Longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen not seeking re-election in 2026 in key northeastern swing state

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Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is the latest Democrat in the Senate to announce her retirement rather than seek re-election in the 2026 midterms.

The Wednesday announcement by the former governor and three-term senator in a key New England swing state will further complicate the Democrats' efforts to regain control of the Senate from the Republicans in next year's elections.

The news also marks the beginning of the end of a long and successful career of the first woman in American politics to win election both as a governor and as a U.S. senator.

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Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

"I ran for public office to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire," Shaheen said. "That purpose has never and will never change. But today, after careful consideration, I am announcing that I have made the difficult decision not to seek re-election to the Senate in 2026."

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Shaheen, who turned 78 earlier this year, added that "it's just time."

The senator emphasized that "while I am not seeking re-election, believe me I am not retiring. I am determined to work every day over the next two years and beyond, to continue to try to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire and this country."

There was intense speculation for months regarding whether Shaheen, who first won election to the Senate in 2008 and who this year became the first woman in history to hold one of the top two positions on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would seek another term in office.

Shaheen raised a paltry $170,000 in the final fundraising quarter of 2024, which sparked buzz that the senator might not be preparing for another re-election campaign. But sources in Shaheen’s political orbit noted that the senator did not emphasize fundraising in the fourth quarter of last year, which included the final month of the 2024 presidential election.

Fox News confirmed last week that Shaheen had a major fundraiser scheduled for March 20 in Manchester, New Hampshire. There's no word yet on whether that event has now been canceled.

It has been 15 years since Republicans last won a Senate election in New Hampshire, with Democrats victorious in the past four elections.

"No Republican has won a Senate race in over a decade in New Hampshire, and that trend will continue in 2026. This is exactly the kind of state where the building midterm backlash against Republicans will hit their candidates especially hard," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson David Bergstein told Fox News in a statement.

But national Republicans see opportunities to flip the Senate seat in New Hampshire from blue to red, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) had already run ads targeting Shaheen over her defense of USAID funding that the Trump administration is axing.

"Another one! Shaheen's retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing common-sense Republicans - and will do so again in 2026,!" Sen. Tim Scott, the NRSC chair, said in a statement to Fox News.

Former Sen. Scott Brown is interviewed by Fox News Digital, on Dec. 24, 2024 in Rye, New Hampshire (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Former Sen. Scott Brown, the former senator from Massachusetts who later narrowly lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 election, is seriously considering a 2026 run.

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Brown, who served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during President Donald Trump’s first administration, has been holding meetings with Republicans across New Hampshire for a couple of months and has met multiple times with GOP officials in the nation’s capital.

"I appreciate @jeanneshaheen’s service to our state and for her support and vote for me as NH’s Ambassador to NZ and Samoa. Now it’s time for New Hampshire to have someone in the delegation who fights for our priorities and stands with, not against, the Trump agenda," Brown said in a social media post.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is interviewed by Fox News Digital, on July 11, 2024 in Newfields, N.H.? (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

New Hampshire's popular former Republican governor, Chris Sununu, has said repeatedly in interviews with Fox News and other news organizations over the past year that he had no interest in running for the Senate in 2026.

Sununu was heavily courted to run for the Senate in the 2022 cycle against Democrat incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan, another former governor, but decided against making a run.

Among Democrats, all eyes will now be on four-term Rep. Chris Pappas to see if he launches a Senate campaign. Pappas, whose family owns and operates an iconic restaurant and conference center in Manchester - the state's largest city- was first elected to Congress in 2018.

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) greets supporters after his midterm victory during an election night watch party at the Puritan Conference Center on November 8, 2022 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

A person with knowledge of Pappas thinking confirmed to Fox News that the congressman is seriously considering a Senate run to succeed Shaheen.

Pappas, in a social media post, praised Shaheen as a "trailblazer who has worked every day to put New Hampshire first and make a difference for our families, community, and economy. Thank you for always leading with integrity, determination, and effectiveness for our state and nation."

Former Democratic Rep. Ann Kuster, who retired from the House at the beginning of this year after a dozen years representing New Hampshire's other congressional district, told Fox News that she would "take a serious look" at running for the Senate if Pappas decides against launching a campaign.

Also considering a Senate run, according to a source familiar, is Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who won election to Congress last November and succeeded Kuster.

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Republicans flipped four Democrat-held Senate seats in last November’s elections to win back control of the chamber. They now control the chamber and are aiming to expand their majority in 2026.

Besides New Hampshire, the GOP is targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced in January that he would not seek re-election. Also on their 2026 radar is Georgia, another key battleground state where Republicans view first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff as vulnerable.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota announced last month that she would not bid for another term in next year’s midterms, giving the GOP hope that it might be competitive in the blue-leaning state.

But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

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Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026. 

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And Democrats are looking at red-leaning Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed in January to succeed now-Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance's term.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire raises her arms after claiming a re-election victory, at a gathering with supporters on Nov. 3, 2020, in Manchester, N.H.. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Shaheen's career in politics began long before she ran for elective office.

She served as a county organizer on former President Jimmy Carter's historic first White House campaign, as part of the team that boosted the little-known former Georgia governor to the presidency. 

Four years later she ran Carter's re-election campaign in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state as the White House incumbent fought off a serious primary challenge from the late Sen.Ted Kennedy of neighboring Massachusetts. 

In 1984, Shaheen ran Gary Hart's presidential campaign in New Hampshire, helping Hart to a surprise victory over former Vice President Walter Mondale in New Hampshire.

Shaheen went on to win election as a state senator, and in 1996 won the first of three straight two-year terms as New Hampshire governor. And her 2008 Senate victory was the first by a Democrat in New Hampshire in more than three decades.

Shaheen is credited with boosting the Democratic Party in New Hampshire and helping turn a red state purple.

Longtime state party chair Ray Buckley called Shaheen "an iconic New Hampshire trailblazer."