If Granite State progressives finally have a breakout election in 2026, they should send a thank-you note to U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Carol Shea-Porter stunned the Democratic Party by running as a left-wing candidate and riding anger over the Iraq War all the way to Congress. Since then, the “smother progressive candidates in the crib” strategy of state Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley and his allies has worked like a charm, particularly at the federal level.
Granite State Democrats may vote for Bernie Sanders in the presidential primaries, but it’s the Joe Biden Democrats who win the statewide races. Even establishment mediocrities like Joyce Craig and Dan Feltes carry the day.
Could the Shaheen Shutdown Sellout reverse the progressive curse?
When Shaheen told a Democratic fundraising dinner Friday that “nobody wants to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits more than me,” she was asking for trouble. After all, she wasn’t just one of the eight Democrats who crossed the aisle to end the filibuster — she was the leader of the pack.
But that came after 40 days of Shaheen insisting there could be no deal without Republicans agreeing to extend the “emergency” Obamacare subsidies. Fourteen times she voted, “No ACA, no deal.”
Then she took the Spaulding-from-“Caddyshack” deal: “You’ll get nothing and like it!”
So, is it really a surprise that when Shaheen lectured the crowd about her commitment to the cause, someone shouted, “Then why did you vote for it (ending the shutdown)?”
Shaheen could have given a Bill Clinton-style response and explained her vote in a way people could embrace.
Instead, she gave the John Kerry answer: Do you know who I am?
“You look at our record, and you tell me what you’ve done to protect the healthcare of Americans, and it’s not even close to what we’ve done,” Shaheen shouted at the heckler.
He turned out to be state Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford), who has made healthcare the centerpiece of his campaign in the NH-01 Democratic primary. Howard suffered a major health crisis as a teenager and needs crutches to walk. As he told WMUR afterward, “This is my life. This is extremely personal to me, and it’s something where healthcare is a human right.”
That’s who Shaheen shouted down.
And while the crowd at the Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner cheered her response, Shaheen’s position remains unpopular. Every Democratic candidate for federal office in New Hampshire has decried her and Sen. Maggie Hassan’s decision to cave on the shutdown — including Shaheen’s own daughter.
Stefany Shaheen, who’s running for the Democratic nomination in NH-01, told WMUR’s Adam Sexton on Sunday that her mother made the wrong decision. So she believes the government should still be shut down today?
“I think the situation with the shutdown was untenable,” she told Sexton.
So it’s untenable, and it must continue? Yes.
The same goes for Maura Sullivan, the Iraq War veteran and another leading candidate in the race.
“I have great respect for the senators (Hassan and Shaheen),” Sullivan said on WMUR. “But I didn’t serve in the Marines in Fallujah to back down, or to watch leaders back down, when health care for over 5 million Americans is at stake.”
When Sexton asked her about the chaos that would be happening right now if the shutdown continued, Sullivan said, “This was a decision between two really bad options. But we can never back down on healthcare.”
Christian Urrutia, another candidate in the primary who supports Medicare for All, released a video for dinner attendees accusing Shaheen of “betraying” her supporters and “abandoning the fight for ACA subsidies.”
And then there’s Howard, who posted an X-ray image of his spine — metal rods and all — next to a box of wet noodles.
“The first photo shows my spine,” he told Shaheen. “The second represents yours. I will never back down when it comes to healthcare.”
That’s a lot of energy pulsing through the progressive base. It could all dissipate between now and next September’s primaries. The establishment candidates with lots of cash and family connections — Pappas, Shaheen, Tamposi Goodlander — could do what they always do in New Hampshire and win their party’s nominations.
Or it could be another Shea-Porter summer in 2026.
