Early life, education, and pre-political career

Jeanne Shaheen was born Cynthia Jeanne Bowers in Saint Charles, Missouri, the daughter of Belle E. and Ivan E. Bowers. She is the wife of Lebanese-American attorney and political operative Bill Shaheen. They have three children. She graduated from high school in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in political science from the University of Mississippi. She taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she taught school and owned a store with her husband Bill Shaheen that sold used jewelry.

Early political career

A Democrat, she worked on several campaigns, including Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign, and as the New Hampshire campaign manager for Gary Hart in 1984, before running for office in 1990, when she was elected to the state Senate. In 1996, 1998 and 2000 she was elected governor of New Hampshire.

In April 2005, Shaheen was named director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, succeeding former U.S. Representative and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman.

Governor of New Hampshire

Shaheen's decision to run for New Hampshire Governor followed the retirement of Republican Governor Steve Merrill. Her opponent in 1996 was Ovide M. Lamontagne, then chairman of the State Board of Education. Shaheen presented herself as a moderate. According to a PBS profile, she focused on education funding issues, and pledged to expand kindergarten. She defeated Lamontagne by 57 to 40 percent.

In 1996, Shaheen was the first woman to be elected governor of New Hampshire. (She was not, however, the first woman to serve as New Hampshire's governor; Vesta M. Roy was acting governor from December 30, 1982 until January 6, 1983.)

In 1998, she was re-elected by a margin of 66 to 31 percent.

In both 1996 and 1998, Shaheen took a no-new-taxes pledge. After a court decision preventing education from being largely supported by local taxes, “her administration devised a plan that would have increased education spending and set a statewide property tax.”

Running for a third term in 2000, Shaheen refused to renew that no-new-taxes pledge, becoming the first New Hampshire governor in 38 years to win an election without making that pledge. Shaheen's preferred solution to the school-funding problem was not a broad-based tax but legalized video-gambling at state racetracks—a solution repeatedly rejected by the NH legislature.

In 2001 Shaheen tried to implement a 2.5 percent sales tax, the first broad-based tariff of its kind in history of New Hampshire. Unlike neighboring New England states New Hampshire does not have a sales tax. The state's legislature rejected her proposal. She also proposed an increase in the state's cigarette tax and a 4.5 percent capital gains tax.

Presidential politics

2000

During the 2000 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, Governor Shaheen expressed support for Al Gore and her husband Bill Shaheen served as Gore's New Hampshire campaign manager. According to the New York Observer, the Shaheens were critical in helping Gore win a narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary over Bill Bradley.

Gore added Jeanne Shaheen to his short list of potential vice presidential nominees, which also included Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, then-North Carolina Senator John Edwards, then-House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. Shaheen responded to speculation about being selected by stating she wasn’t interested in taking the job.

2004

After a short time teaching at Harvard University (and a fellowship in the Institute of Politics with former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift), she was named national chairperson of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign in September 2003.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2002

Main article: United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2002

After she was elected to three two-year terms as Governor, Shaheen declined to run for a fourth term, instead choosing to run for the U.S. Senate in 2002. She was defeated by Republican John E. Sununu, by a 51 percent to 47 percent margin (19,751 votes). In a recent interview with the Concord Monitor, Shaheen attributed her loss in part to "discussion about the job that did as governor." At that time, early Republican advertisements slammed her support for putting a sales tax on the ballot or faulted her for failing schools.

In June 2004, former Republican consultant Allen Raymond pleaded guilty to jamming Democratic Party lines set up to get New Hampshire Democrats to the polls in 2002, an action that some (most notably former Senator Bob Smith, whom Sununu had defeated in the Republican primary) believe may have contributed to Shaheen's narrow loss. A judge sentenced Raymond to five months in jail in February 2005. Charles McGee, the former state GOP executive director, was sentenced to seven months for his role.

Raymond alleged that James Tobin, Northeast field director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, masterminded the plot. In December 2005, Tobin was convicted of two federal felonies arising from the phone-jamming and sentenced to ten months in prison but that conviction was reversed after Tobin's lawyers appealed. In October 2008, prosecutors filed two new felony indictments which charged that James Tobin lied to a FBI agent when he was interviewed in 2003 about his role in the phone-jamming case. These subsequent charges were summarily dismissed in 2009 after the federal judge in Maine's District Court found them motivated by 'vindictive prosecution.'

The race was the first time two candidates with Lebanese-American families, although Shaheen herself is not Lebanese-American, have squared off in a Senate race.

2008

Main article: United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2008

In early July 2007 through UNH, CNN and WMUR put out a poll regarding the New Hampshire 2008 Senate race. The poll showed that Shaheen would beat Sununu in a race (54-38). Other Democratic candidates did not have this type of lead, which led many to believe Shaheen would be the right choice to beat Sununu in 2008.

