Jeanne Shaheen
Creator:US Senate Photo Studio/Frank A FBio | Jeanne Shaheen is the U.S. Senator from New Hampshire and is the first woman to hold that position for New Hampshire. She has also served as governor for several terms; she studied English at the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. |
Status and Position | Current US Senator of New Hampshire |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, New Hampshire |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Senate Election New Hampshire 1 | New Hampshire 1 | Yes | Running | 53.0% |
Campaign Financing | Shaheen is an advocate for campaign finance reform. She has been especially critical of the impact that Supreme Court case, Citizens United v Federal Election Commission has had on the American electoral process. |
Voting Rights | Shaheen has been deeply critical of legislation that hinders voting rights. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | For | Shaheen is an advocate for expanding healthcare coverage, although she has not embraced proposals for Medicare-for-All. Shaheen is more supportive of plans that would allow for a public option for healthcare. She has expressed concern about eliminating private insurance through a Medicare-for-All type plan. |
| Socialized Healthcare | For | Shaheen is a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, and has introduced legislation that would expand it by adding a public option. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Shaheen does not support proposals to abolish private healthcare. She argues that there are many Americans who are comfortable with their private insurance plans, and that she would not want to displace them from their current services if they were satisfied with them. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Shaheen is a strong advocate for LGBT rights and has a long legislative history of voting for pro-LGBT bills. Shaheen notably voted to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which prevented LGBT service members from being open about their sexualities. She also voted for legislation to make veterans benefits available to all regardless of sexual orientation and cosponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to protect LGBT people from arbitrary employment discrimination. |
| Taxes | For | Shaheen has expressed support for a number of proposals to raise taxes, and was a vocal critic of the 2017 GOP tax cuts. After the 2017 GOP tax cuts passed through the Senate, Shaheen issued a statement condemning the policy on the basis that it would not do enough to help the middle class and would only add to the national debt by granting unnecessary tax breaks to corporations and wealthy Americans. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Shaheen supports progressive tax rates. After the 2017 GOP tax cuts passed through the Senate, Shaheen issued a statement condemning the policy on the basis that it would not do enough to help the middle class and would only add to the national debt by granting unnecessary tax breaks to corporations and wealthy Americans. |
| Abortion | For | Shaheen has a long history of voting for pro-choice legislation. Shaheen is very critical of states trying to pass legislation that would infringe on the precedent of Roe v Wade. She has also made an effort to protect funding for Planned Parenthood, which she has acknowledged provides extremely "valuable services". |
| Gun Control | For | Shaheen is supportive of a number of gun control measures. Shaheen has expressed support for expanding background check requirements and has cosponsored legislation to prevent anyone convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing firearms. |
| Assisted Suicide | Unknown | Has not made any explicit statements on the issue. Shaheen has expressed support for expanding background check requirements and has cosponsored legislation to prevent anyone convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing firearms. |
| Government Interference | For | Shaheen supports policies such as gun control and environmental regulations. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Shaheen has said that the services provided by Planned Parenthood are valuable and necessary. |
| Welfare | For | Shaheen is a strong believer in the value of welfare and has called on the executive branch to ensure protections for a number of programs. Shaheen was one of several Senators to publicly call on President Trump to ensure protections for welfare programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. She has also voted against cuts to the SNAP (food stamp) program. |
| Welfare | For | Following President Obama's decision to reverse regulations on embryonic stem cell research, Shaheen gave a statement expressing her approval of the decision and her strong support for embryonic stem cell research. |
| Death Penalty | For | As Governor of New Hampshire, Shaheen took multiple steps to ensure the survival of the death penalty in the state. As Governor of New Hampshire, Shaheen supported legislation that would expand the list of crimes that would be eligible for capital punishment. She also vetoed a bill that would have abolished the death penalty in the state. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Shaheen voted for the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that prevented mandatory minimums from being applied in low-level drug offense cases. |
| Military Spending | Against | Has called to cut funding for Medium Extended Air Defense System. |
| War on Terrorism | Against | Shaheen voted for the 2014 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Act (AUMF) to require Congressional approval for the use of military force against terrorist groups and place a sunset clause on the 2001 Global War on Terror AUMF Act. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | As the only woman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Shaheen has supported a number of measures to increase international engagement. Shaheen has supported a number of pieces of legislation meant to direct US resources to protecting women's rights abroad; she introduced the International Violence Against Women Act and the Keeping Girls in Schools Act. She also supported the Women’s Peace and Security Act, intended to encourage more women to partake in international relations. She is also a strong supporter of NATO and supported the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. |
| United Nations power | For | In a 2018 statement, Shaheen reiterated her support for the United Nations, claiming that it is a significant institution important for promoting global peace. |
| Nationalism | Against | Shaheen has been a strong critic of President Trump's nationalist rhetoric. |
| Free Markets | For | Shaheen has spoken against direct government involvement in markets. Shaheen strongly opposes the regulation of international trade, a stance that she recently reiterated in a statement in favor of the free-trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. |
| Brexit | Against | In a 2016 op-ed for the Washington Post, Shaheen expressed her concern about the potential for the UK to leave the European Union and made a case to the British people to vote to remain. |
| Affirmative Action | Unknown | Shaheen has not been vocal about her stance on this issue. |
| Government Spending | Nuance | While Shaheen has not made it a priority to reduce government spending overall, she is an advocate for reducing waste in government spending. |
| Charter Schools | Against | As Governor of New Hampshire, vetoed a bill to allow for the state authorization of charter schools on the basis that she did not want to draw away from public education funding. |
| Common Core | Against | Shaheen believes education standards should be implemented on a state-wide level. Shaheen supported rewriting the No Child Left Behind bill to prohibit the federal government from implementing universal education standards. |
| Clean Energy | For | Shaheen believes that a transition to renewable energy is critical both for the United States' economy and also for its national security. Shaheen is a member of the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, where she has advocated for a number of measures to encourage the use of renewable energy. She also cosponsored the Renewable Electricity Standard bill, which would require 25% of electricity to be sourced from renewable sources by 2025. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Shaheen is a strong supporter of religious freedom, and has been critical of some actions by the Trump Administration that she has seen to be a threat to religious freedom. Shaheen criticized the Trump Administration for deporting asylum seekers fleeing religious persecution in Indonesia. She was also a major critic of the administration's travel ban, which was disproportionately applied to people from Muslim-majority countries. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Shaheen opposed the nomination of Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State on the basis that he wasn't able to separate his Christian beliefs from his role as a policy-maker. |
| Slavery Reparations | Unknown | Shaheen has not been vocal on this issue. |
| Border Control | For | Shaheen supports measures to strengthen the Southern border with Mexico. Shaheen is supportive of technological border security. |
| Passenger Profiling | Unknown | Shaheen has not made a clear statement on this issue. |
| DACA | For | Shaheen is pro-DACA, and called President Trump's decision to discontinue the program "cruel," "inhumane," and "unnecessary." |
| Sanctuary Cities | For | Shaheen voted to maintain funding for sanctuary cities. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | Against | Shaheen has expressed some hesitations regarding proposals to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. |
Creator:US Senate Photo Studio/Frank A F