Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire. A member of the Democratic Party, she served from 1997 to 2003 as the 78th governor of New Hampshire. Shaheen is the first woman elected both governor and a U.S. senator, and was the first elected female governor of New Hampshire.
After serving two terms in the New Hampshire Senate, Shaheen was elected governor in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and 2000. In 2002, she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate against Republican nominee John E. Sununu. She served as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics before resigning to run for the U.S. Senate again in the 2008 election, defeating Sununu in a rematch. She has been the dean of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation since 2011, when Senator Judd Gregg retired.
Shaheen became the first Democratic senator from New Hampshire since John A. Durkin. In 2014, she became the second Democrat from New Hampshire to be reelected to the Senate since Thomas J. McIntyre in 1972. She was reelected to a third term in 2020. Upon Dianne Feinstein's death in 2023, Shaheen became the oldest serving female U.S. senator. On March 12, 2025, she announced that she would not seek reelection in 2026.
Early life and education Jeanne Shaheen was born Cynthia Jeanne Bowers in St. Charles, Missouri, the daughter of Belle Ernestine (Stillings) and Ivan E. Bowers.
Shaheen graduated from high school in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in political science from the University of Mississippi. She taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she also taught school.
Early political career As a Democrat, she worked on several campaigns, including Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, and as the New Hampshire campaign manager for Gary Hart in 1984, before running for office in 1990, when she was elected to the state Senate for the 21st district. She was elected governor of New Hampshire in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and 2000.
In April 2005, Shaheen was named director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, succeeding former U.S. Representative and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman.
Governorship Shaheen's decision to run for New Hampshire governor followed the retirement of Republican Governor Steve Merrill. Her opponent in 1996 was Ovide M. Lamontagne, then chairman of the State Board of Education. Shaheen presented herself as a moderate. According to a PBS profile, she focused on education funding issues, and pledged to expand kindergarten. She defeated Lamontagne by 87,854 votes.. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
Shaheen was the first woman to be elected governor of New Hampshire. (She was not, however, the first woman to serve as New Hampshire's governor; Vesta M. Roy was acting governor from December 30, 1982, until January 6, 1983.)
In 1998, she was reelected by 112,296 votes.Shaheen survives heated Humphrey challenge. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
In both 1996 and 1998, Shaheen took a no-new-taxes pledge. After a court decision preventing education from being largely supported by local taxes, "her administration devised a plan that would have increased education spending and set a statewide property tax."The 'Live Free or Die' State in a Tough Spot on Taxes . Retrieved April 16, 2008.
Running for a third term in 2000, Shaheen refused to renew her no-new-taxes pledge, becoming the first New Hampshire governor in 38 years to win an election without making that pledge. Shaheen's preferred solution to the school-funding problem was not a broad-based tax but legalized video-gambling at state racetracks—a solution repeatedly rejected by the state legislature.Shaheen, N.H. lawmakers still face school issue. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
In 2001, Shaheen tried to implement a 2.5% sales tax, the first broad-based tariff of its kind in New Hampshire, which has never had a sales tax. The state legislature rejected her proposal. She also proposed an increase in the state's cigarette tax and a 4.5% capital gains tax.
Presidential politics
2000 During the 2000 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, Shaheen supported Al Gore, and her husband served as Gore's New Hampshire campaign manager. According to the New York Observer, the Shaheens were critical in helping Gore win a narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary over Bill Bradley.Dem. & GOP Primaries: New Hampshire. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
Gore added Shaheen to his short list of potential vice presidential nominees, which also included Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.. Retrieved April 16, 2008. Shaheen responded to speculation by stating she wasn't interested in the job. There has since been discussion over whether Gore would have won the election had he picked Shaheen as his running mate.
2004 After a short time teaching at Harvard University (and a fellowship in the Institute of Politics with former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift), Shaheen was named national chairperson of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign in September 2003.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2002
After three two-year terms as governor, Shaheen declined to run for a fourth, instead choosing to run for the U.S. Senate in 2002. Republican John E. Sununu defeated her by 19,751 votes. In an interview with the Concord Monitor, Shaheen attributed her loss in part to "discussion about the job that [she] did as governor." At that time, early Republican advertisements slammed her support for putting a sales tax on the ballot or faulted her for failing schools.
