Weak Fundraising Numbers Add To Warmington's Woes

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Cinde Warmington’s campaign woes continue as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate reported a disappointing $600,000 in total fundraising for the quarter — less than half incumbent Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s $1.5 million haul during the same period.

Even more problematic, political pros say, is the gap in campaign cash on hand. Warmington has less than a fifth of the money in the bank ready to spend — $439,000 — as Ayotte’s $2.45 million.

“That won’t get the job done,” one political insider told NHJournal on background.

Warmington’s campaign tried to spin the numbers as good news in a press release headlined, “In Less Than Four Months, Cinde Warmington Raises Over $600,000 with Strong Grassroots Granite State Support.”

Campaign manager Andrea Cervone said Granite Staters are going to support Warmington in November “because they are sick and tired of the costs, chaos, and corruption of Kelly Ayotte. They need Cinde in the governor’s office fighting for a better, more affordable New Hampshire, where working families can actually get ahead.”

Perhaps, but thus far, her own party’s donors have yet to step up.

The Ayotte campaign released a statement saying Warmington has failed the fundraising standard set by New Hampshire Democrats — including Warmington herself.

“Warmington’s paltry $600,000 fundraising report for her first filing of the 2026 campaign is not only nearly 60 percent less than Governor Ayotte’s $1.5 million haul. It is also less than Warmington’s total from the same period of the 2024 campaign,” the campaign said.

In the same quarter of the 2024 cycle, Warmington raised more than $750,000. Two years earlier, Democratic nominee Tom Sherman raised $820,000.

“Even Cinde Warmington appears to have less confidence in her campaign than she did in 2024,” added Ayotte campaign spokesman John Corbett. “Granite Staters are rejecting Warmington’s disqualifying record of lobbying for Purdue Pharma, defending the pill mills that fueled the opioid crisis, and putting her own self-interest ahead of New Hampshire. It’s going to be a long summer for the opioid lobbyist.”

Warmington’s campaign hit back.

“Cinde remains within a single-digit margin of defeating Kelly Ayotte — the exact same margin that John Lynch had before trouncing Republican incumbent Gov. Craig Benson in 2004. Ayotte has the worst approval ratings of any first-term New Hampshire governor in more than 30 years.”

As unimpressive as Warmington’s $600,000 appears, the truth may be even more modest. In the final days before the filing deadline, her campaign received two of its largest donations, helping push Warmington over the $600,000 mark: $20,000 from Warmington’s own Fight for New Hampshire PAC, and $15,000 from Warmington herself.

In her failed primary race against fellow Democrat Joyce Craig two years ago, Warmington loaned her campaign more than $1 million. Some Democrats are counting on Warmington to do the same this time, hoping to make the race competitive and help candidates down ballot.

But with just four months to go, Warmington’s campaign reports zero outstanding debt.

Veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney called Warmington’s fundraising total a “pathetic amount for the presumptive statewide nominee from a major party in New Hampshire. We’ve had losing congressional candidates raise more money.

“I blame Gov. Ayotte,” Carney added. “She’s so formidable, even Big Pharma has abandoned their horse out of the gate.”

Warmington did get a check from at least one celebrity: Rocker Don Henley of The Eagles donated $500 to the cause.

As for suggestions that the Democratic Party isn’t committed to Cinde Warmington’s campaign, state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley has skin in the game. He’s donated $135 to the cause.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.