New Hampshire governor 2026

Compare candidates running in this New Hampshire federal race. Review their positions, voting records, campaign promises, and donor information.

Cinde Warmington

Party: Democrat

Jonathan Kiper

Party: Democrat

Kelly Ayotte

Party: Republican

OBJ SPEAKING

Create StoryTimelinesVoter ToolsRegional AnalysisPolicy GuideAll StoriesCommunity PicksUSWorldPoliticsBusinessHealthEntertainmentTechnologyAbout
← US Map>New Hampshire>governor
governor

New Hampshire governor

Election: Nov 3, 2026Updated: Apr 10, 2026
toss up★ Flip Potential— Cook Political Report

New Hampshire is one of only two Republican-held governorships on the ballot in 2026 in a state that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. The race is a key barometer of whether Republicans can hold ground in competitive, purple states during a midterm election.

Cinde WarmingtonD
Jonathan KiperD
Kelly AyotteR

Summary

Cinde Warmington, age 68, is a health care attorney and former New Hampshire Executive Councilor from Concord. She launched her second bid for governor in February 2026 after running in the 2024 Democratic primary, where she lost to Joyce Craig. Before entering politics, Warmington worked as a partner at the Shaheen & Gordon law firm and served as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry, including representing Purdue Pharma (maker of OxyContin). She later became an Executive Councilor from 2021-2025, serving as the lone Democrat on the five-member council. Warmington's 2026 campaign focuses on affordability, housing, and opposing Trump administration policies. However, her lobbying history on behalf of opioid companies remains a significant liability in a state ravaged by the opioid epidemic.

Jonathan A. Kiper is a 42-year-old restaurant owner, musician, and author from Newmarket, New Hampshire. He ran for governor as a Democrat in 2024, finishing third in the primary with about 8 percent of the vote. After initially launching his 2026 campaign as an independent in June 2025, he switched back to running as a Democrat in September 2025. He previously served on the Newmarket Town Council. Kiper's campaign emphasizes economic affordability, property tax reform, and housing policy. His populist messaging appeals to working-class voters frustrated with what he views as a 'fiscal doom loop' created by inadequate tax revenue and underinvestment in public services.

Kelly Ayotte is the 83rd Governor of New Hampshire, serving since January 9, 2025. A former U.S. Senator (2011-2017) and the state's first female Attorney General (2004-2009), Ayotte brings two decades of public service experience. Born in Nashua in 1968, she graduated from Pennsylvania State University and Villanova University School of Law. During her first year as governor, she has focused on fiscal conservatism, bail reform, housing affordability, and education freedom accounts. She has taken independent positions on social issues, vetoing anti-LGBTQ legislation while maintaining support for law enforcement and public safety initiatives.

View Cinde Warmington's Full Profile →View Jonathan Kiper's Full Profile →View Kelly Ayotte's Full Profile →

Campaign Promises

Economy
  • Tackle the affordability crisis by addressing high costs of groceries, housing, electricity, and property taxes
Immigration
  • Stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing warehouse in Merrimack
Education
  • Eliminate Education Freedom Accounts (school vouchers)
Healthcare
  • Reverse Medicaid premium increases for families
Other
  • Stand up to Donald Trump and his administration's policies
Economy
  • Address the three most pressing issues: unsustainable property tax increases, lack of affordable housing, and unconstitutional system of funding public education
  • Fix the 'fiscal doom loop' through adequate tax revenue and increased investment in public services
Housing
  • Implement 'weed for housing' — legalize recreational marijuana through a state-run model and allocate significant revenue to affordable housing
Economy
  • Keep New Hampshire on the 'Sununu path' with low-tax economic policies and fiscal conservatism
Defense
  • Strengthen public safety and law enforcement resources to combat crime and the opioid epidemic
Education
  • Support universal school choice through Education Freedom Accounts
Healthcare
  • Protect and maintain current abortion rights in New Hampshire
Housing
  • Address affordable housing shortage with pro-housing reforms

