Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Official portrait, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States Senator from New Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office January 3, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Sununu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 78th Governor of New Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 9, 1997 – January 9, 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Steve Merrill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Craig Benson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of the New Hampshire Senate from the 21st district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office December 5, 1990 – December 4, 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Franklin Torr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Katie Wheeler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Cynthia Jeanne Bowers January 28, 1947 St. Charles, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Democratic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
William Shaheen (m. 1972) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Shippensburg University (BA) University of Mississippi (MSS) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Senate website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen (/ˈdʒiːn ʃəˈhiːn/ JEEN shə-HEEN; 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 previously served from 1997 to 2003 as the 78th governor of New Hampshire. Shaheen is the first woman elected as both a governor and a U.S. senator, and the first woman elected 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 in 2020. On March 12, 2025, she announced that she would not seek reelection in 2026.
Since the death of Dianne Feinstein in 2023, Shaheen is the oldest female U.S. Senator.