Executive Councilor and Democratic candidate for governor Cinde Warmington sees reproductive health, public education and housing among the top issues facing the state today.

Warmington will be facing off in a September primary contest against Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and businessman Jonathan Kiper. The winner of the primary will go on to face the winner of the Republican primary between former state Sen. Chuck Morse and former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

Warmington stopped at Aesop’s Tables in Peterborough Thursday, and discussed some of her highest priorities as she moves toward the gubernatorial primary. She was on her way to Keene for a hat-tipping ceremony to open a new housing development, and said housing is one of the key issues facing the state, particularly for working families.

Warmington said growing up, she was one of four children, with her father working at a shipyard and her mother a waitress.

“And they were still able to put a roof over our heads, and feed us and clothe us, and I got a great public school education,” Warmington said. “And for so many Granite Staters, that opportunity has slipped away.”

Warmington said the state is facing a housing shortage of up to 60,000 units, and it’s impacting other sectors, including the rate of homelessness and the ability for businesses to secure a workforce, as well as young families being able to afford to live in the communities where they grew up.

“Part of this is changing the narrative around housing, and make people understand that people that cannot live in their communities anymore are their children and grandchildren, their firefighters, their teachers, their police officers – these are the people that can’t afford to live in our communities anymore,” Warmington said. “We need to make room for our families.”

Warmington said in conversations with developers, restrictive zoning ordinances are among the highest hurdles to overcoming the issue. She said the state needs to offer incentives and grants to communities willing to change their zoning to be less restrictive, and to offer community development funds for expanding infrastructure to support denser housing.

“We need to give incentives to communities to adjust their zoning requirements,” Warmington said.

Warmington said one of the primary issues she’s hearing from voters centers around reproductive health care. She said that both nationally and at the state level, attempts to restrict access to abortion have been ongoing, including the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the current case in front of the Supreme Court attempting to restrict access to the drug mifepristone, which is used in both abortion and miscarriage care.

“Every place I go, all around the state, people are very, very concerned about their rights being taken away from them,” Warmington said.

She said the issue is ongoing close to home, including a proposed ban on abortions 15 days after conception, which was defeated in the state House this February.

“People are really concerned about it, and let’s face it, for women, being able to plan and prevent and space our pregnancies is where freedom begins. We need to be able to make our own decisions, and we certainly don’t need Kelly Ayotte or any government official in the exam room with them making those decisions,” Warmington said.

Warmington said, if elected, she would advocate for a constitutional amendment ratifying abortion rights, but also for changes in the state law.

Protection of the public education system was also a major concern, Warmington said. Previously, Warmington has promised to oust Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut if elected. She said Edelblut has headed attempts to “dismantle” public education through legislation such as educational vouchers that allow families to use state funds to fund education choices outside of the public system.

“He is diverting taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools, and that just serves to drive up property taxes for our communities and takes away from our public schools,” Warmington said. “Truly, public education is the essence of our democracy. That’s what gives every single kid their shot at the future, and we need to make sure that we protect that, and make sure that every single child in New Hampshire, no matter what their zip code is, gets their shot at the future.”

In November, the Rockingham County Superior Court ruled in a lawsuit brought by multiple school districts, including ConVal and Mascenic, that the state was not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide funding for an “adequate education.” The court ruled that the current per-pupil amount of $4,100 per year should be at least $7,356.

On March 13, the state Supreme Court granted a stay on the suit, which allows the state time to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Warmington said that appealing the decision is the wrong approach.

“The amount the judge set forth in that case, I don’t think that anyone can really question that is a minimum amount that we need to fund public education,” Warmington said. “I don’t think it’s advisable to be spending tax payer dollars to fight that decision. Instead of that, I think I’d be bringing together a bipartisan group of people to really solve the problem – that’s what we need to do.” 

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.