Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s announcement that she won’t seek re-election next year marks the beginning of the end of a long and successful career of the first woman in American politics to win office both as a governor and as a U.S. senator.

The development will also further complicate the Democratic Party’s hopes of regaining control of the Senate majority from the Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

But in the Granite State, Shaheen’s news ignites what will likely be a competitive race to succeed her in the Senate.

Noting that Shaheen is “a New Hampshire institution,” veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of Henniker-based New England College, emphasized that “her decision to not seek reelection creates something rare in politics – a wide-open seat. Candidates who would otherwise have avoided taking on Senator Shaheen are filled with new hope. Look for a crowded field to emerge.”

And Neil Levesque, the longtime executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, offered that “it’s a good thing that New Hampshire’s state sport is politics, because it’s about to get extremely active.”

Shaheen unveiled her news in a video statement, saying that “after careful consideration, I am announcing that I have made the difficult decision not to seek re-election to the Senate in 2026.”

Shaheen, who turned 78 earlier this year, added that “it’s just time.”

It has been 15 years since Republicans last won a U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire, with Democrats victorious in the past four elections.

National Democrats vow to keep the seat blue.

“No Republican has won a Senate race in over a decade in New Hampshire, and that trend will continue in 2026. This is exactly the kind of state where the building midterm backlash against Republicans will hit their candidates especially hard,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson David Bergstein said in a statement.

But the GOP sees opportunities to flip the Senate seat in New Hampshire from blue to red, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) had already run ads targeting Shaheen over her defense of USAID funding that President Donald Trump’s administration is axing.

“Another one! Shaheen’s retirement is welcome news for Granite Staters eager for new leadership. New Hampshire has a proud tradition of electing common-sense Republicans – and will do so again in 2026,!” Sen. Tim Scott, the NRSC chair, said in a statement.

In the race to succeed Shaheen, all eyes will now be on four-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas to see if he launches a Senate campaign. Pappas, whose family owns and operates an iconic restaurant and conference center in Manchester – the state’s largest city – was first elected to Congress in 2018 to represent the state’s First District.

A person with knowledge of Pappas’s thinking confirmed to the Monitor that the congressman is considering a Senate run to succeed Shaheen.

Pappas, in a social media post, praised Shaheen as a “trailblazer who has worked every day to put New Hampshire first and make a difference for our families, community, and economy. Thank you for always leading with integrity, determination and effectiveness for our state and nation.”

Former Democratic Rep. Ann Kuster, who retired from the House at the beginning of this year after a dozen years representing New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District – which includes Concord – told reporters that she would “take a serious look” at running for the Senate if Pappas decides against launching a campaign.

Also considering a Senate run, according to a source familiar, is Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who won election to Congress last November and succeeded Kuster in the Second District.

In the race for the Republican nomination, Scott Brown, the former U.S. senator from Massachusetts who later narrowly lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire’s 2014 Senate election, is seriously considering a 2026 run.

Brown, who served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first administration, has been holding meetings with Republicans across New Hampshire for the past few months and has met multiple times with GOP officials in the nation’s capital.

“I appreciate @jeanneshaheen’s service to our state and for her support and vote for me as NH’s Ambassador to NZ and Samoa. Now it’s time for New Hampshire to have someone in the delegation who fights for our priorities and stands with, not against, the Trump agenda,” Brown said in a social media post.

New Hampshire’s popular former four-term Republican governor, Chris Sununu, has said repeatedly in interviews over the past year (including three with this reporter) that he had no interest in running for the Senate in 2026.

Sununu was heavily courted to run for the Senate in the 2022 cycle against Democrat incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan, another former governor, but decided against making a bid.

But Sununu raised eyebrows on the eve of Shaheen’s announcement with a hint that he was reconsidering, saying in an interview with the Washington Times that “I have not ruled it out completely.”

If the former governor with a large national profile were to change his mind and launch a campaign, it’s likely he would clear most if not all of the GOP field.

Republicans flipped four Democrat-held Senate seats in last November’s elections to win back control of the chamber. They now control the chamber 53-47 and are aiming to expand their majority in 2026.

Besides New Hampshire, the GOP is targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced in January that he would not seek re-election. Also on their 2026 radar is Georgia, another key battleground state where Republicans view first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff as vulnerable.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota announced last month that she would not bid for another term in next year’s midterms, giving the GOP hope that it might be competitive in the blue-leaning state.

But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026.

And Democrats are looking at red-leaning Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed in January to succeed now-Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance’s term.

Polls confirm Trump is polarizing

As President Donald Trump marks 50 days into his second tour of duty in the White House, a new poll gives a picture of how Granite Staters rate the job he’s done since his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Trump stands at 47% approval and 52% disapproval according to a Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll of New Hampshire registered voters conducted March 5-7.

The 1,597 respondents questioned in the online survey also gave the president a 46% favorable rating, with 53% saying they view Trump in an unfavorable light.

But 44% of those questioned said they believed the country is headed in the right direction, which is an all-time high in Saint Anselm College polling since the school began public opinion polling in 2018.

“President Donald Trump continues to be a polarizing figure in New Hampshire. However, voters are somewhat more optimistic about the direction of the country than they have historically been, and there is clear differentiation in the popularity of his policies,” Levesque said.

The president has been moving at warp speed during his opening seven weeks back in the White House with a flurry of executive orders and actions. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly putting his stamp on the federal government, making major cuts to the federal workforce and also settling some long-standing grievances.

Trump as of the beginning of the week had signed nearly 90 executive orders since his inauguration, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their opening weeks in office.

“50 WINS IN 50 DAYS: President Trump Delivers for Americans,” the White House touted in an email release on Monday, as it touted Trump’s accomplishments — some of them controversial — since his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Those moves include a high-profile crackdown on immigration, slapping steep tariffs on major trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, and upending the nation’s foreign policy by freezing aid to Ukraine and clashing with that country’s president in the Oval Office.

According to the Saint Anselm poll, Trump scores best on his actions taken on immigration, with 55% of New Hampshire voters say they approve. But only 41% give the president a thumbs up on his tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Analysts have warned that the tariffs, if fully implemented, could spark further inflation.

The economy remains voters’ top concern in the new poll, with 23% listing the economy and inflation as the most important issues facing the country. Inflation, the issue that helped propel Trump back into the White House, remains critical to the president’s political fortunes.

Levesque noted that Trump’s “economic policies are coming up short on support, which should be taken as a warning considering the economy continues to be the top voter concern.”

According to the poll, if the 2026 midterm elections were held today, 47% would support the Democrat in their congressional district, with 46% backing the Republican candidate.

But Levesque added that “as we look ahead to the midterm elections, it is worth noting that Republican voters are happy with their party, whereas Democratic voters are fractured.”