U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen is New Hampshire’s senior senator — and a senior citizen. And it’s the latter aspect of her likely 2026 re-election bid that’s getting attention from Democrats and pundits.
Shaheen was born in St. Charles, Mo., in 1947, and if, as expected, she seeks a New Hampshire record fourth term in the Senate, she would be 85 years old when she finished her service.
It’s a fact that even has liberals at MSNBC taking note.
“Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has said she’s undecided if she will run for another six-year term in 2026, when she will be 79 years old,” said MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “And again, this is nothing against Shaheen personally. But according to Pew Research Center polling from just last year, 79 percent of Americans support age limits for politicians in Washington.
“That is an overwhelming majority in our polarized environment. Seventy-nine percent of Americans don’t typically agree on anything these days, but they agree on this. Democrats should listen,” Hayes added.
And while she didn’t mention Shaheen by name, outgoing U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s slam of members of Congress “who just stay forever” hit close to home in the Granite State.
“I’m trying to set a better example,” the Second Congressional District Democrat told the Boston Globe regarding her decision to walk away from a safe New Hampshire seat. “I think there are colleagues — and some of whom are still very successful and very productive — but others who just stay forever.”
In an interview with Roll Call, Kuster said, “I’ve always said I wasn’t going to stay forever. Congress, by being so focused on seniority, tends to cater to a much older population.”
The average age of a U.S. Senator is 64. Only eight of the 100 members are older than Shaheen. (Iowa Republican Charles Grassley is the oldest member at 91.)
Shaheen, who is about to become the first woman to serve as ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has pointedly refused to answer questions about her future plans. Granite State insiders are split on their predictions about whether she’ll run again, though the current view is that it’s more likely than not.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she told Semafor in a recent interview.
And Paul Steinhauser at the Concord Monitor wrote, “A handful of veteran New Hampshire-based Democratic strategists that the Monitor spoke with all expected that Shaheen would likely seek re-election one more time but added that they didn’t think she had 100% made up her mind at this point. One thought that the senator was ‘likely doing some soul searching.’”
If she does, Shaheen’s leading GOP challenger is former Ambassador (and Massachusetts U.S. Senator) Scott Brown, who she narrowly defeated in 2014. The incoming head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has already named New Hampshire one of the top three targets, along with Georgia and Michigan.
