U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire will not seek reelection in 2026, she said in a video statement released Wednesday.
Shaheen, a 78-year-old Democrat who served three two-year terms as the Granite State’s governor, said it has been an “incredible honor” representing New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate, but it is time to pass the torch.
“After careful consideration, I’m announcing that I have made the difficult decision not to seek reelection to the senate in 2026. It’s just time,” she said.
The first woman to be elected as New Hampshire’s governor, Shaheen first ran to represent New Hampshire in the upper chamber of Congress in 2002 but lost to former U.S. Sen. John Sununu. Six years later Shaheen would go on to defeat Sununu, and six years after that she defended her senate seat in an election against former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Shaheen was sent back to the senate a third time in 2020 after defeating Republican nominee Bryant “Corky” Messner, becoming the first New Hampshire Democrat to be elected to a third full senate term.
The apparently-outgoing U.S. senator later thanked her staff and supporters for their help along the way. Shaheen noted it was through their shared work, starting with her time as a state senator, that “together, we’ve established children’s health insurance, supported our small businesses, taken on the opioid epidemic, advocated for our veterans, kept our water clean, fought for access to reproductive health care for women and more. Together, we’ve made a difference.”
The senator said her announcement is not a retirement and that she will be on the job through the remaining months of her term while working “everyday over the next two years and beyond to continue to try and make a difference for the people of New Hampshire and this country.”
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you, New Hampshire,” she said.
Shaheen was seen as vulnerable going into the 2026 midterm elections, after Republican former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte won the governor’s office last November despite the fact President Donald Trump lost the state to former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Often suggested as a potential contender for the 2026 race is former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — younger brother of former Sen. Sununu and son of former White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu — who left office at the start of the year after completing his fourth term as governor.
Sununu was originally floated as a potential contender for Shaheen’s job ahead of the 2020 elections, but he instead chose to keep his gig as governor. A frequent critic of Trump’s first term policies and reelection prospects, after Sununu announced he would not seek a fifth term he seemed to show some presidential ambitions, and indicated in early 2023 that he was considering a White House run. He swore off the idea the following summer.
On Tuesday, in an interview with the Washington Times, Sununu suggested that he’s not opposed to seeking a senate seat, and said that the idea has been brought to his attention before.
“I have not ruled it out completely, but folks in Washington have asked me to think about it and to consider it, and that is just kind of where I am,” Sununu said.
Sununu’s stated interest and Shaheen’s electoral exit come after a recent poll of 626 registered Granite State voters conducted by Praecones Analytica on behalf of the NHJournal found that, if Shaheen were seeking another term, she might have had an edge against some other well known Granite State Republicans but not Sununu.
According to the poll, Shaheen could handily beat the state’s Commissioner of Education, Frank Edelblut, by a whopping 59% to 41%. If Brown were planning to run against her again in 2026 he might have done better, but still stood to lose 55% to 45%. On the other hand, the poll showed, Sununu would have won such a matchup by nine points.
A majority of polled voters — more than 60% — indicated that they were “extremely concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about Shaheen’s age. The senator would have turned 80 years old shortly after taking the oath of office in 2027, were she still running.
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