Shaheen to retire, setting up battle for New Hampshire Senate seat

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democratic senator from New Hampshire, has announced she will not run for reelection in 2026, creating an open-seat race in a battleground state former Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly carried in November.

Shaheen announced what she described as a “difficult” decision in an interview with The New York Times.

“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, who is 78 and was first announced in 2008, told the Times.

Shaheen highlighted what she saw as Trump’s focus on dishing out retribution to his political opponents, looming cuts to the federal budget and Trump’s antagonistic stance toward Ukraine as personal concerns.

She is the third Senate Democrat to announce their retirement this year, setting up a tough election map for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) next year.

Sens. Gary Peters (Mich.) and Tina Smith (Minn.) have also said they don't plan to run for reelection in 2026.

Peters’s retirement will set the stage for a very competitive race in Michigan while Democrats have a more comfortable advantage in the race to succeed Smith.

Peters’s and Smith’s announced retirements caught Democrats by surprise, as they’re both relatively young — by Senate standards — and in the prime of their political careers.

Peters, who is 66, said he “never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life.”

Smith, who is 67, said she is “ready to prioritize other things — starting with my family.”

Democrats also have to worry about defending Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D) seat in Georgia, a state Trump won by two percentage points last year.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report projected last month that Republicans are favored to keep control of the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.

Shaheen was first elected to the Senate in 2008, defeating Republican incumbent Sen. John Sununu (N.H.).

She was the first woman in the United States to serve as a governor and U.S. senator, having previously served as governor of New Hampshire from 1997 to 2003.

Shaheen, who is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and in line to become chair if Democrats regain the Senate majority, told The Times, “It’s important for New Hampshire and the country to have a new generation of leadership.”

Republicans are hoping to recruit former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) to run for Shaheen’s seat.

Brown was spotted at the Capitol Tuesday afternoon visiting with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Brown, who challenged Shaheen for her Senate seat in 2014 and lost, told The Hill that he’s thinking about running again.

Asked if he’s thinking about a run, he said “yeah, of course.”

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for Senate, despite being heavily recruited. But he told The Washington Times this week that he hasn't "ruled it out completely."

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