Former Portsmouth city councilor Stefany Shaheen, daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, announced her run via a video message recorded at the kitchen table of her house in Portsmouth.
Shaheen emphasized her experience raising a child who has Type 1 diabetes, which she said prompted her to co-found a business that provides clinical and nutritional support to people living with chronic conditions, and to write a book about her daughter and the dog their family acquired to help detect changes in her blood sugar levels.
Shaheen said her family’s experience with diabetes made her "a fierce fighter for medical research and innovation.”
Shaheen also used her announcement video to take aim at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. She accused Trump of chasing away the best scientists with funding cuts, and Kennedy of embracing conspiracy theories.
"I am going to fight and believe me I know how,” Shaheen said. There is no one who fights harder than a mom for her kids, and that's how I’ll fight for your family, too."
Shaheen is 51 and lives in Portsmouth, where she has also served on the Police Commission and coached high school volleyball. She’s now the chief strategy officer for ARMI, the Manchester biomanufacturing effort founded by Dean Kamen.
Shaheen joins state Democratic party Vice Chair Maura Sullivan, also of Portsmouth, in the 1st District Democratic primary.
No Republican has yet declared in the race to succeed Congressman Chris Pappas, who is not seeking reelection to a fifth term in order to seek the U.S. Senate seat now held by Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring.
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