Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington says she’s “disgusted” by the campaign Joyce Craig is running. “She can’t defend her record in Manchester of homelessness and overdoses.”
Craig, the former Manchester mayor, says Warmington needs to apologize for her work on behalf of Perdue Pharma two decades ago.
“She called Oxycontin and a miracle drug,” Craig said. “And then for over 20 years, she worked for doctors, and a notorious pill mill. I think it says a lot that she hasn’t apologized or shown any remorse.”
Now the Republican Governors Association is weighing in with a new digital ad declaring them both right.
“Warmington and Craig, wrong for New Hampshire,” the ad says. “Just take their word for it.”
Cross-party political messaging turning primaries is nothing new. In 2022, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer spent $3 million on ads during the GOP primary targeting former state Senate president Chuck Morse, hoping to keep him from becoming the nominee. It worked. Republican Don Bolduc won the nomination, then went on to suffer a 10-point defeat at the hands of incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan.
What is unusual is the opportunity for New Hampshire Republicans to highlight Democrat dissension during the primary season. Under pressure from the party establishment, most Democratic primaries have been low-conflict affairs, while their Republican counterparts waged divisive primaries that left the GOP nominees battered and broke with just weeks to go before the November election.
The tables may have turned in 2024. And the Granite State GOP is enjoying it.
“When your opponent is self-destructing, don’t interrupt them,” quipped New Hampshire Republican state party chair Chris Ager.
Craig released an ad hitting Warmington hard on the opioid issue. Warmington hit back with a press conference accusing her of “peddling smears and deceit to divide Democrats.”
Craig responded by saying Warmington should apologize for her record.
And it’s not just the governor’s race where Democrats have gone negative. The two Second Congressional District Democrats hoping to fill the seat of outgoing U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster are also slugging away with 10 days to go.
The Second CD race is getting pretty nasty,” says veteran political strategist Tom Rath, who lives in the district. “Lots of money being spent. And it’s very personal. Colin [Van Ostern] thought he had a lay up, but [Maggie] Goodlander is giving him all he can handle.”
Goodlander is a former New Hampshire resident who just moved back into the Second Congressional District a few months ago after some 15 years away. Van Ostern is a former Executive Councilor who was endorsed by Kuster to be her successor.
When Goodlander ran an ad attacking Van Ostern over his business background — an ad that falsely suggested he had violated his pledge not to take PAC money in the NH-02 race — Kuster responded in kind. She recorded a blistering ad calling out Goodlander for being a carpetbagger and attacking her for making campaign donations to pro-life candidates.
On Thursday, the other shoe dropped when Goodlander posted an ad starring Deputy Democratic Leader Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua). Rosenwald complained about “lies” and dismissed the carpetbagging claim. “C’mon,” she retorts. “Maggie was born and raised in Nashua.”
In fact, until she rented a home in the district this spring, Goodlander had not lived in the district since at least 2005, and she attended high school out of state (Groton) before that.
The last time Goodlander voted in the Second Congressional District was via mail-in ballot in 2008, using the address of a house her family had already sold before Election Day.
The GOP primary in the Second Congressional District is wide open, according to the polls, and it’s difficult to say the eventual nominee will get a major boost from the Democratic infighting. Most analysts believe a GOP victory in a district they’ve only carried once since 2006 is unlikely.
The governor’s race, however, could be different. Republican Kelly Ayotte has a massive lead over primary opponent Chuck Morse in the most recent public polls, and she’s raised significantly more money than any candidate in either party. And she’s already gotten $1 million in support from the RGA.
Meanwhile, Craig has a single-digit lead over Warmington, and both of them are quickly using up their financial resources.
The result could be a Republican nominee who has the money and momentum in the governor’s race, and Democrats scrambling to rebuild party unity and fill their campaign coffers just weeks before the general election.
“Strangest damn election I’ve ever seen,” one GOP strategist told NHJournal.
