Longtime Democrat senator's daughter takes aim at Trump, Musk, RFK Jr, in launch for key House swing seat
Stefany Shaheen on Wednesday declared her candidacy for the U.S. House in the open seat race in New Hampshire's competitive 1st Congressional District.
The younger Shaheen wasted no time in targeting President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, who has been steering Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, and Republicans in Congress.
In a campaign launch video, Shaheen spotlighted her efforts as a healthcare advocate for her daughter Elle, who has Type 1 diabetes. Shaheen said the diagnosis turned her "into a fierce fighter for medical research and innovation to help Elle and millions like her."
Marine Vet Jumps Into Race For Key House Seat In 2026 Battle For Majority
"So, when I see Donald Trump crushing medical research and slashing health care for kids, seniors and veterans to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, I have to fight back. That's why I'm running for Congress," Shaheen said in a statement.. "No one fights harder than a mom for her kids, and that's how I will fight for your family, too. I'll never give up."
Read On The Fox News App
Shaheen, in her video, also charged that Musk has been "chasing out our best scientists and doctors" and claimed that Kennedy is "allowing measles to run rampant because he believes in conspiracy theories instead of proven vaccines."
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP's campaign arm, took aim at Shaheen over her famous family's political pedigree.
This Longtime Democratic Senator Is Not Running For Re-election In 2026
"Nepo baby Stefany Shaheen is a DC elitist who is committed to the Democrats' radical agenda that makes life more expensive and less safe. Granite Staters will resoundingly reject her and her out of touch policies," NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole argued in a statement to Fox News.
Shaheen is running for the seat currently held by four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who is campaigning to succeed the elder Shaheen, the first woman in U.S. history to be elected both as a governor and a U.S. senator.
The 78-year-old senator announced in March that she would not seek re-election to the Senate in 2026.
The move by the younger Shaheen, who previously served on the Portsmouth City Council and the Portsmouth Police Commission, sets up a likely blockbuster primary with Maura Sullivan, a New Hampshire Democratic Party vice chair. Sullivan is also a Marine veteran who served in the Iraq War and was the 2018 Democratic primary runner-up to Pappas in the 1st District.
Sullivan launched a congressional campaign last month.
New Hampshire's 1st District, which covers the eastern half of New England's only battleground state and includes the cities of Manchester and Portsmouth, was once one of the nation's premiere swing congressional districts.
Republicans are aiming to flip the seat in next year's midterm election, and the race is likely to be competitive and expensive. However, no Republican has won the district since 2014.
In the race for the GOP congressional nomination, facilities management executive Chris Bright, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for the seat, has declared his candidacy.
Former state Sen. Russell Prescott, the 2024 nominee who lost to Pappas, is mulling another run for Congress.
So are New Hampshire GOP Vice Chair Hollie Noveletsky and Joe Kelly Levasseur, who, along with Bright, came in behind Prescott in the 2024 GOP primary. State Attorney General John Formella is also thought to be a possible contender for the GOP nomination.Original article source: Longtime Democrat senator's daughter takes aim at Trump, Musk, RFK Jr, in launch for key House swing seat
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
a few seconds ago
- Fox News
Zohran Mamdani responds to the fatal shooting in Brooklyn early Sunday morning
Speaking with reporters at a canvass launch event in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NYC Democratic mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, called the shooting "another example of the scourge of gun violence" in New York City.
Epoch Times
a minute ago
- Epoch Times
Judge Expands Texas AG's Restraining Order Over Texas Democrats' Fundraising
A judge on Saturday ruled to expand a restraining order against former congressman Robert Francis 'Beto' O'Rourke (D-Texas) and his political organization over its fundraising efforts for Democratic lawmakers who left Texas amid a state House battle over redistricting. In the order, Judge Megan Fahey wrote that O'Rourke, also a presidential candidate in the 2020 election, cannot send money out of Texas. She ruled in favor of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, after Paxton sought to remove the charter of Powered by People, the organization headed by O'Rourke.
The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.' Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine.' A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children' to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year. 'Ceasefire! Peace is the best medicine,' Tedros added Wednesday.
