Maggie Hassan | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2016 | |
| Ranking Member of theJoint Economic Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | David Schweikert |
| United States Senator fromNew Hampshire | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 Serving with Jeanne Shaheen | |
| Preceded by | Kelly Ayotte |
| 81stGovernor of New Hampshire | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – January 2, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | John Lynch |
| Succeeded by | Chuck Morse (acting) |
| Majority Leader of theNew Hampshire Senate | |
| In office January 3, 2008 – December 1, 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Foster |
| Succeeded by | Jeb Bradley |
| Member of theNew Hampshire Senate from the23rd district | |
| In office December 1, 2004 – December 1, 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Russell Prescott |
| Succeeded by | Russell Prescott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Margaret Coldwell Wood (1958-02-27)February 27, 1958 (age 67) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website |
Margaret Wood Hassan[1][2] (/ˈhæsən/HASS-ən;née Margaret Coldwell Wood; born February 27, 1958)[3] is an American politician and attorney serving as thejuniorUnited States senator forNew Hampshire since 2017. A member of theDemocratic Party, Hassan was the 81stgovernor of New Hampshire, from 2013 to 2017.[4]
Born inBoston, Hassan graduated fromBrown University and earned aJ.D. from theNortheastern University School of Law. After graduating fromlaw school in 1985, she worked at the law firmPalmer & Dodge. She later worked as associate general counsel forBrigham and Women’s Hospital.[5]
Hassan first ran for theNew Hampshire Senate in 2002 after Democratic Party leaders recruited her.[6][7] She lost to incumbentRussell Prescott but ran against Prescott again in 2004 and won.[citation needed] Hassan was elected to a total of three two-year terms, representing New Hampshire's 23rd district from January 2005 to December 2010. She became the state senatemajority leader in 2008 before losing reelection in a 2010 rematch with Prescott.[8]
Hassan declared her candidacy for governor in October 2011. She defeated former state senatorJacalyn Cilley in the Democratic primary and faced theRepublican nominee, attorneyOvide M. Lamontagne, in thegeneral election. Hassan won with 55% of the vote, becoming the state's second female governor. She was reelected in 2014. After becoming governor, Hassan was elected vice chair of theDemocratic Governors Association and served as asuperdelegate at theDemocratic National Convention.[7]
In2016, Hassan ran for the U.S. Senate and narrowly defeatedKelly Ayotte, the Republican incumbent, by about a thousand votes (about 0.1% of the vote).[9][10] She was reelected in2022, defeating Republican nomineeDon Bolduc. She is serving withJeanne Shaheen, another former governor. Hassan, Shaheen, and Ayotte are the only women in American history to be elected both governor and U.S. senator (Ayotte was elected governor in2024).[11] Hassan is expected to become New Hampshire'ssenior senator upon Shaheen's retirement in 2027.
Hassan was born Margaret Wood inBoston, Massachusetts,[12][13] the daughter of Margaret (Byers) andRobert Coldwell Wood, apolitical scientist who served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in theLyndon Johnson administration. She has two siblings, includingTony Award-winning actorFrank Wood.[14][15][16]
She grew up inLincoln, Massachusetts,[16] where she sang in school choirs and at church.[16] Her parents were politically active and she collated mailers for theLeague of Women Voters.[16] She attendedLincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Massachusetts, and graduated with the Class of 1976. Wood then enrolled atBrown University, where she majored inhistory and graduated in 1980 with aB.A. degree. While there, met her future husband,Thomas Hassan, also a student at the university.[6] Hassan received aJ.D. degree from theNortheastern University School of Law in 1985.[17][18]
From 1985 to 1999, Hassan worked as an attorney.[17] From 1985 to 1992,[citation needed] she worked at the Boston law firmPalmer & Dodge.[19] From 1993 to 1996, Hassan was associate general counsel forBrigham and Women's Hospital.[20]
In 1996, Hassan began working as an attorney for Sullivan, Weinstein & McQuay, a Boston corporate defense and business law firm.[21] In 1999, then-New Hampshire GovernorJeanne Shaheen appointed her as a citizen advisor to the Advisory Committee to the Adequacy in Education and Finance Commission.[17]
Hassan first ran for theNew Hampshire Senate in 2002 after Democratic Party leaders suggested she run.[6] She lost to incumbent Russell Prescott, 54% to 46%.[citation needed] In 2004, she ran against Prescott again and won, 52% to 48%.[citation needed]In 2006, she was reelected against Natalie Healy, 60% to 40%.[citation needed] In 2008, she defeated Lee Quandt, 57% to 43%.[citation needed] She served as the assistant Democraticwhip,president pro tempore, andmajority leader of the State Senate during her six years in office. She represented New Hampshire's23rd district, which includesEast Kingston,Exeter,Kensington,Kingston,Newfields,Newmarket,Newton,Seabrook,South Hampton andStratham.
