Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington signed up Wednesday to run for governor in the Secretary of State’s Office. Paula Tracy photo
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – With restoring reproductive rights on the top of their minds, three Democrats – all women – went to the State House Wednesday to sign up to run for Governor, Congress, and the state’s Executive Council.
And they brought their family, friends and supporters.
Making their candidacies official at the Secretary of State’s office in the State House were Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington of Concord, who is running for governor; Maggie Goodlander of Nashua who is running to be a U.S. Representative in the Second Congressional District; and Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon, who is running for the Executive Council seat currently held by Warmington.
The three women have in common not only their chosen date to file for office but the issue of abortion rights at the top of their list of things that need fixing.
There are just two more days for candidates to file for all 400 House Seats, 24 Senate Seats, Congress, Executive Council, governor and other positions which are all up for grabs on Nov. 5.
Goodlander, a former United States Deputy Attorney General, was the first candidate of the day and her mother, Betty Tamposi was on the State House lawn greeting her daughter’s many supporters who lined the halls outside the Secretary of State’s office.
Tamposi ran for the very seat her daughter is now seeking in 1988 but as a Republican. She lost that primary with her opponents arguing that it was inappropriate for a woman to leave her young children home in New Hampshire to serve in the Congress. Tamposi went on to be a diplomat and served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs from 1989 to 1992.
Goodlander paid in cash and said she would be, if elected, fighting for the values that she learned growing up in New Hampshire and “no one does democracy like the State of New Hampshire and no one believes in freedom more than the people of the Granite State.”
She said what she sees when she looks across the country is an attack on basic freedoms.
“The freedom to have access to reproductive health care, the freedom to vote and to live under the rule of law in a democracy and really the freedom to have a fair deal and for hard working people to be able to afford a life and to live the American dream and so I want to fight for these things on day one in Congress and that is why I got into this race,” she said. Her website is here https://maggiefornh.com/meet-maggie/
The race is wide open after veteran Democratic Congresswoman Annie Kuster announced she would not be seeking re-election. There are a number of candidates for the job in both the Republican and Democratic side who will go to a primary on Sept. 10.
Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon signed up to run for District 2 Executive Councilor. Paula Tracy photo
Karen Liot Hill, who has been involved in politics at the Lebanon City Council level and is in her tenth term, but has been attending the Executive Council meetings for the better part of the past two years, filed her candidacy after the council meeting with her family and supporters attending the signing.https://www.karenliothill.com/
She has often stood at rallies with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England which has been denied state contracts for the past few years by the Republican majority on the council and has said it would be a priority of hers along with affordable housing, social justice and sustainability.
Warmington, whose seat she would take if elected, was the last major candidate of the day to announce her candidacy and came with a lot of supporters who chanted her name through the halls as she shook hands with them before joining her mother, Jean McCaffery of Penacook, her daughter, Emily Warmington and her husband Bill Christie and others where she signed a check for the Secretary of State to get on the ballot.
She was asked what this election is about.
“Everything is on the ballot in this election. Reproductive freedom, public schools, the environment, affordable housing, making sure this state really works for working families, everything is on the ballot in November. We need to go and win this election and take back that office,” she said.
She said she is singularly the most qualified to take on the job as the state’s chief executive noting she is the highest ranking elected Democrat as she is the only Democrat on the five-member Executive Council. A link to her website is here https://www.cindewarmington.com/
Thursday will also be a busy day at the Secretary of State’s office with former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte expected at 10 a.m. to sign up to run for governor and former Executive Councilor Russell Prescott due in at noon to file for the First Congressional District Race, both as Republicans among other candidates.
On Friday, candidates for Senate and higher office will have to appear in person to sign up to run and the list includes former Mayor of Manchester Joyce Craig who is due in at 9 a.m. She is expected to file her candidacy to run for governor as a Democrat.