Sen. Jeanne Shaheen revealed Wednesday that she won’t seek re-election to a fourth term in 2026, the third Democrat in the upper chamber to announce her retirement following this cycle.
“It’s just time,” said Shaheen, 78, in a video statement.
“Believe me, I am not retiring,” added Shaheen (D-NH). “I am determined to work every day over the next two years and beyond, to continue to try and make a difference for the people of New Hampshire and this country.”
“It was a difficult decision, made more difficult by the current environment in the country — by President Trump and what he’s doing right now,” Shaheen told the New York Times Tuesday of her decision to walk away.
“It’s important for New Hampshire and the country to have a new generation of leadership.”
Shaheen, who made history as the first woman to be elected to both a state governorship and the US Senate, made the announcement days after reports emerged that popular Republican former Gov. Chris Sununu was mulling a challenge to her — reversing his earlier reluctance to take on Shaheen’s colleague, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), in 2022.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) previously opted against running for re-election in 2026, and Shaheen’s announcement will raise Republican hopes of picking up seats in both Michigan and New Hampshire.
Senate Republicans have just one open seat to defend after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he would not seek an eighth six-year term.
Prior to Shaheen’s announcement, there had been speculation that she was eyeing an exit from elected office. As of the end of 2024, her campaign had approximately $1.45 million in cash on hand, considered a low amount for a potentially competitive Senate race.
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) is contemplating a run to replace Shaheen as the Democratic standard-bearer, Politico reported, and would be the early favorite to win a competitive primary.
Republicans are defending 22 of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs in 2026, with the GOP currently holding a 53-47 majority.
Sununu, 50, who served as Granite State governor between 2017 and 2025, recently said of a possible Senate run that he has “not ruled it out completely.”
“Folks in Washington have asked me to think about it and to consider it, and that is just kind of where I am,” Sununu told The Washington Times Tuesday.
New Hampshire has not had a Republican senator since 2017, after then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte — now the state’s governor — was bested by Hassan in the 2016 election.
Sununu’s older brother, John, defeated Shaheen in the 2002 election for Senate, only for the Democrat to get her revenge six years later.
Prior to her first run for Senate, Shaheen served three two-year terms as New Hampshire governor, becoming the first woman elected to that post in 1996.
For much of her tenure in the Senate, Shaheen has served as a prominent voice on the Foreign Relations Committee and has traveled to Ukraine several times.
