Punchbowl News, the DC-insider media outlet, reported Thursday that U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) “is expected to announce this month whether she’s seeking another term in the Senate.”
Shaheen, 78, is the only incumbent senator in a 2026 swing seat who has not yet announced whether or not she is running for reelection. In her previous two reelection bids, the Granite State’s senior senator had already announced she was running at this point in the cycle.
Shaheen “is keeping Democrats in the Granite State and Washington in the dark on her decision to run again,” Punchbowl reported. She told the outlet she hasn’t come to a reelection decision yet, and she will make the decision the way she always does: “By talking to friends, family and supporters and thinking about the challenges we face.”
A NHJournal/Praecones Analytica poll released Monday found more than 60 percent of Granite Staters are concerned about Shaheen’s age impacting her ability to effectively represent New Hampshire for another six-year term. (Shaheen would be three weeks shy of 86 at the end of a fourth term in office.)
The poll also found that, while she currently holds a ten-point lead over her most likely GOP challenger, former ambassador and U.S. Senator Scott Brown, she’s trailing former Gov. Chris Sununu by nine points in a theoretical match-up.
Sununu has repeatedly insisted he has no interest in serving in the U.S. Senate.
National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has New Hampshire on his potential pick-up list for 2026, and the NRSC has already run ads targeting Shaheen. At the same time, Republicans acknowledge winning a U.S. Senate race in the Granite State is an uphill climb. Republicans have only won one federal election in the Granite State since 2010.
The debate among Granite State GOP insiders is whether Shaheen choosing to run again is good news or bad for the party’s prospects. Shaheen is popular and has been a fixture in Granite State politics since the 1990s, and her “Republicans for Shaheen” endorsement list is always a long one.
At the same time, a traditionally partisan “Republican vs. Democrat” race is almost certainly a loser for the GOP. If Shaheen runs, the issue of her age and ability to serve until 2033 could eclipse the partisan divide.
Granite State insiders who work on both sides of the aisle tell NHJournal on background they believe Shaheen is going to run again. They point to the recent surge in her social media messaging, and her aggressive anti-Trump rhetoric, as signs she’s ramping up for another run.
At the same time, she’s embraced policies that polls show are wildly unpopular with voters, including her outspoken support for foreign aid spending, her adamant defense of USAID and UNRWA, and her backing of a filibuster to block a vote on a bill to protect girls sports from male athletes.
The NRSC called Shaheen out over her opposition to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which polls show a majority of Granite Staters support.
“Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) AGAIN voted against banning biological men from competing in women’s sports,” the NRSC said in a statement. “Shaheen opposed similar legislation last year. This vote shows she would rather stand with out-of-touch activists in Washington and Hollywood than New Hampshire families.
“Jeanne Shaheen told parents and their daughters that Democrats believe they must play sports and share locker rooms and bathrooms with biological males,” added NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia.
