Warmington airs first TV ad in governor's race
May 29—CONCORD — Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington of Concord became the first candidate for New Hampshire governor to go up on the airwaves Wednesday with a TV ad, highlighting her opposition to the state law that bans abortion for women after six months except if the mother's health is seriously at risk or her unborn child has a fatal fetal anomaly.
The 30-second spot begins with Warmington challenging Gov. Chris Sununu about that law, the day after the U.S. Supreme Court had reversed its landmark Roe v. Wade decision that recognized women had an abortion right at least until the fetus could survive outside the womb.
"I fully understand that Roe v. Wade did not affect you personally, but, for half the population, we just became second-class citizens," Warmington told Sununu at the council table.
Both Warmington and Democratic primary rival and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig have made abortion rights a central theme of their campaigns.
They have criticized the Republican candidates — former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of Nashua and former Senate President Chuck Morse — for backing Sununu's decision to sign these restrictions on later-term abortions, attached to the state budget that the Republican-led Legislature passed in 2021.
"As governor, I will get rid of New Hampshire's abortion ban and make sure women can make our own health care decisions, no more government interference," Warmington says during the end of the commercial.
While in the Senate, Ayotte supported legislation that would have outlawed abortions earlier than exists in New Hampshire law.
In the current campaign, Ayotte stressed she would oppose any further restrictions here.
In defending the law, Sununu has said more than 40 states don't allow abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy, and polls have shown a super majority of residents in New Hampshire state support that point of view.
Warmington is the only Democrat on the five-person Executive Council. She has also fought to try and restore cuts to family planning contracts given to providers that perform abortions in the state.
Sununu has backed Warmington on this front but for the past three years the GOP majority on the Executive Council has rejected these contracts, citing the same state budget that contained a rider restricting state contracts to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Warmington's ad began airing on WMUR, cable television outlets and on digital platforms across the state, according to campaign officials.