In November 2010, Hassan lost to Prescott in a second rematch, 53% to 47%,[citation needed] asRepublicans regained control of both thestate House and state Senate.[22]
Hassan served on the Capital Budget Committee and the Budget Conference Committee.[23] She helped pass the FY2008-09 budget.[24]
In 2008, Senate PresidentSylvia Larsen chose Hassan to serve as Senate Majority Leader, the number two position in the New Hampshire Senate. Larsen chose her for the position because she wanted someone who would fight to get the Democratic caucus to support the same agenda, at times creating friction between Hassan and her Republican colleagues.[25]
During her tenure as majority leader, Hassan had a major role in legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire.[25] She presented three versions of a same-sex marriage bill, one of which narrowly gained enough support to pass both chambers.[25]
Hassan helped pass the FY2010-11 budget.[26] This budget increased spending by over $1 billion and contained 33 tax and fee increases, including taxing campsites like hotel rooms, a so-called "income tax" on New Hampshire business, and raising vehicle registration fees.[27][28][29]
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In October 2011, Hassan announced her candidacy for governor of New Hampshire.[31] She won the Democratic primary with 53% of the vote, defeating former state senatorJacalyn Cilley, who received 39%.[32] Hassan was endorsed by formerU.S. PresidentBill Clinton.[33][8] Campaign themes included implementing theAffordable Care Act.[34]
In the general election, Hassan defeatedRepublican nomineeOvide M. Lamontagne, 55% to 43%, carrying every county in the state.[35] Matt Burgess managed her campaign and senior consultants included media consultantJoe Slade White.[36]
Independent expenditure groups spent more than $11 million on Hassan's behalf. Major financial support for her campaign came from the Washington, D.C.–based Democratic Governor's Association, theService Employees International Union, theAmerican Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and theNational Education Association.[37]
In June 2014, Hassan filed to run for reelection.[38] In August 2014,New Hampshire Attorney GeneralJoseph Foster, a Hassan appointee, ordered her to return $24,000 in campaign contributions that violated New Hampshirecampaign finance laws.[39] In October 2014, Hassan was ordered to return another $25,000 in funds a union donated to her gubernatorial campaign because the union had not properly registered with the state as a political committee.[40]
Hassan defeated Ian Freeman in the September 9 Democratic primary and Republican nominee Walt Havenstein in the general election, 52% to 47%. She carried 7 of 10 counties.[41]
Hassan was sworn in as governor for a two-year term on January 3, 2013. In December 2013, she was elected vice chair of theDemocratic Governors Association.[42] That year, Hassan signed a bill creating a statesea level rise commission.[43][44]
Duringa conflict between two sides of theDemoulas family, which owns theMarket Basket grocery chain, Hassan urged the family to resolve the dispute, which threatened 9,000 jobs in New Hampshire.[45]
In July 2015, Hassan vetoed a bill that would have removed the licensing requirement for carryingconcealed firearms.[46] In response to New Hampshire'sopioid crisis, she appointed Jack Wozmak the state's "drug czar" in early 2015. He resigned one year later in response to complaints about his job performance.[47][48] Hassan also worked to preserve funding forPlanned Parenthood clinics throughout the state.[49]
Hassan resigned as governor on January 2, 2017, to prepare for her swearing-in to the U.S. Senate. Senate presidentChuck Morse became acting governor.[50]
On October 5, 2015, Hassan announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2016. She challenged Republican incumbentKelly Ayotte.[51] The race was considered one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races of the year.[52]
Hassan was endorsed by the pro-choice Democraticpolitical action committeeEMILY's List, which also backed her two gubernatorial runs.[53] Hassan endorsedHillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.[54] She said climate change and reproductive rights would be her top priorities if she were elected to the Senate.[55]
On November 9, the day after Election Day, Hassan was declared the winner.[56] Ayotte conceded that evening, choosing not to pursue a recount.[56]
