New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced she will not seek reelection in a video posted to social media Wednesday morning.
The announcement from the 78-year-old senator came after the New Hampshire Democrat faced intense speculation about whether she would retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Shaheen’s retirement announcement will likely put the New Hampshire Senate seat in play during the 2026 midterms.
“Another one!” National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina said following Shaheen’s retirement announcement. “Shaheen’s retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing common-sense Republicans — and will do so again in 2026!”
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Republicans are favored to retain control of the chamber for at least another two years given their current 53-47 majority and potential flip opportunities in Georgia, Michigan and other competitive states such as New Hampshire.
Ties To Florida Retirement Haven
As rumors swirled around whether Shaheen would seek reelection, public records reveal that a trust linked to the longtime senator’s husband made multimillion-dollar acquisitions in a Florida retirement haven in 2024.
Multiple trusts managed by William Shaheen, the senator’s husband of more than five decades, put a house up for sale and acquired two additional properties totaling more than $3.5 million in Longboat Key, Florida, from March 2024 to November 2024, according to property records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Shaheen trusts own residences, including one in a “peaceful, quiet retirement community,” in a city where nearly 70% of the residents are 65 years of age or older, according to the latest census data. The region, roughly 1500 miles from New Hampshire, is one of the most popular destinations for retirees and snowbirds in the United States.
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A trust under William Shaheen’s name with the title Old Parchment Revocable Trust purchased a $2.18 million condo in a luxury building overlooking the Sarasota Bay on March 18, 2024, according to a DCNF review of property records.
Three days later, a different trust under his name incorporated as Al Bill Reliable Revocable Trust of 2019, listed a villa in a 55-plus community for sale on March 21, 2024. The villa in the retirement community stayed on the market for roughly 250 days, but was delisted less than three weeks after the Nov. 5 election. The property was still listed as being off the market at the time of writing.
The Al Bill trust acquired the property along the newly-named Gulf of America in August 2019 for $399,000 and it underwent renovations beginning in March 2023. The community is “tailored to meet the needs and preferences of its older residents and “designed with active seniors in mind,” according to realtor descriptions of the neighborhood.
A month later on April 25, 2024, the Old Parchment trust acquired another unit in the same condominium development tower for $1.385 million.
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A spokesperson for the senator did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment about the trust’s management of real estate in Longboat Key and whether the senator’s looming reelection decision influenced the trusts’ attempted sale and acquisitions.
Shaheen would have been 85 at the end of another six-year term in January 2033, making her older than all but one senator in the upper chamber today.
Voter Concern About Shaheen’s Age
New Hampshire voters are concerned about how Shaheen’s age would have impacted her ability to continue serving in the upper chamber, according to recent polling.
Roughly 60% of New Hampshire residents say they are concerned that Shaheen’s age would impact her ability to serve for a fourth term, according to a survey of 626 registered voters conducted by Praecones Analytica for NHJournal between Feb. 26 and March 1. Just over 16% of voters told the pollster they were “not concerned at all” about the senator’s age.
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes criticized Shaheen for considering a run for a fourth term in December.
“Democrats are not taking this [age] issue seriously, and they need to,” Hayes said during a Dec. 17 “All In with Chris Hayes” episode. “[T]his is nothing against Shaheen personally. But according to Pew Research Center polling from just last year, 79% of Americans support age limits for politicians in Washington.”
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Shaheen’s lackluster fundraising has also fueled speculation that New Hampshire’s senior senator could retire. She raised roughly $170,000 in the fourth quarter and ended 2024 with less than $1.5 million on hand.
Shaheen’s retirement announcement comes after Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Tina Smith of Minnesota announced they would not seek reelection.
Shaheen was expected to face a strong GOP challenger if she had decided to seek a fourth term. Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire’s 2014 Senate race, and former Republican Governor Chris Sununu have not ruled out running for the seat.
Sununu, who left office with a favorable approval rating, bests Shaheen by nearly ten points in a hypothetical matchup, according to the NH Journal poll.
Sununu told the Washington Times he is not closing the door on a potential run, calling Shaheen “very vulnerable and very beatable” in an interview published Tuesday.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