In April 2007, Shaheen met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-New York) about a possible US Senate run. The Senators both said that she would have strong support from the DSCC if she ran. On September 14, 2007, Shaheen announced that she intended to run for the Senate against Sununu. On September 15, 2007, she formally launched her US Senate bid at her home in Madbury, New Hampshire. Six days later, on September 21, EMILY's List endorsed her campaign.

Shaheen defeated Sununu 52% to 45% (44,535 votes).

2014

Main article: United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2014

Shaheen ran for re-election to a second term in 2014, facing former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

In March 2014, Brown announced he was forming an exploratory committee to run against Shaheen. According to the Boston Herald, "Granite State Republicans are calling U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen a hypocrite for asking potential GOP challenger and former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to keep “outside” money out of the campaign while she fills the Democratic war chest on the West Coast". During the campaign, Brown criticized Shaheen for being a "rubber stamp" for President Obama and for failing to represent the best interests of New Hampshire voters.

In June 2014, WMUR reported that Shaheen had never released her tax returns in her 18 years of public service in New Hampshire. Shaheen said she would not rule out releasing her returns, but would like to see her opponent do so first.

She was endorsed again by Emily’s List.

On election night, even as her party lost control of the Senate, Shaheen won reelection with 51 percent of the vote to Brown's 48 percent. As a measure of how Republican New Hampshire once was, Shaheen is only the second Democrat in the state's history to win two terms in the Senate.

Tenure

On January 6, 2009, Shaheen was sworn into the United States Senate.

Health care

In 2009, Shaheen partnered with U.S. Senator Susan Collins to introduce the Medicare Transitional Care Act, which provides follow-up care for discharged hospital patients in order to reduce the need for re-hospitalizations. The bill passed in 2010, and research at the University of Pennsylvania predicts the measure will lower the cost of health care by as much as $5,000 per Medicare beneficiary while also improving health care quality and reducing re-hospitalizations.

In December 2009, Shaheen voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA; commonly called ObamaCare or the Affordable Care Act).

In advance of the roll-out of the PPACA, Shaheen said that people who liked their current health care plans could keep them. When asked about individuals who were losing their health care plans due to the PPACA, Shaheen said people could keep their health care plans if they were "willing to pay more."

Shaheen has sponsored numerous bills relating to diabetes, including gestational diabetes, that would, among other things, improve and increase access to diabetes education, increase access to diabetes medicine, and increase funding for diabetes research.

Fiscal

On October 11, 2011, Shaheen voted to proceed with a proposed bill which included $446 billion in spending on infrastructure and schools and provided funding for state and local governments, as well as an extension of the payroll tax deduction. The spending would have been paid for by a 5.6 percent surtax on incomes above $1 million. The bill failed to obtain cloture.

Shaheen used an earmark in a large appropriations bill to restore funding for a federal prison in Berlin, NH, despite a $276 million recommended cut.

Gun control

On April 17, 2013, Shaheen voted for the Manchin-Toomey Amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases.

Energy

Following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Shaheen proposed abolishing the Minerals Management Service, the U.S. government agency tasked with regulating offshore drilling, arguing that reform had been insufficient and that a new agency was needed. Shaheen also proposed legislation giving the President's bipartisan BP Oil Spill Commission subpoena power in their investigation. She has argued that subpoena power is necessary to avoid another such disaster, emphasizing the spill's economic costs to the Gulf Coast region and the economy as a whole.

On April 28, 2014, Shaheen introduced the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014 (S. 2262; 113th Congress), a bill that is intended to improve efficient energy use in the United States.

Iraq war

In 2002, when Shaheen narrowly lost to Sununu, both supported "regime change" for Iraq.

Shaheen said that she came to supporting the policy of removing Saddam Hussein from power after meeting with former Clinton-administration National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. According to the Concord Monitor and Associated Press, the issue was a minor one in the race.

Shaheen later questioned George W. Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq. In September 2004 she said

“George (W.) Bush has taken us in the wrong direction. He misled us into war in Iraq. That war has not made us safer and more secure at home… You know, we have not stabilized Afghanistan. We have not stabilized Iraq. There is no plan to win the peace.”

On July 28, 2004, while serving as Chair of the Kerry-Edwards Campaign, Gov. Shaheen answered questions about her prior support of the Iraq war during an interview on C-SPAN.

"George (W.) Bush said that the reason we needed to go to war in Iraq, the reason we needed to remove Saddam Hussein was because he had weapons of mass destruction, weapons that could be used against this country, because he had ties to al Qaeda and the terrorists who were responsible for the Sept 11 tragedy.

What we know now and what George Bush and Dick Cheney have admitted is that in fact Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction…. The links to al Qaeda that the president talked about were not there…. While I appreciate that there was an effort to make people in this county think that … the fact is that’s not true."

LGBT rights

Shaheen initially opposed same-sex marriage as governor of New Hampshire. In 2009, however, she came out in favor of the legislative enactment of marriage for same-sex couples, and became a sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. She also voted in favor of the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell, and supports government recognition of same-sex spouses of military and other government personnel.