Key Issue Positions

Affordability and cost of living
Supports government action to address rising costs
Central theme of Warmington's campaign; blames Ayotte and Republican policies for affordability crisis.
Immigration and ICE enforcement
Opposes Trump administration's immigration enforcement and detention policies
Made ICE facility in Merrimack a major campaign issue; criticized Ayotte for not opposing it.
Education funding and school choice
Opposes Education Freedom Accounts; supports traditional public education funding
Criticizes Education Freedom Accounts as privatization that undermines public schools.
Medicaid and health care
Supports expanding Medicaid coverage and opposes benefit cuts
Opposes Medicaid premium increases signed by Ayotte; emphasizes health care as right.
Property tax reform
Opposes current property tax system; supports restructuring to ease burden on working families
Property taxes are a core issue for Kiper's campaign, which he views as 'crushing working families' under current state policies.
Affordable housing
Strong supporter of housing affordability measures
Proposed 'weed for housing' plan combining marijuana legalization with housing revenue allocation. Emphasizes lack of affordable housing as key issue.
Public education funding
Supports constitutional restructuring of education funding system
Criticizes system where poorest towns pay most toward education while richest pay least; calls it 'unconstitutional.'
Populist economic messaging
Anti-establishment, pro-working class
Describes himself as more 'authentic' than other Democratic candidates; emphasizes populist messaging.
Bail reform and public safety
Strongly in favor of bail reform to keep dangerous offenders off the streets
Signed HB 592 in her first 100 days, rolling back portions of the 2018 bail reform law to increase penalties for dangerous offenders.
Abortion rights
Pro-choice (shift from prior position)
During 2024 campaign, stated she would veto any legislation to restrict abortion during the first 24 weeks and would not change New Hampshire law. Vetoed anti-abortion bills in 2025 and 2026.
Education policy
Supports school choice through Education Freedom Accounts
Campaigned on expanding Education Freedom Accounts and removing cell phones from classrooms.
Housing affordability
Pro-housing reform and development
Signed law requiring municipalities to allow multi-family residential development in commercial zones; proposed leasing state land for housing.

Top Donors

No donor data available.

Jennifer Pritzker
$10,000Individual
World's first transgender billionaire, cousin to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Largest single donor to Kiper's campaign as of December 2025

No donor data available.

Contradictions

No contradictions documented.

No contradictions documented.

Claim: I oppose laws that keep a student's gender identity confidential and support laws requiring schools to inform parents about a student's gender identity at school.
Contradiction: Vetoed two anti-LGBT bills in 2025, including one that would have banned books with LGBT themes and one that would have created bathroom restrictions.
Claim: I voted for and supported comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship in 2013.
Contradiction: In 2024, she retracted support for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, which was an aspect of the 2013 bill she had previously supported.

What Opponents Say

Kelly Ayotte campaign (John Corbett, spokesman)

Cinde chose to make money off big pharmaceutical companies who hurt Granite Staters, and she is absolutely disqualified from serving as our Governor.

Ayotte's campaign immediately attacked Warmington after her February 2026 announcement, focusing on her opioid industry ties

Jon Kiper (Democratic primary rival)

Warmington has accepted thousands in campaign donations from the very clinics that overprescribed her self-described 'miracle drug,' OxyContin.

Democratic primary competitors attacking Warmington's opioid lobbying history and campaign donations

Patrick Hynes (Republican columnist)

Warmington once carried the heavy baggage of her history as a lobbyist for opioid companies — a non-starter in a state ravaged by the addiction crisis.

Conservative commentary on Warmington's liability as a candidate

Cinde Warmington (Democratic primary competitor)

Warmington has criticized Kiper for saying she cannot win the general election due to her opioid industry ties.

Internal Democratic primary tensions over who can best challenge Ayotte

Republican critics

Kiper has limited experience and has raised minimal funds; his business (restaurant) has closed due to rising costs.

As of December 2025, Kiper's restaurant Jonny Boston's International closed permanently, and he had raised only $22,000 for his gubernatorial campaign

Cinde Warmington (Democratic primary candidate)

Kelly Ayotte has failed to make life affordable for New Hampshire residents. The prices of groceries, housing, electricity and property taxes are crushing working families.

Warmington launched her 2026 campaign criticizing Ayotte's handling of affordability issues and budget policies

Raymond Buckley (NH Democratic Party Chair)

She still hasn't mustered an ounce of courage to stand up against Donald Trump's chaos. If Ayotte thinks her time in the corner office is a long-term stay, she's gravely mistaken.

Buckley criticized Ayotte's handling of Trump administration policies and immigration enforcement

Jon Kiper (Democratic primary candidate)

Warmington has accepted thousands in campaign donations from the very clinics that overprescribed her self-described 'miracle drug,' OxyContin.

Kiper and other Democrats have attacked Warmington's ties to the opioid industry as a liability against Ayotte

Endorsements

No endorsements listed.

No endorsements listed.

Governor Chris Sununuindividual
Former Governor Craig Bensonindividual
Former Governor Judd Greggindividual