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New Hampshire
Cinde Warmington launches second bid for New Hampshire governor
Former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington is again running for governor.
Warmington, who also ran in 2024 and lost in the Democratic primary, says her campaign will focus on making New Hampshire more affordable, something she says Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has failed to achieve.
“The prices of groceries, housing, electricity and property taxes are crushing working families,” Warmington said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Kelly Ayotte is making life in New Hampshire even more expensive.”
Warmington, 68, is a former health care attorney. In the video announcing her run, she promised to oppose a sales or income tax, to end the state’s voucher-like school choice program, and to fight a range of policies backed by President Trump.
“I’ll repeal the private school voucher scheme that’s damaging public schools and driving up property taxes. I’ll stand up to Trump when he jacks up health care costs and tariffs. I’ll say no to ICE’s warehouse, and I’ll work for our small businesses and make sure we don’t have a sales or income tax,” Warmington said.
Warmington joins Newmarket businessman Jon Kiper in the Democratic primary. She lost the gubernatorial primary in 2024 to then-Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig by 6%. She won seven of the state’s 10 counties, but votes from New Hampshire’s largest city put Craig over the top.
John Corbett, a spokesperson for Ayotte’s campaign, issued a statement criticizing Warmington’s past legal work representing a chain of pain clinics and her role as a lobbyist for Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.
“Cinde chose to make money off big pharmaceutical companies who hurt Granite Staters, and she is absolutely disqualified from serving as our Governor,” Corbett said.
Warmington faced similar attacks during the Democratic primary race two years ago. In a statement Wednesday morning, Kiper renewed criticisms of Warmington’s ties to the opioid industry.
“Warmington has accepted thousands in campaign donations from the very clinics that overprescribed her self-described ‘miracle drug,’ OxyContin,” he said.
While Warmington’s announcement confirms the Democratic primary will feature more than a single candidate, other Democrats could soon enter the race. Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern has indicated he’s seriously weighing a run for governor as well.
While Ayotte has not formally said she’s running for reelection this year, she’s all but certain to do so. And while history is on her side — with most governors winning a second term — this year’s political landscape could present challenges for her. Ayotte has spent much of her first year in office trying to maintain a distance from President Trump, while avoiding any direct confrontation with the president. That balance will only get more difficult as Election Day approaches.
What employers are getting wrong, and how to fix it before it becomes a claim
New Hampshire’s employment law landscape heading into 2026 may not be dramatically different from last year, but the real risks lie in implementation missteps. From the initial setting of wages, to calculating and distributing wages, employers will likely find a specific statute and/or labor regulation governing the transaction. Failure to follow these detailed wage and hour laws can result in significant back wages and other penalties being imposed by the state or federal Department of Labor following an audit. Fortunately, however, this area of employment law is relatively easy to master, once you are familiar with the basics.
Notice compliance
One of the most common pitfalls for employers in New Hampshire is misunderstanding the wage and hour notice requirements under RSA 275 and the related New Hampshire Department of Labor Administrative Rules.
At the time of hire, employers must notify employees in writing of their rate of pay and the day and place of payment. This notice is traditionally delivered to employees by way of an offer letter or some sort of “New Hire Rate of Pay” form. (A sample form is available from the New Hampshire Department of Labor website.) What surprises most employers, however, is that Lab. 803.03(f)(6) also requires employers to request and obtain their employees’ signatures on this written notification of wages, and employers must keep a copy of the signed written notification of wages on file. Further, employers must notify employees in writing during the course of employment of any changes to wages or day of pay prior to such changes taking effect, and the employer must obtain the employee’s signature on this subsequent notification as well. (See RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)
Employers are further required to notify employees in writing, or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to employees, of:
• employment practices and policies with regard to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits.
• deductions made from the employee’s payroll check, for each period such deductions are made.
• information regarding the deductions allowed from wage payments under state law. (RSA 275:49; Lab. 803.03.)
Policies regarding vacation and sick leave should inform employees whether or not the employer will “cash out” unused time at year end or at the end of employment, and if so, under what terms. Again, if any changes are made to vacation pay, sick leave and other fringe benefits during the course of employment (all of which are considered “wages” under New Hampshire law), employers must request and obtain their employees’ signatures on the written notification of the change, and must keep a copy of the signed form on file. (Lab. 803.03.) Importantly, notification by way of pay stub alone is not sufficient, and, these requirements apply to both increases and decreases in pay.
Two-hour minimum (reporting pay)
Another frequently overlooked obligation is New Hampshire’s two-hour minimum reporting pay requirement. Under RSA 275:43-a, non-exempt employees who report to work but are sent home early must generally be paid for at least two hours. Weather-related closures, client cancellations or operational slowdown days can trigger this rule. Employers should also note that the New Hampshire Department of Labor currently applies this law to remote-based employees. Consequently, employees who “report to work” at an employer’s request from a home office may likewise have a right to two hours of pay, depending on the circumstances.
Salaried vs. hourly employees
Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime remains a significant source of compliance exposure. The position’s job duties — not the titles or label such as “salaried” — determine whether an employee qualifies for an overtime exemption.
Employers, particularly in nonprofits, health care and small businesses, unintentionally misapply exempt classifications to roles such as administrative staff, office managers, executive assistants, program coordinators or hybrid jobs that involve significant non-exempt tasks. Over time, as organizational needs evolve and employees take on broader responsibilities, job duties can drift outside of an exemption’s scope.
Best practice is to periodically review job descriptions and actual job duties to ensure continued compliance with exemption criteria, particularly following any significant restructuring or job redesigns.
Peg O’Brien is chair of McLane Middleton’s Employment Law Practice Group. She can be reached at margaret.o’brien@mclane.com.
Local News
“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” said the family of the victim.
A new photo has been released of the victim in a nearly 30-year-long unsolved murder case, in the hope of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case, New Hampshire officials said.
“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” the family of Rosalie Miller said in a press release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”
Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller had plans on meeting friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire area, officials said.
Her body was found on January 20, 1997 in a partially wooded spot on a residential lot along the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.
The autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, N.H. officials wrote.
As part of a new effort to garner public help with the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in hopes it may jog the memory of someone who saw or spoke with her in the winter of 1996,” Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint press release.
Investigators are especially hoping to talk to anyone who was in contact with Miller in December of 1996 or anyone “who may have seen her in the vicinity of the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that time,” officials said in the release.
“We are releasing this new photograph today because we believe someone out there has information, perhaps a detail they thought was insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and bringing justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Chief said in the release.
The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] or (603) 271-2663.
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