New Hampshire
Senator Jeanne Shaheen Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, elected in 2008, is New Hampshire s senior senator and the first woman in U.S. history to be elected both a governor and a senator. Shaheen grew up in St. Charles County, Mo., north of St. Louis, and graduated from Shippensburg College in Pennsylvania. She got a master s degree at the University of Mississippi. She moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she worked as a teacher and ran a silver and leather business with her husband, attorney William Shaheen. A polished member of her party who once taught a university course on how elected officials can overcome partisanship, she has sought to build coalitions by reaching across the aisle. Shaheen was elected in 1990 to the state Senate, where she supported expanded health care coverage and term limits on federal and state legislators. In 1996, she ran for governor. Shaheen took a pledge to oppose an income or sales tax and won the general election 57%-39%, carrying every county. She was able to mobilize enough Democratic support to fend off a tough challenge in 2014 from ex-massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown. In the Senate, Shaheen has been a reliable Democrat and she has a good relationship with President Obama, serving as one of his 2012 campaign co-chairs. Though she stays on message and refrains from headline-grabbing sound bites, she did provoke some attention in January 2013 when she called the lack of women in Obama s second-term Cabinet up to that point disappointing. Currently: Senator, NH Elected: 2008 Education: Shippensburg Col., B.A., 1969; U. of MS, M.A., 1973 Religion: Protestant Family: Married (Bill), 3, 7 grand Contact: (202) 224-2841 506 Hart Senate Office Washington, DC 20510 Called for extended ACA open-enrollment Supports energy efficiency initiatives and improved responses to oil spills Called for switching to a 2-year budget cycle Senate Committee on Appropriations Senate Committee on Armed Services Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Senate Committee on Ethics 2014 General Jeanne Shaheen (D) Votes: 251,184 Percent: 52.0% Scott Brown (R) Votes: 235,347 Percent: 48.0% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.
Senator Maggie Hassan Maggie Hassan, born February 27, 1958, ran for Senate while she was the governor of New Hampshire. She grew up in the Boston suburbs before acquiring degrees from Brown and Northeastern. Before entering public service, she was an information officer for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and worked as an attorney for Brigham and Women s Hospital. After an unsuccessful bid in 2002, Hassan was elected to the New Hampshire State Senate in 2004, where she served as majority leader and president pro tempore. As governor, Hassan signed the bill to legalize marijuana for qualified patients. In the 2016 campaign attacked her Senate opponent Kelly Ayotte (R) by linking her to Trump. Hassan ran on a platform of fighting the opioid crisis, investing in education and promoting green energy. She is married with two, one of whom experiences severe disabilities, and currently she resides in Newfields, New Hampshire. Currently: Senator, NH Elected: 2016 Education: Brown U., B.A., 1980; Northeastern U., J.D., 1985 Religion: United Church of Christ Family: Married (Tom), 2 Contact: (202) 224-3324 330 Hart Senate Office Washington, DC 20510 Supports LGBT equality Supports President Obama s Clean Power Plan Opposes the absolute right to gun ownership Supports government funding for Planned Parenthood Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Joint Committee on Economics Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Research, 2017. Maggie Hassan (D) Votes: 354,649 Percent: 48.0% Kelly Ayotte (R) Votes: 353,632 Percent: 47.9%
Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter Carol Shea-Porter was born on December 2, 1952 in New York City and is a direct descendant of John Stark, a general in the Continental Army who coined the term live free or die, which is now New Hampshire s motto. She grew up in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in social services and a master s in public administration. Before getting involved in politics she worked as a social worker and community college instructor and lived in Colorado, Louisiana and Maryland. In 2004 she worked for General Wesley Clark s presidential campaign and volunteered for John Kerry s presidential run. Shea-Porter became the first woman to represent New Hampshire in the House of Representatives when she was elected in the 1st district in 2006. She lost her seat to Frank Guinta, the then mayor of Manchester, in 2010, but regained it narrowly in 2012. She lost the seat again to Guinta in 2014 by four points. She most recently regained the seat in the 2016 election. Currently: Representative, NH-01 Elected: 2016 Education: U. of NH, B.A., 1975, M.A., 1979 Religion: Roman Catholic Family: Married (Gene), 2 Contact: (202) 225-5456 1530 Longworth House Office Washington, DC 20515 Strongly favors expanding Obamacare Pro-choice Favors higher taxes on the wealthy Favors legalization of marijuana Strongly opposes the idea that stricter punishment reduces crime Opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline Opposes military expansion House Committee on Education and the Workforce House Committee on Armed Services Carol Shea-Porter (D) Votes: 162,080 Percent: 44.3% Frank Guinta (R) Votes: 157,176 Percent: 43.0% Sources: Sheaporter.com; Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017.
Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster Democrat Ann McLane Kuster was born in Concord and is part of a prominent political family in the Granite State. Her great-grandfather John McLane served as governor of New Hampshire from 1905 to 1907, while her father, Malcolm McLane, was mayor of Concord and an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate in 1972. Her mother, Susan McLane, was a Republican state legislator for 25 years. When Kuster was 16, she worked on the failed 1972 presidential campaign of Rep. Pete McCloskey, R-Calif., an anti-vietnam War candidate who challenged President Nixon. Kuster later graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978 and worked in McCloskey s Washington office for three years. During that time, she specialized in foreign policy and traveled to South Africa, where the apartheid system was still in place, and to newly independent Zimbabwe. In 2010, Kuster faced off against Republican Charlie Bass. She was definitely the underdog in a strong year for Republicans. She criticized his role in securing tax rebates for wood-pellet stove buyers before investing in a wood-pellet stove company himself, New England Wood Pellet. Bass denied any wrongdoing, but the issue gave her momentum. Bass eked out the victory with 48% of the vote to Kuster s 47%.In 2012, Kuster ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the fall campaign this time around, Kuster had a more favorable political climate, as the strength of the antigovernment tea party receded. She won, 50% to 45%. Currently: Representative, NH-02 Elected: 2012 Education: Dartmouth Col., B.A., 1978; Georgetown U., J.D., 1984 Religion: Christian Family: Married (Brad), 2 Contact: (202) 225-5206 137 Cannon House Office Washington, DC 20515 Favors strengthening and expanding Obamacare Pro-choice on abortion issues Opposes expanding free trade House Committee on Veterans Affairs House Committee on Agriculture Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017. Ann McLane Kuster (D) Votes: 174,371 Percent: 49.8% Jim Lawrence (R) Votes: 158,825 Percent: 45.3%