Legislation

As a Senator, Shaheen has sponsored 87 bills, including:

111th Congress (2009-2010)

• S. 239, a bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that veterans have access to at least one full-service hospital for veterans in their state or to a comparable non-VA full-service hospital, introduced January 14, 2009, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as S. 910 and in the 113th Congress as S. 49
• S. 1295, a bill to include transitional services following hospital discharges to be covered under Medicare Part B, introduced June 18, 2009
• S. 1576, a bill to establish a program to provide incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on private forests through increasing carbon sequestration and reducing deforestation, introduced August 4, 2009. Provisions similar to this bill were included in the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
• S. 1778, a bill to allow for the approval of generic drugs if the labeling of such drugs meets certain requirements, introduced October 14, 2009
• S. 2808, a bill to increase the allowable loan amount from the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Express Loan Program from $350,000 to $1 million and increase from 50% to 75% the maximum amount of such loans that can be guaranteed by SBA, introduced November 20, 2009
• S. 3188, a bill to allow for a 30% tax credit for installing biomass heating property before a certain date, introduced March 25, 2010
• S. 3732, a bill to create a competitive grant program to fund education for STEM fields, support participation in STEM student competitions, and broaden access to STEM careers, introduced August 5, 2010, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as S. 716 and in the 113th Congress as S. 1067. Shaheen introduced a similar bill, S. 2543, with a focus on afterschool STEM activities, in the 113th Congress.
• S. 3780, a bill to provide credit support for debt incurred through installing efficiency or renewable energy measures in commercial, industrial, municipal, university, school, and hospital facilities, introduced September 14, 2010

112th Congress (2011-2012)

• S. 25, a bill to eliminate non-recourse support loans for sugar producers, to gradually lower loan rates for sugarcane and sugar beets to zero, to eliminate sugar price supports, and to increase tariff-rate quotas for sugar crops and refined sugars, introduced January 25, 2011. Shaheen introduced a similar bill, S. 345, in the 113th Congress.
• S. 3618, a bill to prohibit the exclusion of U.S. citizens from serving as a juror simply because of their sexual orientation, introduced September 21, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as S. 38

113th Congress (2013-2014)

• S. 373, a bill to consider a military spouse as such if the marriage of the spouse is considered legally valid in the state in which the spouses married, introduced February 14, 2013
• S. 722, a bill to require the Internal Revenue Service to offer pre-prepared tax returns to as many taxpayers as possible by 2018, introduced April 15, 2013
• S. 1021, a bill to advance nuclear non-proliferation programs and agreements in the Middle East and North Africa, introduced May 22, 2013
• S. 1042, a bill to require VA to provide up to $1 million in financial aid to any university law school program designed to provide legal support to veterans, introduced May 23, 2013
• S. 1820, a bill to prohibit federal funds from being used to produce portraits of members of Congress and heads of executive and legislative agencies, introduced December 12, 2013
• S. 1844, a bill to repeal the provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 that reduces the cost-of-living adjustment to the retirement pay of veterans, and to treat foreign corporations that are subsidiaries as U.S. corporations for tax purposes if the corporation's stock is regularly traded in an exchange and the gross assets of the corporation exceed $50 million, introduced December 17, 2013
• S. 2063, a bill to establish a program to assist states to rehabilitate or replace bridges found to be structurally deficient, functionally obsolete, or fracture critical, introduced February 27, 2014
• S. 2078, a bill to prohibit the Department of Transportation from providing grants to programs that check motorcycle helmet use or create checkpoints specifically intended for motorcyclists, introduced March 5, 2014
• S. 2138, a bill to reduce the employment tax by 50% for wages paid to veterans, introduced March 13, 2014
• S. 2143, a bill to prohibit the SBA from assessing a guarantee fee on express loans given to veterans, introduced March 13, 2014
• S. 2298, a bill to require National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands to be accessible for veterans with service-related disabilities, introduced May 7, 2014
• S. 2329, a bill to block financial, logistical, and military support for Hezbollah, introduced May 13, 2014
• S. 2565, a bill to expand the child care tax credit and increase the threshold at which the credit is reduced, introduced July 8, 2014
• S. 2687, a bill to include contraception as care covered by TRICARE for all people covered by the program, and to prohibit cost-sharing from being imposed on such contraception, introduced July 30, 2014

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
  • Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
  • Subcommittee on Seapower
• Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Subcommittee on European Affairs (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues
  • Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Ranking Member)
• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Electoral history

U.S. Senate (Class II) elections in New Hampshire: Results 2002-2008

Year		Democratic	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
2002		Jeanne Shaheen	207,478	46%		John E. Sununu	227,229	51%		Ken Blevens	Libertarian	9,835	2%		Bob Smith	Write-in	2,396	1%	*
2008		Jeanne Shaheen	358,947	52%		John E. Sununu	314,412	45%		Ken Blevens	Libertarian	21,381	3%
2014		Jeanne Shaheen	251,184	51%		Scott Brown	235,347	48%

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2002, write-ins received 197 votes.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]