A page promoting Democrat Andru Volinsky for New Hampshire governor has popped up on the progressive MoveOn.org website, fanning hopes among some longtime fans that the former executive councilor might make a return to politics.
A Volinsky candidacy would also fill his party’s embarrassing vacancy in the governor’s race. Despite multiple candidates in the Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate and the 1st Congressional District, there isn’t an announced — or even rumored — Democratic candidate to challenge first-term Gov. Kelly Ayotte next year.
Unfortunately for his party, Volinsky says he’s not running.
The MoveOn.org page, which touts Volinsky’s work on education funding and with the ACLU, was posted by self-styled “Aspiring Political Strategist/Campaign Adviser” Michael Salzillo.
“It is clearer than ever that an anti-establishment populist candidate like Andru Volinsky is needed at such a time for New Hampshire,” the page reads. “For too long, Democrats have come up drastically short in easily winnable races against Chris Sununu and Kelly Ayotte. It is now time to look to a Democrat with a different approach to finally flip the governor’s office for Democrats and build a legislative majority a Democratic governor would need to get things done in Concord.”
Contacted by NHJournal, Salzillo said there’s no organized effort, “just me working behind the scenes.” He said Volinsky “is aware of the effort,” adding, “Sounds like Democrats are still looking for a challenger to Ayotte.”
Perhaps, but it’s not going to be Volinsky. Asked about the website and the persistent talk — or perhaps hope — among Granite State progressives about a Volinsky for governor campaign, he referred NHJournal to a message he posted on Facebook.
“I know there is a petition circulating to have me run for governor. I am flattered. I am not running. I am focused on my book, The Last Bake Sale, my weekly Substack postings, improving school funding, and a new project next year.”
Volinsky ran for governor in the 2020 Democratic primary, where he lost to state Sen. Dan Feltes, 52 percent to 47 percent. Feltes went on to lose to Gov. Chris Sununu in one of the biggest landslides in New Hampshire history, 65 percent to 33 percent, an embarrassing blow to state party chair Ray Buckley, who helped engineer Feltes’ nomination over Volinsky.
It’s no secret in Granite State political circles Buckley isn’t a Volinsky fan, and the feeling is mutual.
When Buckley was reelected party chair earlier this year, Volinsky publicly bemoaned the outcome.
“Ray Buckley, the party chair who oversaw a decade of devastating NH Democratic Party election losses, remains the chair,” Volinsky wrote. “The party’s insistence on open ballots means Party Chair Buckley knows which scores to settle. I don’t expect to rejoin the party’s holiday card list anytime soon.”
So if not Buckley, then who? In the Manchester mayor’s race this November, first-term Republican Jay Ruais is only facing token opposition from an unknown and largely unfunded school board member, Jess Spillers. She was thrown onto the ballot at the last second and has not been heard from since. Could Democrats be so desperate in 2026 they do the same in the governor’s race?
Campaign veterans in both parties say that’s unlikely, though they acknowledge it’s unusual there isn’t at least a rumored major candidate at this point in the calendar. Former state Sen. Tom Sherman has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but after his underwhelming performance as the party’s nominee in 2022 (he got less than 42 percent of the vote), there isn’t much enthusiasm for a sequel.
Former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington’s name is often mentioned, but mostly by Republicans. She lost the 2024 primary to former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, and she’s rumored to be talking to Democrats about a 2026 race.
There is one candidate in the race already: former restaurant owner and political gadfly Jon Kiper. He announced his run for governor in June — as an independent.
The Newmarket resident and former owner of the recently closed restaurant Jonny Boston’s International announced Sept. 2 he will be running for governor as a Democrat after initially launching a campaign in June as an independent.
“I honestly thought that I could get in there and change the Democratic Party and change its viewpoint and help it open up to a broader scope of people, and they just are inflexible,” Kiper said at the time. “The leadership does not want to change. They don’t want to learn any lessons.”
Just a few weeks later, Kiper announced he is running as a Democrat. Asked about the flip-flop, Kiper told the Portsmouth Herald, “This is not the time to have a nuanced discussion about the pros and cons of the two-party system.”
Kiper was also on the Democratic ballot in the 2024 gubernatorial primary. He won just over 9 percent of the vote.
