Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined New Hampshire Democrats in Nashua Saturday for the McIntyre-Shaheen Dinner, a major state party fundraiser. There was no food at this year’s $200 per seat dinner, but Democrats who gathered in the ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel seemed mostly sated by the praise party leaders past and present heaped on Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the evening’s honoree.
“Jeanne Shaheen’s election as governor in 1996, and her steadfast determination to build a permanent Democratic organization in New Hampshire, have made the past 30 years the most successful time for Democrats in New Hampshire history,” Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said. “Every future Democratic party victory is her legacy.”
Shaheen, whose career in politics spans half a century, is not running for reelection this year, setting up a key open-seat race that could help determine control of the Senate in 2026. But much of Saturday’s remarks had a retrospective cast, as speakers described Shaheen as a formative influence on their own political careers.
Former Gov. John Lynch said he first met Shaheen in 1975, and said he learned how to be governor when he took office in 2005 with help from the staff he “inherited” from her. Lynch said Shaheen has been an inspiration to his family, including a 2-year-old grandaughter, by working to make New Hampshire a better place for everyone.
“Jeanne Shaheen — contrary to what we see in Washignton, and even Concord — really is the model of what good public service is,” Lynch said.
Congressman Chris Pappas, who has held office in New Hampshire for more than 20 years and who is running to succeed Shaheen in the Senate this year, described Shaheen as an inspiration.
“I don’t know that I would be standing here, or would ever have run for office and found my path, were it not for the leadership you provided,” Pappas said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, who, like Shaheen, served as governor before winning election to the U.S. Senate, said Shaheen knows that “citizen is the most important title in the United States.” Hassan said Shaheen seemed to understand something about her that she didn’t know about herself when she gave Hassan her start in politics, naming her to a school funding commission.
“If anyone had told me at the time that I would run for office, I would have said that the very idea was ridiculous,” Hassan said.
Shaheen, who took the stage after a lengthy video recapping her political career, stressed that success in politics — including her own — depends on teamwork.
“We all know that none of what we’ve accomplished is because of one person,” Shaheen said, rattling off a list of achievements that stretched from her push for full-day kindergarten as governor to the Department of Homeland Security’s decision in February to scuttle a proposed ICE detention center in Merrimack, N.H.
“We are the party that gets things done,” Shaheen said
While it’s been a decade since a Democrat has held the New Hampshire governor’s office and eight years since the party controlled the Legislature, Democrats have won every federal race here since 2012.
Shaheen, whose daughter Stefany is running for Congress in the state’s 1st Congressional District, said 2026 should present the party with an opportunity for significant gains.
“These are not normal times,” Shaheen said, emphasizing that what she called Trump’s self-dealing and mismanagement have handed Democrats an argument that can persuade voters: “When people shine a light on corruption, things change.”
When Clinton joined Shaheen on stage, she called herself a “recovering politician” who showed up in Nashua because Shaheen invited her when they crossed paths in March at the Munich Security Conference.
“I will come anytime you set the date, because I want the chance to really thank you, Jeanne,” Clinton recalled telling Shaheen.
Clinton then praised New Hampshire, where she narrowly beat Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, and lost big to Bernie Sanders in 2016.
“It’s always been just such a gift to spend time here to learn about what really matters,” Clinton said.
Clinton said Shaheen gave her and former President Bill Clinton valuable advice when they each campaigned here, and said Shaheen should be seen as a role model.
“Young women who want to know if it’s worth getting into politics, please look at Jeanne Shaheen,” Clinton said.
Clinton also took steady aim at Trump: “He rolled the dice with Iran, with no plan, and lost.” Clinton said, stressing that even if Trump himself isn’t on the ballot this year, his record should power Democratic campaigns.
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