Ex-Dem lobbyist for company that promoted addictive opioid clears key gubernatorial hurdle

Cinde Warmington secured the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday evening after running unopposed.

Her nomination marks the second time she’s pursued the office as Warmington continues to face attacks over her work as an attorney for Purdue Pharma — the company that became notorious in the early 2000s for the development and marketing of OxyContin.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) called her connection to the drug disqualifying.

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“Based on her role in fueling the opioid epidemic and calling OxyContin a ‘miracle drug,’ Cinde Warmington is completely disqualified from being governor. Warmington chose a payday over protecting New Hampshire families,” the RGA told local outlets.

Purdue faced public outrage, investigations and lawsuits over how it pushed OxyContin as a non-addictive drug while knowingly concealing its high potential for abuse. After years of lawfare, the company was required to pay a $7.4 billion settlement in May.

Warmington, for her part, has called the attacks unfounded and said that she had only a limited association with Perdue. In a video titled “setting the record straight,” she addressed it head on.

“My dad, who I loved very, very much, struggled with addiction,” she said. “We did not escape the opioid crisis.”

“In 2001, when, as an attorney, I was assigned a case by a partner to represent Purdue Pharma … I was fighting for patients to get access to the healthcare that their doctors thought that they needed. What I did not know at the time was that Purdue Pharma was engaged in this massive criminal fraud — something that would only be exposed over years of litigation.”

In the past, Warmington served on the New Hampshire Executive Council, representing the state’s 2nd district from 2021 to 2025.

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She’s run for governor once before in 2024, losing out to Joyce Craig, the eventual nominee, in a 47.9% to 41.8% contest. Craig herself would go on to lose to Gov. Kelly Ayotte, the Republican in the race.

In her 2026 campaign, Warmington has pitched herself as a foil to rising costs of living. Like many Democratic candidates in the 2026 primaries, Warmington has put pressure on Republicans for not doing enough on affordability.

“The prices of houses, groceries, electricity and property taxes are crushing working families. And Kelly Ayotte is making your life more expensive. I know we can do better,” Warmington said in a campaign video.

She shares some platform similarities with other Democrats.

In addition to championing priorities like pushing back on Trump’s immigration crackdown through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), implementing guardrails for data center construction, and preventing investor groups from purchasing housing, Warmington has also appealed to voters across the aisle with promises to slash taxes.

“I’ll make sure we don’t have a sales or income tax,” Warmington said.

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Having secured the party nomination, Warmington will face off against Ayotte in the state’s general election for governor on Nov. 3.

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Ayotte won election in 2024, defeating Craig 53.6% to 44.3%.