Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is not going to search reelection in New Hampshire

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is not going to search reelection subsequent 12 months, a call that may finish the longtime senator’s historic political profession and offers a big blow to Democrats, who had been already going through a troublesome path to reclaiming the Senate majority.

Shaheen, who turned 78 in January, was the primary girl elected to function each governor and senator in the US. She introduced her choice in a video posted on social media.

“At present, after cautious consideration, I’m saying that I’ve made the troublesome choice to not search reelection to the Senate in 2026,” she stated. “It’s simply time.”

Historical past means that the GOP, because the social gathering that controls the White Home, would face a difficult political setting in subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections, which is able to resolve the stability of energy in Congress — and, with it, the destiny of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. Republicans are additionally going through the potential for severe financial headwinds as shopper pessimism grows and enterprise leaders fret about Trump’s intensifying commerce warfare.

However even earlier than Shaheen’s announcement, the political panorama favored Republicans within the battle for the Senate, the place the GOP already holds 53 seats in contrast with the Democrats’ 47, together with two independents who caucus with Democrats.

Republicans now have pickup alternatives in three purple states the place Democrats have introduced retirements in latest weeks: New Hampshire’s Shaheen, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters and Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith. And the GOP is very optimistic concerning the social gathering’s probabilities in Georgia, the place Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff is predicted to face a tricky highway to reelection.

Democrats, in contrast, don’t have any apparent pickup alternatives.

No less than for now, Maine represents the Democrats’ finest likelihood. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, the only GOP senator remaining in New England, is the one Republican serving in a state Trump misplaced who’s up for reelection.

Republicans responded to Shaheen’s choice with glee.

“One other one!” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who leads the Senate Republican marketing campaign arm, wrote on X. “Shaheen’s retirement is welcome information for Granite Staters keen for brand new management. New Hampshire has a proud custom of electing common sense Republicans — and can achieve this once more in 2026!”

Shaheen has been a political drive in New Hampshire for many years and climbed by way of the ranks of Senate management to function the highest Democrat on the highly effective Senate International Relations Committee. She seemingly would have been simply reelected had she sought one other time period.

New Hampshire Democrats count on congressman Chris Pappas to emerge because the almost definitely Shaheen successor. The four-term congressman can be the primary brazenly homosexual man within the Senate if he decides to run and wins.

He didn’t tackle his political future in a press release he posted on social media.

“Senator Shaheen is a trailblazer who has labored daily to place New Hampshire first and make a distinction for our households, neighborhood, and financial system,” he wrote. “Thanks for all the time main with integrity, dedication, and effectiveness for our state and nation.”

On the Republican facet, former Gov. Chris Sununu, who left workplace in January, is brazenly contemplating operating. A Sununu Senate bid would characterize a worst-case situation for Democrats given his recognition within the state.

Sununu informed the Washington Instances this week that Washington Republicans have inspired him to run and he has “not dominated it out utterly.”

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who served as ambassador to New Zealand within the first Trump administration, was contemplating a New Hampshire Senate bid even earlier than Shaheen’s announcement. Brown challenged Shaheen unsuccessfully in 2014.

Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who was elected in November, referred to as Shaheen “a real New Hampshire hero” in a social media publish. Goodlander is contemplating a run for the Senate seat.

New Hampshire has narrowly favored Democrats in latest presidential elections, however the state has a protracted historical past of electing leaders from each events. Republican Kelly Ayotte was elected governor final fall, when Trump misplaced the state by lower than 3 proportion factors.

Nonetheless, a Republican has not received a Senate seat within the Granite State since Ayotte again in 2010.

Democrats in Washington tried to sound optimistic.

“It’s no secret we face a tricky map, however we even have loads of issues going for us,” stated Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “Sadly, the chaos and confusion of this administration is reverberating and rippling all through the financial system.”

By the point the following election happens, he stated, the “image on the bottom appears very favorable for Democrats.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., stated the retirements may imply “that that is most likely going to be 12 months for Democrats, so it won’t be as large a threat to have an open seat.”

“What it broadly means is that there’s life after politics and also you don’t should die in workplace,” Murphy stated.

Even when Democrats do have a bonus within the fall of 2026, the nationwide social gathering will now be pressured to speculate its restricted assets in a state that nearly actually would have been thought of a straightforward win if Shaheen didn’t retire.

Shaheen turned the primary girl elected New Hampshire governor in 1996. She served for 3 phrases and was later elected to the Senate in 2008.

“There are pressing challenges forward, each right here at residence and world wide. And whereas I’m not looking for reelection, consider me, I’m not retiring,” Shaheen stated. “I’m decided to work daily over the following two years and past to proceed to attempt to make a distinction for the folks of New Hampshire and this nation.”

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Related Press author Kevin Freking in Washington contributed reporting.