Kentucky Governor Beshear Backs Warmington, But Won't Comment On DGA Cash To 2026 Race

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

At a joint appearance in Concord on Thursday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear had nothing but praise for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cinde Warmington. Literally.

Beshear, who also heads the Democratic Governors Association, would not commit DGA funding to Warmington’s campaign, which has struggled to raise money from the start.

“She’s a great candidate, and she’s pushing hard. The DGA stands behind Cinde,” Beshear said during their event at Brothers Cortado coffee shop. “We see a candidate that’s worked hard who has significant support. We’re coordinating with her campaign on a weekly basis, and we look forward to helping her win.”

But when it came to a financial commitment, the Kentucky Democrat deflected.

“We don’t announce our investments in advance because we don’t want to give the other side our next five moves.”

With less than 40 days to go until the election, Warmington reported raising less than $1 million in her latest filing, none of it from the DGA. By comparison, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has raised $6.4 million, at least $2 million from the Republican Governors Association.

Beshear previously appeared alongside Warmington at a Portsmouth fundraiser and campaign office opening in May, when he also headlined the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention in Dover. In addition to promoting Warmington, Beshear’s visit to New Hampshire allows the potential 2028 presidential contender to build relationships with Democratic activists.

As DGA chairman for the 2026 election cycle, Beshear helps lead Democrats’ efforts to elect governors across the country, giving him a national fundraising and political platform ahead of a possible White House bid. He began his term last December.

“The map in ’28, I think, is created by governors’ races in ’26. And so no matter who our nominee is, I want the map to be as big as possible,” Beshear told WMUR. “We flip Iowa, Iowa is in play. We flip Ohio, Ohio is in play. So I’m going to give it my all.”

Asked about a presidential campaign, Beshear said he would consider his next steps with his family after completing his DGA leadership duties.

With less than six weeks until Election Day, Warmington continues to trail Ayotte, though new numbers from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center show a tightening race. Warmington has 43% support to Ayotte’s 47%, according to the survey released Thursday.

A Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll last month showed Ayotte with a double-digit lead, 49% to 38%.

Ayotte has been on the attack for months regarding Warmington’s past work for Purdue Pharma, as well as representing a notorious New Hampshire-based pill mill.

Beshear, who is promoting his book, “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country,” was greeted alongside Warmington by protesters waving signs that read “Opioid Lobbyist” alongside an image of Warmington’s face.

The two-term Kentucky governor deflected criticism of Warmington’s past work for Purdue and his own former law firm’s representation of the company.

“Right now, what people care about is the price of gas and the price of diesel, the price of groceries and how much it costs to get back-to-school supplies,” Beshear said.

“The current governor (Ayotte) supports a president 100% of the time that is making life harder, not easier,” Beshear added. “Governors are the last line of defense against this out-of-control Trump administration, which means this state needs a Democratic governor.”

Before becoming Kentucky’s attorney general in 2016, Beshear was a partner at Stites & Harbison, which represented Purdue in litigation brought by Kentucky over the opioid crisis. Then-state Attorney General Jack Conway settled the case for $24 million in December 2015, before Beshear took office. Beshear has said he did not work on the case.

The RGA seized on the joint appearance to revive criticism of both Democrats’ connections to Purdue.

“Warmington’s record is disqualifying enough on its own, but together they make the contrast crystal clear: when it mattered, they stood with the notorious pill mill, not the people who paid the price,” RGA communications director Kollin Crompton said. “It’s only fitting that Opioid Lobbyist Cinde Warmington’s first surrogate, Gov. Andy Beshear, comes with his own Purdue Pharma baggage.”

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.