New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen not operating for re-election in 2026

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is the newest Democrat within the Senate to announce her retirement reasonably than search re-election within the 2026 midterms.

The Wednesday announcement by the previous governor and three-term senator in a key New England swing state will additional complicate the Democrats’ efforts to regain management of the Senate from the Republicans in subsequent 12 months’s elections.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks earlier than President Joe Biden arrives to ship remarks on reducing the price of prescribed drugs, at NHTI Harmony Group School, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Harmony, N.H. (AP Photograph/Steven Senne) (AP Photograph/Steven Senne)

“I ran for public workplace to make a distinction for the individuals of New Hampshire,” Shaheen stated. “That function has by no means and can by no means change. However as we speak, after cautious consideration, I’m saying that I’ve made the tough determination to not search re-election to the Senate in 2026.”

Shaheen, who turned 78 earlier this 12 months, added that “it is simply time.”

There was intense hypothesis relating to whether or not Shaheen, who first gained election to the Senate in 2008 and who this 12 months grew to become the primary girl in historical past to carry one of many high two positions on the highly effective Senate Overseas Relations Committee, will search one other time period in workplace.

Shaheen raised a paltry $170,000 within the remaining fundraising quarter of 2024, which sparked buzz that the senator won’t be making ready for one more re-election marketing campaign. However sources in Shaheen’s political orbit famous that the senator didn’t emphasize fundraising within the fourth quarter of final 12 months, which included the ultimate month of the 2024 presidential election.

Fox Information confirmed that Shaheen had a significant fundraiser scheduled for March 20 in Manchester, New Hampshire. There is no phrase but on whether or not that occasion has been canceled.

Nationwide Republicans see alternatives to flip the Senate seat in New Hampshire from blue to purple, and the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee had already run adverts concentrating on Shaheen over her protection of USAID funding that the Trump administration is axing.

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Former Sen. Scott Brown, the previous senator from Massachusetts who later narrowly misplaced to Shaheen in New Hampshire within the 2014 election, is critically contemplating a 2026 run, in a attainable rematch in opposition to Shaheen.

Brown, who served 4 years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand throughout President Donald Trump’s first administration, has been holding conferences with Republicans throughout New Hampshire for a few months and has met with GOP officers within the nation’s capital.

It has been 15 years since Republicans final gained a Senate election in New Hampshire, with Democrats victorious prior to now 4 elections.

Republicans flipped 4 Democrat-held Senate seats in final November’s elections to win again management of the chamber. They now management the chamber and are aiming to develop their majority in 2026.

In addition to New Hampshire, the GOP is concentrating on battleground Michigan, the place Democratic Sen. Gary Peters introduced in January that he wouldn’t search re-election. Additionally on their 2026 radar is Georgia, one other key battleground state the place Republicans view first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff as weak.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota introduced final month that she wouldn’t bid for one more time period in subsequent 12 months’s midterms, giving the GOP hope that it could be aggressive within the blue-leaning state.

However Republicans are additionally taking part in protection within the 2026 cycle.

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Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, the place reasonable GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, in addition to in battleground North Carolina, the place Republican Sen. Thom Tillis can also be up in 2026.