Hassan was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nomineeDon Bolduc.[57]
Hassan participated in a bipartisanTrump administration task force to support the reopening of the economy during theCOVID-19 pandemic[58]
Hassan was in the Senate chamber on January 6, 2021, for the2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supportersstormed the U.S. Capitol.[59] After the Capitol was breached by rioters, Hassan, along with staff and other senators, was removed from the chambers to an undisclosed location.[60] Hassan called the event traumatizing, calling it an "insurrection" and "one of the grimmest days in the history of our country."[60][61] The following day, she called for Trump to resign, calling him "unfit for office".[61] She also called for an investigation into the lack of security, poor law enforcement response,[61] and how law enforcement treated the Trump supporters, which contrasted with the treatment ofBlack Lives Matter protestors.[60]
On June 19, 2018, acongressional intern was caught on video yelling, "Mr. President, fuck you!", as Trump walked through theUnited States Capitol for a meeting with Republican representatives.[64] On June 25, Hassan's office confirmed that a Hassan intern, Caitlin Marriott, was the person caught on video swearing at Trump. A Hassan spokesperson confirmed that Marriott had been suspended from her position for a week and was required to return her congressional intern ID badge.[65] Hassan rejected demands that she fire Marriott.[66]
In 2019, former Hassan staffers Jackson Cosko and Samantha Davis pleaded guilty to federal crimes. Cosko pleaded guilty to five felonies; following his termination from Hassan's staff, he illegally accessed Senate computers, obtained personal information about five Republican senators, and disseminated that personal information online because he was angry about the senators' roles in the confirmation ofBrett Kavanaugh to theSupreme Court of the United States. In June 2019, Cosko was sentenced to four years in prison.[67] Davis pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in July 2019, acknowledging that she had given Cosko access to Hassan's Senate office after he was fired and had lied to investigators about it.[68]
As of September 2021, Hassan had voted in line with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.[69] In 2024, Hassan was named one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, ranking third among senators for bipartisanship by the Lugar Center.[70][71]
TheNational Review reported that Hassan has a "D" rating from theNRA Political Victory Fund (NRA) in 2012.[72][73] She supports a background check system to avoid gun sales to the mentally ill.[74] She was supported byGabby Giffords andMichael Bloomberg in the 2016 election.[75]
In March 2018, Hassan was one of ten senators to sign a letter to Chairman of theUnited States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and PensionsLamar Alexander and ranking DemocratPatty Murray requesting they schedule a hearing on the causes and remedies of mass shootings in the wake of theStoneman Douglas High School shooting.[76]
In October 2023, Hassan visited China as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumer and met with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping. The delegation also met Foreign MinisterWang Yi, National People's Congress Standing Committee ChairmanZhao Leji, and Shanghai Communist Party SecretaryChen Jining.[77]
In 2025, Hassan was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for theLaken Riley Act.[78]
In July 2019, Hassan cosponsored the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, a bill introduced byBen Cardin andRob Portman that would create a new memorial that would be privately funded and constructed on federal lands within Washington, D.C. to honor journalists, photographers, and broadcasters who have died in the line of duty.[79]
As governor, Hassan signed legislation tolegalize medical cannabis but said she would veto any bill that came to her desk tolegalize recreational cannabis.[80] As of 2020,NORML, an organization that seeks legalization, gave Hassan a C− score as a U.S. senator due to her actions as governor.[81]
