Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire is the newest democrat in the Senate who announces her retirement instead of looking for re -election in the Midperms of 2026.
The Wednesday announcement by the former governor and three-time senator in an important Swing State in New England will make the efforts of the Democrats to regain control of the Senate of Republicans in the elections of the Republicans.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to give comments about reducing the costs of medicines on prescription, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday 22 October 2024, in Concord, NH (AP Photo/Steven Senne)) (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
“I ran to a public office to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire,” said Shaheen. “That goal is never and will never change. But today, after a careful consideration, I announce that I made the difficult decision not to request a re -election about the Senate in 2026.”
Shaheen, who turned 78 earlier this year, added that “it’s just time.”
There was intense speculation about or Shaheen, who won the elections for the first time to the Senate In 2008 and this year the first woman in history was one of the two top positions in the powerful Senate function relationship committee, a different term of office will look for.
Shaheen collected a meager $ 170,000 in the last fundraising quarter of 2024, which caused Buzz that the senator may not prepare for another re -election campaign. But sources in the political job of Shaheen noted that the senator did not emphasize fundraising in the fourth quarter of last year, including the last month of the 2024 presidential election.
Fox News confirmed that Shaheen had planned great fundraising before March 20 in Manchester, New Hampshire. There is not yet a word about whether that event has been canceled.
National Republicans see opportunities to turn the senate seat in New Hampshire from blue to red, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee had already led advertisements that Shaheen focus on its defense of USAID financing that the Trump Government offers.
Former Trump Ambassador Eyes Senate Return
Former Senator Scott Brown, the former Senator from Massachusetts who later lost closely to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 elections, is seriously considering a run of 2026, in a possible rematch against Shaheen.
Brown, who served as an American ambassador in Nieuw -Zeeland for four years during the first government of President Donald Trump, has been holding meetings with Republicans in New Hampshire for a few months and has met Gop functionaries in the capital of the country.
It is 15 years since the Republicans last won a senate election in New Hampshire, with Democrats who overcome the last four elections.
Republicans reversed four seats of the Senate in the Senate in last November elections to regain control of the House. They now control the Chamber and strive to expand their majority in 2026.
In addition to New Hampshire, De Gop focuses on the battlefield Michigan, where in January Democratic Senator Gary Peters announced that he would not seek re -election. Also on their 2026 Radar, Georgia, another important battlefield state, where Republicans consider the first term democratic senator Jon Ossoff as vulnerable.
Democratic senator Tina Smith of Minnesota announced last month that she would not offer a new term in the mid -terms of next year, giving the Gop hope that it might be competitive in the blue state.
But Republicans also play defense in the 2026 cycle.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Democrats are planning to surpass Maine leaning in the blue, where moderate Gop senator Susan Collins re-election is, as well as in BattreGound North Carolina, where Republican Senator Thom Tillis also rose in 2026.
