42 Facts About Jeanne Shaheen

Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009.

Jeanne Shaheen was the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire, the first woman elected to the Senate from New Hampshire, and the first woman elected as both a governor and a US senator.

Jeanne Shaheen served as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics before resigning to run for the US Senate again in the 2008 election, defeating Sununu in a rematch.

Jeanne Shaheen is the dean of New Hampshire's congressional delegation, serving in Congress since 2009.

Jeanne Shaheen was reelected to a third term in 2020, defeating Republican nominee Bryant Messner.

Jeanne Shaheen was born Cynthia Jeanne Bowers in St Charles, Missouri, the daughter of Belle Ernestine and Ivan E Bowers.

Jeanne Shaheen is a 12th-generation descendant of the prominent Native American Pocahontas.

Jeanne Shaheen's husband, Bill Shaheen, is a Lebanese-American attorney and judge.

Jeanne Shaheen 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.

Jeanne Shaheen taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she taught school and, with her husband, owned a store that sold used jewelry.

Jeanne Shaheen was elected governor of New Hampshire in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and 2000.

Jeanne Shaheen was the first woman to be elected governor of New Hampshire.

In both 1996 and 1998, Jeanne Shaheen took a no-new-taxes pledge.

Jeanne Shaheen responded to speculation by stating she wasn't interested in the job.

In early July 2007 through UNH, CNN and WMUR put out a poll showing that Jeanne Shaheen would beat Sununu in the 2008 Senate race.

Jeanne Shaheen ran for reelection in 2014, facing former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

In June 2014, WMUR reported that Jeanne Shaheen had never released her tax returns in her 18 years of public service in New Hampshire.

Jeanne Shaheen said she would not rule out releasing her returns, but would like to see her opponent do so first.

On election night, even as her party lost control of the Senate, Jeanne Shaheen won reelection with 51 percent of the vote to Brown's 48 percent.

Jeanne Shaheen is the first New Hampshire Democrat elected to three full terms in the Senate.

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

On January 6,2021, Jeanne Shaheen was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol.

Jeanne Shaheen tweeted during the attack that she and her staff were safe and that "We will not be stopped from doing our Constitutional duty".

The day after the attack, Jeanne Shaheen called Trump "unfit for office" and said that she supported impeaching him and removing him from office.

In 2009, Jeanne Shaheen partnered with US Senator Susan Collins to introduce the Medicare Transitional Care Act, which provides follow-up care for discharged hospital patients to reduce re-hospitalizations.

In December 2009, Jeanne Shaheen voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In October 2019 Jeanne Shaheen was one of 27 senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer advocating the passage of the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act, which was set to expire the following month.

On October 11,2011, Jeanne Shaheen voted to proceed with a proposed bill that 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.

Jeanne 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.

Jeanne Shaheen supports making it illegal for individuals on the terrorist watchlist to buy guns and voted in favor of a bill proposing to expand background checks for gun purchases.

Jeanne Shaheen voted to ban magazines of over 10 bullets.

Jeanne Shaheen said that "moments of sympathy are not enough" and that common-sense gun laws must be enacted.

Jeanne Shaheen proposed legislation giving the president's bipartisan BP Oil Spill Commission subpoena power in its investigation.

Jeanne Shaheen argued that subpoena power was necessary to avoid another such disaster, emphasizing the spill's economic costs to the Gulf Coast region and the economy as a whole.

In March 2019 Jeanne Shaheen was an original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill intended to mandate that the Environmental Protection Agency declare per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as hazardous substances that can be addressed with cleanup funds via the EPA Superfund law and require that polluters undertake or pay for remediation within a year of the bill's enaction.

Jeanne Shaheen opposed the Nord Stream 2, a pipeline for delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany.

In 2002, when Jeanne Shaheen narrowly lost to Sununu, she supported both the 2003 invasion of Iraq and "regime change" for Iraq.

Jeanne 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.

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

Jeanne Shaheen opposed the 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden.

Jeanne Shaheen initially opposed same-sex marriage as governor of New Hampshire, but in 2009 she came out in favor of marriage for same-sex couples and sponsored the Respect for Marriage Act.

Jeanne Shaheen 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.