New Hampshire Senate: Shaheen Retirement Creates Open Seat
March 13, 2025 · 10:58 AM EDT
New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen will not run for a fourth term, complicating her party’s already difficult path back to the Senate majority next year.
While New Hampshire was already on the Senate battleground, Shaheen’s decision could set off a prolonged and difficult primary between several prominent Democrats and entice stronger GOP recruits into the race than if she had run for re-election.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to regain control of the chamber, and with so few offensive opportunities they cannot afford to lose any of the states they already hold.
Shaheen, 78, is an institution in the Granite State, serving three two-year terms as governor before winning her first Senate race in 2008.
New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries in the nation, just two months before Election Day (there is a nascent effort in the state legislature to move up the primary).
Shaheen’s exit could draw any number of prominent Democrats and Republicans into the Senate race.
On the Democratic side, both members of the House delegation are considering bids. Rep. Chris Pappas, whose 1st District is the more competitive of the two, has long had statewide ambitions. But new Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who has deep ties to the state’s political establishment, has signaled interest in running as well.
Former Rep. Annie Kuster, who held Goodlander’s seat from 2013 to 2025, also put her name into contention if Pappas doesn’t run — even though she bowed out of politics last year at age 68.
On the Republican side, the initial focus will once again be on former Gov. Chris Sununu, who won four two-year terms from 2016 through 2022 and regularly appealed to independent and Democratic voters. Sununu passed up a Senate bid against Democrat Maggie Hassan in 2022 despite a massive recruitment push from Senate Republicans.
Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is another potential candidate. The former New Zealand Ambassador ran against Shaheen in 2012, just two years after losing his Bay State seat, and came within 3 points of beating her. He was spotted on Capitol Hill this week.
In a midterm with a Republican president in the White House, Democrats will more likely than not have the national environment in their favor. And New Hampshire has leaned the lightest shade of blue at the federal level since 2010 — the last time Republicans won a Senate race in the state. Democrats have a 2.3-point advantage in the state, according to Inside Elections Baseline.
But Granite Staters pride themselves on their independence and split tickets to a greater degree than many other states. A Sununu bid would make this seat highly competitive and one Senate Democrats cannot ignore in their quest to reclaim the majority.