Stefany Shaheen, daughter of New Hampshire’s trailblazing Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, is diving into the political arena, announcing her candidacy for the U.S. House in the battleground 1st Congressional District. With a fiery campaign launch, she’s already throwing punches at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., signaling a no-holds-barred fight for the open seat.

Shaheen, a healthcare advocate driven by her daughter Elle’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, framed her run as a personal mission. "I became a fierce fighter for medical research to help my daughter and millions like her," she said in a gripping campaign video. She didn’t mince words, accusing Trump of gutting healthcare and research to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, while slamming Musk for pushing out top scientists and Kennedy for fueling anti-vaccine conspiracies that she claims are letting diseases like measles resurge.

The race for New Hampshire’s 1st District, a longtime swing seat covering Manchester and Portsmouth, is shaping up to be a slugfest. Shaheen, a former Portsmouth City Council member, faces a tough Democratic primary against Maura Sullivan, a Marine veteran and state party vice chair who ran for the seat in 2018. On the Republican side, candidates like Chris Bright, Russell Prescott, and others are gearing up to flip the district, which hasn’t gone red since 2014.

The National Republican Congressional Committee fired back, branding Shaheen a "nepo baby" tied to a "radical" Democratic agenda. But Shaheen’s banking on her mom’s legacy—her mother, the first woman elected as both governor and senator in U.S. history—and her own grit to win over voters in 2026.

With the district’s history of tight races, expect a costly, competitive showdown that could tip the balance of Congress.

New Hampshire News

Sen. Shaheen’s Daughter Targets Trump, Musk in Fiery Bid for New Hampshire House Seat