BOWING OUT

Democrat’s Retirement Sets Up High Stakes Battle for Seat

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, 78, told constituents, “It’s just time.”

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced on Wednesday that she won’t seek re-election in 2026, The New York Times reported. She told her constituents in a video on X, “Today, I am announcing that I have made the difficult decision not to seek re-election to the Senate in 2026,” adding, “It’s just time.” The Democrat’s impending retirement is likely to set off a race to fill her seat in a state where she has remained a leading political figure for decades. The 78-year-old made it clear that her announcement doesn’t mean she will retire early. “I am determined to work every day over the next two years and beyond to continue to try to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire and this country,” she said in the video. She told 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.” Specifically, she slammed the president’s focus on political retribution, his orchestrated cuts of the federal budget, his seeming camaraderie with Russia, and his consequent antagonism towards Ukraine. Shaheen is the first woman to be elected as governor of her state and the country’s first woman to serve as both governor and senator. Also, New Hampshire has historically been a fickle state where the same voters who supported Kamala Harris for president and elected a Democrat to Congress also voted for a Republican governor.