucher-like education program, and elevated electric rates due to what she described as Ayotte’s “addiction to fossil fuels.”

Read more Casting her 10,000th vote in a row, Susan Collins sets a Senate record

Warmington also accused Ayotte of keeping in “lockstep” with President Trump even as other governors sued his administration over abrupt cancellations of federal funding.

“She’s failed to take him on when he took away money for hungry children. She failed to take him on when he took away housing money,” Warmington said. “Thank goodness some other governors did that; I’ll be the kind of governor that does that.”

When asked how the national context might impact her reelection bid, Ayotte said she’s keeping her eyes and ears on the local level.

“The people of New Hampshire are going to decide what leadership they want here in New Hampshire,” she said, “so I’m focused on listening to them and what they think.”

Candidates have until June 12 at 5 p.m. to sign up for either party’s primary in this and many other races.

This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.

Read more R.I. judge says Trump officials must restart asylum and immigration processing