In June 2004, former Republican consultant Allen Raymond pleaded guilty to jamming the phone lines of the New Hampshire Democratic Party's 2002 get-out-the-vote operation; some believe this interference contributed to Shaheen's loss, including former Senator Bob Smith, whom Sununu had defeated in the Republican primary.. Retrieved April 16, 2008. In February 2005, a judge sentenced Raymond to five months in prison. Former state GOP executive director Charles McGee was sentenced to seven months for his role.
Raymond alleged that James Tobin, Northeast field director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, masterminded the plot. In December 2005, Tobin was convicted of two federal felonies arising from the phone-jamming and sentenced to ten months in prison, but his conviction was reversed on appeal. In October 2008, prosecutors filed two new felony indictments charging that Tobin lied to an FBI agent when he was interviewed in 2003 about his role in the phone-jamming case. These charges were summarily dismissed in 2009 after the federal judge in Maine's District Court found them motivated by "vindictive prosecution".
2008
In early July 2007, University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll found that even though Shaheen had not yet announced whether she would run for Senate, she would beat Sununu in the 2008 Senate race 54–38. By contrast, all the Democratic candidates already in the race trailed Sununu in polling.
In April 2007, Shaheen met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer about a Senate run. Both said she would have strong support from the DSCC if she ran. On September 14, 2007, Shaheen announced her candidacy.Shaheen to run for Senate . Retrieved April 16, 2008. On September 15, she formally launched her campaign at her home in Madbury, New Hampshire. On September 21, EMILY's List endorsed her campaign.
Shaheen defeated Sununu by 44,535 votes.
2014
Shaheen ran for reelection in 2014, facing former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.
In March 2014, Brown announced he was forming an exploratory committee to run against Shaheen. According to the Boston Herald, "Granite State Republicans are calling U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen a hypocrite for asking potential GOP challenger and former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to keep "outside" money out of the campaign while she fills the Democratic war chest on the West Coast".
In June 2014, WMUR reported that Shaheen had never released her tax returns in her 18 years of public service in New Hampshire. Shaheen said she would not rule out releasing her returns, but would like to see her opponent do so first.
She was endorsed again by Emily's List.
On election night, even as her party lost control of the Senate, Shaheen won reelection by 15,837 votes. As a measure of how Republican New Hampshire once was, Shaheen is only the second Democrat in the state's history to win two terms in the Senate.
2020
Shaheen was reelected in 2020 defeating Republican nominee Bryant "Corky" Messner by 124,549 votes. She is the first New Hampshire Democrat elected to three full terms in the Senate. The only other Democrat to be popularly elected more than once from New Hampshire, Thomas J. McIntyre (who held the seat Shaheen currently holds), served the remainder of Styles Bridges's last term before being elected to two terms in his own right.
Tenure
On January 3, 2009, Shaheen was sworn in to the United States Senate. As a senator, she has sponsored 288 bills, five of which have become law.
On January 6, 2021, Shaheen was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. She tweeted during the attack that she and her staff were safe and that "We will not be stopped from doing our Constitutional duty". The day after the attack, Shaheen called Trump "unfit for office" and said that she supported impeaching him and removing him from office.
In 2024, Shaheen was ranked among the top 10 most bipartisan senators.
On March 12, 2025, Shaheen announced in a press release that she would not seek reelection in the 2026 midterm elections. She stated "I ran for public office to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire. That purpose has never, and will never, change. But today, after careful consideration, I'm announcing that I made the difficult decision not to seek reelection to the Senate in 2026. It's just time." The announcement marked the beginning of a competitve race to fill the seat for which Shaheen had held since 2009. Congressman Chris Pappas announced he was considering a run for the seat, as was first-term Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander. Former Democratic Congresswoman Annie Kuster indicated she was exploring a possible run, but only if Pappas did not decide to. Chris Pappas ran and defeated Karishma Manzur in the Democratic primary in September 2026.
Committee assignments
Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Chair) Subcommittee on Defense Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Subcommittee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee on Seapower Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Committee on Small Business (chair) Select Committee on Ethics Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Caucus memberships Afterschool Caucuses Senate Taiwan Caucus Senate National Guard Caucus (co-chair) Rare Disease Caucus
Political positions Healthcare