By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Correspondent
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Gubernatorial Democratic candidate Cinde Warmington was in Claremont to tour the city and speak with local officials, and she also took the time to drop by The Eagle Times this week to discuss her bid for governor.
For the last four years, Warmington has represented the City of Claremont in the District 2 Executive Council, and now she is throwing her hat in the ring for the top spot in the state’s government after working with the Executive Branch as a councilor.
“Reproductive freedom in our state is really under assault,” she said, adding that this is a major part of her platform on running for governor. “Women’s health care is under assault. I’ve been very clear about my objections to the governor’s abortion ban, and it is a top priority of mine to make sure women can access reproductive services in our state, including access to safe and legal abortion services.”
Warmington’s platform also focuses on education in public schools. She said the state needs a commissioner who actually believes in public education. She said Education Commissioner Frank Edelbut currently has a plan that diverts dollars to private and religious schools, and she feels taxpayer money belongs in public schools.
“Public education is the bedrock of our democracy,” she said. “We need to protect it to make sure every single child in New Hampshire gets their shot at the future.”
Another part of her platform is costs, as she said the cost for hardworking families is primarily being driven by the lack of housing. She said the state needs to work closely with developers to get housing built through using incentives. She also said zoning ordinances often need to be changed to accommodate the density of housing that is needed in New Hampshire.
“We really have nobody in our state who is fundamentally accountable for the number of housing units we have,” she said. “We are way behind. We’re predicted to be 60,000 units behind by 2030. That’s a huge number. There’s only one way out of this problem, and that is to build, build, build.”
Warmington originally hails from Massachusetts, but she likes to tell people she got to the Granite State as quickly as she could. When she was young, her father worked in a shipyard and her mother waited tables to make ends meet. They had four kids in five years, and she was the second. Warmington said she had a great public school education and was the first person in her family to attend college. She worked 30 hours a week while going to college full-time, and then took her first job out of college as a lab tech at Lakes Region General Hospital.
“I worked in the lab there, but I did travel around the country for a while,” she said. “I did all kinds of things in hospitals. I was a lab manager, a blood bank supervisor, a business office manager — all sorts of things in health care.
Warmington later went to law school at what is now UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, and became the chair of the health law section at Shaheen and Gordon, P.A. She ended up moving to Gilford and raised two children who are now grown, and she has four grandchildren ranging from one to six years old.
She has also been involved in volunteer work throughout her life, mostly in the areas of substance use disorder and mental health.
The Executive Council that she serves on oversees everything in the Executive Branch and Warmington said she works closely with the governor’s office and other councilors to make sure they are benefiting the people of their state.
“One of the hallmarks of my time on the council, being the only Democrat on the council during my entire four years there, is that I have been able to reach across the table and work with other councilors on things where we can agree,” she said.
Some areas she spoke of in bipartisan efforts were ensuring broadband connectivity around the state, and funding for the county’s nursing home. She said most of the issues in New Hampshire are ones where they can “roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
Aside from stopping by the Eagle Times, Warmington met with Mayor Dale Girard and City Manager Yoshi Manale for a walking tour around the city, to talk about the issues and potential for Claremont. They were able to stop by local businesses and community service organizations, discuss issues impacting the city’s economy, housing needs, concerns and also successes that are coming into the city.
“I have really been working for the city for a long time now,” she said. “Like when the sex education program for Claremont was defunded when there was an actual real need for it here. I worked with the congressional delegation to get that money back, and I’ve worked on a number of projects for the city to ensure they are getting funding to move the city forward. I’m excited about what I’m seeing here in Claremont. I think we have the leaders here to help move the city forward, and I want to work hand in hand with them to make it happen.”
Warmington said she feels there is a real opportunity in this election to make sure that we live in a state where everyone can make their own reproductive health care decisions, love who they love, and get a great education. She added that we can live in a state where there is clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.
“Also, where every single family like the one I came from can afford to put a roof over their kids’ heads,” Warmington said. “And feed them, and clothe them, and give them a great education and still retire with dignity.”
To learn more about Warmington or get involved in her campaign, log onto cindewarmington.com.
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