Kelly Ayotte and Cinde Warmington debate in Granite State governor’s race
PolitiFact ·
MANCHESTER, N.H . — New Hampshire Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte and her Democratic challenger, Cinde Warmington, clashed over opioid oversight, data center regulations and energy policy in a sometimes testy debate days before Election Day.
Four times during the debate, Ayotte mentioned Warmington’s past role as a lobbyist for Purdue Pharma, the company that made and marketed OxyContin, which fed a surge in addiction and overdoses. Warmington countered that Ayotte had her own history with the drugmaker.
Warmington sought to link Ayotte to President Donald Trump, saying, “In this economy, this Trump-Ayotte economy, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class is disappearing.”
WMUR-TV, a PolitiFact partner, hosted the Oct. 29 debate. Here are fact-checks of some of the claims by both candidates.
Ayotte: “She has spent her career as an opioid lobbyist.”
Ayotte overstated the length of Warmington’s involvement with Purdue Pharma .
Warmington worked as a lawyer and lobbyist for the company in 2001 and 2002. She was a junior lawyer assigned to Purdue Pharma . During that period, she testified before the state Senate, a hearing in which she called OxyContin a miracle drug for some patients.
But her time serving as a lobbyist for that client accounted for a two-year period more than 20 years ago. It was not her whole career.
Warmington: “She was actually the attorney general who did not … sue Purdue Pharma, and she is the attorney general who was taking campaign contributions from Purdue Pharma right up till 2016.”
Warmington has criticized Ayotte’s 2007 decision as New Hampshire’s attorney general not to join a lawsuit by 26 state attorneys general against Purdue Pharma regarding opioids.
She also has noted that an Ayotte-led political action committee received campaign donations from members of the Sackler family — which owned Purdue Pharma when it was promoting OxyContin — as late as 2016 .
Warmington: “These attacks on me (were) for legal work that was done before anyone knew about Purdue Pharma’s lies, before the FDA knew, before anyone knew.”
Ayotte: “This idea that no one knew is just a blatant lie.”
Although the full story of Purdue Pharma’s actions in marketing OxyContin would come to light only years later after litigation, journalists and federal officials had been raising alarms about the drug’s widespread abuse and the company’s skyrocketing sales for at least two years by the time Warmington testified before state lawmakers in 2002.
A transcript of the hearing — to consider state legislation to tighten rules for prescribing opioids such as OxyContin — shows that, even at that early juncture, Warmington faced questions about the drug’s addictiveness.
Warmington: “There was actually a bill in the legislature in the last session for a moratorium, and a second bill that would have given local communities the opportunity to have put guardrails around data centers. This governor did nothing to bring those forward. She had the opportunity for a moratorium. She didn’t do it.”
Warmington is correct that two bills on these subjects did not pass, but it’s hard to determine whether Ayotte is to blame.
Warmington left out that Ayotte has more recently pushed for a data center moratorium in the state, backtracking on her previous stance.
At an Oct. 22 debate, Ayotte said she did not have the legal authority to ban data centers via executive order.
In 2025, Ayotte signed a bill to loosen regulations for “off-grid” energy providers, and both critics and supporters said this would encourage heavy electricity users such as data centers or crypto companies to set up facilities in New Hampshire.
Ayotte: “It’s really important for the people of New Hampshire to know that she will not commit to banning an income or sales tax.”
This conflicts with Warmington’s repeated statements.
New Hampshire has neither a state sales tax nor an individual income tax.
Warmington has said on numerous occasions that she does not support a state income tax, telling WMUR , “I do not believe a broad-based sales or income tax is the right way to go in our state.” Warmington said at an Oct. 27 debate that she would veto a sales or income tax.
In the Oct. 29 WMUR debate, Warmington doubled down on that position, saying, “I will oppose an income tax. I oppose a sales tax, and if it were to come to my desk, I would veto it.”
Ayotte: Warmington’s plan is to eliminate fossil fuels.
Warmington: “She cannot get away with standing here and saying that net zero means eliminating fossil fuels.”
Ayotte’s claim is based on a “ net zero plan ” that Warmington backed during her 2024 bid for governor but has not revived in her 2026 campaign . The proposal would have brought New Hampshire to net zero emissions by 2040. Critics said this would not be possible without completely eliminating gasoline-powered cars or natural gas stoves.
Warmington has said , “I do want to clear up a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation of my position. I am not against all emissions. I’m not against gas-powered cars. I am not against gas stoves. I cook with a gas stove myself.”
Net zero means fossil fuel emissions are not eliminated, but are balanced out by the removal of those emissions from the atmosphere. However, for that to be accomplished, fossil fuel emissions have to be significantly reduced.
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