# Jeanne Shaheen ## Summary U.S. Senator from New Hampshire since 2009. Three-term senator, announcing retirement in 2025 as part of the Democratic retirement wave (Peters, Smith, Durbin, Shaheen). Former Governor of New Hampshire (1997–2003) — the first woman elected governor in NH history. [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]]; Senate Small Business Committee Chair (under D majority). Senate Armed Services. ## Career highlights - New Hampshire State Senate (1990–1996) - Governor of New Hampshire (1997–2003, three two-year terms) - First woman elected governor of NH - First woman in U.S. history to serve as both governor and senator of her state - Director, Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School (2005–2007) - Lost 2002 Senate race to John E. Sununu (later defeated him in 2008 rematch) - Won 2008 Senate election defeating Sununu 52–45 - Re-elected 2014 (narrowly, 51.5% over Scott Brown), 2020 (56.6%) ## Senate career (2009–2027) - Foreign Relations Committee — among the most senior Democrats; consistent transatlantic / NATO / Ukraine focus - Small Business Committee Chair intermittent under D majority - Armed Services Committee - Consistent bipartisan-working-group participant ## 2025 retirement announcement Announced retirement in 2025 — one of five Democratic Senate retirements setting up the cycle's most consequential open seats (Durbin, Peters, Smith, Shaheen; [[Tina Smith]]'s was MN). NH open-seat race is Cook Lean D; frontrunners Chris Pappas (D) vs. John E. Sununu (R) — the latter a narrative rematch-by-proxy to the 2008 Shaheen victory over Sununu. ## 2026: not running See [[NH-Sen-2026]]. Shaheen's retirement creates the open seat; Pappas is presumptive D nominee. ## Foreign-policy oversight in the second Trump administration As Ranking Member of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]], Shaheen is the Senate half of the Democratic pairing — with [[Gregory Meeks]] of the [[House Foreign Affairs Committee]] — that carries foreign-aid oversight. In September 2026 the two placed a hold on a $52.1 million State Department reprogramming of Foreign Military Financing appropriated for Ukraine and countries harmed by Russia's invasion; the administration defied the hold and moved the money to four Latin American governments. See [[Foreign Military Financing Reprogramming 2026]]. ## Related KB entities - [[NH-Sen-2026]] — her open-seat race - TBD: [[Chris Pappas]] — likely D successor - TBD: [[John E. Sununu]] — R frontrunner; 2008 opponent ## Sources - [Wikipedia — Jeanne Shaheen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Shaheen)