On February 3, 2021, Hassan announced she opposes raising thefederal minimum wage to $15/hour as proposed inPresident Biden'sAmerican Rescue Plan legislation.[82] On March 5, 2021, she and seven other Democratic senators voted with Republicans to block raising the minimum wage as part of the legislation.[83][84]
Hassan's husband,Thomas, wasprincipal ofPhillips Exeter Academy from 2008 to 2015, and as of 2016 is the president ofSchool Year Abroad.[85] When he was principal, the Hassans did not live in theGovernor's Mansion, instead living in a colonial house on the school campus provided to them as part of her husband's employment.[6] In 2016, The Association of Boarding Schools censured Thomas Hassan for failing to disclose a former teacher's sexual misconduct at Phillips Exeter.[86] After he left his position at Phillips Exeter, the Hassans bought and moved into a home inNewfields, New Hampshire.[a][6][87]
Hassan has two adult children, the older of whom hascerebral palsy.[13] She is a member of theUnited Church of Christ.[88]
Hassan has received honorary doctorates from theUniversity of New Hampshire (2013),[89]Northeastern University (2013),[90]Southern New Hampshire University (2014),[91]New Hampshire Institute of Art (2015),[92]New England College (2016),[93] andUNH School of Law (2017).[94]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Russell Prescott (incumbent) | 10,659 | 54.04 | |
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 9,067 | 45.96 | |
| Total votes | 19,726 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 15,201 | 51.96 | |
| Republican | Russell Prescott (incumbent) | 14,054 | 48.04 | |
| Total votes | 29,255 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 10,566 | 60.12 | |
| Republican | Natalie Healy | 7,008 | 39.88 | |
| Total votes | 17,574 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 17,212 | 57.20 | |
| Republican | Lee Quandt | 12,877 | 42.80 | |
| Total votes | 30,089 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Russell Prescott | 11,001 | 53.38 | |
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan (inc.) | 9,606 | 46.62 | |
| Total votes | 20,607 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 45,120 | 53.1 | |
| Democratic | Jackie Cilley | 33,066 | 38.9 | |
| Democratic | Bill Kennedy | 5,936 | 7.0 | |
| Democratic | Other | 850 | 1.0 | |
| Total votes | 84,972 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 378,934 | 54.61% | +1.98% | |
| Republican | Ovide Lamontagne | 295,026 | 42.52% | −2.51% | |
| Libertarian | John J. Babiarz | 19,251 | 2.77% | +0.56% | |
| n/a | Write-ins | 666 | 0.10% | −0.02% | |
| Total votes | 693,877 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan (incumbent) | 254,666 | 52.38% | −2.23% | |
| Republican | Walt Havenstein | 230,610 | 47.43% | +4.91% | |
| n/a | Write-ins | 907 | 0.19% | +0.09% | |
| Total votes | 486,183 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan | 354,649 | 47.99% | +11.25% | |
| Republican | Kelly Ayotte (incumbent) | 353,632 | 47.84% | −12.32% | |
| Independent | Aaron Day | 17,742 | 2.40% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Brian Chabot | 12,597 | 1.70% | +0.65% | |
| n/a | Write-ins | 520 | 0.07% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 739,140 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Maggie Hassan (incumbent) | 332,193 | 53.50% | +5.52% | |
| Republican | Don Bolduc | 275,928 | 44.43% | −3.41% | |
| Libertarian | Jeremy Kauffman | 12,390 | 2.00% | +0.30% | |
| n/a | Write-ins | 464 | 0.07% | – | |
| Total votes | 620,975 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
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Data from Wikidata| New Hampshire Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theNew Hampshire Senate from the23rd district 2004–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Majority Leader of theNew Hampshire Senate 2008–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of New Hampshire 2012,2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator from New Hampshire (Class 3) 2016,2022 | Most recent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of New Hampshire 2013–2017 | Succeeded by Chuck Morse Acting |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 3) from New Hampshire 2017–present Served alongside:Jeanne Shaheen | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as United States Senator fromNew Hampshire since January 3, 2017 | Succeeded by |
| United States senators by seniority 60th | ||
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