Shaheen, Jeanne, 1947-

SHAHEEN, Jeanne, a Senator from New Hampshire; born in St. Charles, Mo., January 28, 1947; B.A., Shippensburg State College, Shippensburg, Penn., 1969; M.S.S., University of Mississippi, 1973; New Hampshire State senator, 1990-1996; governor of New Hampshire, 1997-2003; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 2002; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 2008; reelected in 2014, and again in 2020 for the term ending January 3, 2027.

<p>The first woman in U.S. history to be elected both a Governor and a United States Senator, New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen is a trailblazer with a reputation for working across the aisle to get things done. She is committed to serving the citizens of New Hampshire and is known for her common-sense leadership, hard work and dedication to improving the lives of the middle class. She has served in the Senate since 2009 and is a member of the Senate Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Select Committee on Ethics.</p>

<p>As a former small business owner, Senator Shaheen knows how tough it can be for entrepreneurs, who often operate on razor thin profit margins. On the Small Business Committee, she’s expanded small businesses’ access to credit and markets. Her annual Experience New Hampshire event in Washington, D.C., gives New Hampshire businesses a forum to showcase their products and services to policymakers and government officials. Shaheen continues to lead efforts in the Senate to protect New Hampshire businesses from having to unfairly collect internet sales taxes for other states.</p>

<p>Shaheen was born in Saint Charles, Missouri. Her father worked his way up to a management position in a shoe factory and her mother worked as a secretary in their local church. After attending public schools, Shaheen received a bachelor's degree from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and a master's degree from the University of Mississippi. She and her husband, Bill, live in Madbury and have three daughters, Stefany, Stacey and Molly, and seven grandchildren.</p>

<p>University of Mississippi alumni, who have reached the governor's mansion in Jackson numerous times, took a giant leap 1,000 miles north last week with an Ole Miss graduate who was elected New Hampshire's first woman governor.</p>

<p>Jeanne Shaheen, who defeated her Republican opponent with 57 percent of the vote to become the state's first Democratic chief executive in 16 years, credited her experiences at Ole Miss for helping shape a campaign agenda with a greater emphasis on higher education.</p>

<p>Shaheen, 49, was born in St. Charles, Mo., and lived in Sikeston, Mo., south of Cape Girardeau.</p>

<p>Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen (née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first female U.S. senator in New Hampshire's history, the first elected female governor of New Hampshire and the first woman elected as both a governor and a U.S. senator, with the junior senator from New Hampshire and former governor of the state Maggie Hassan being the second woman to have occupied both of those roles.</p>

<p>After serving two terms in the New Hampshire Senate, Shaheen was elected governor in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and 2000. In 2002, she ran for the United States Senate unsuccessfully against Republican nominee John E. Sununu. She served as Director of the Harvard Institute of Politics before resigning to run for the U.S. Senate again in the 2008 election, defeating Sununu in a rematch. She is the dean of New Hampshire's congressional delegation, serving in Congress since 2009.</p>

<p>Shaheen became the first Democratic senator from New Hampshire since John A. Durkin, who was defeated in 1980. In 2014, she became the second Democrat from New Hampshire to be reelected to the U.S. Senate and the first since Thomas J. McIntyre in 1972. She was reelected to a third term in 2020 over Republican Corky Messner.</p>