Maggie Hassan

She represented New Hampshire's 23rd district, which includes East Kingston, Exeter, Kensington, Kingston, Newfields, Newmarket, Newton, Seabrook, South Hampton and Stratham.

Margaret Coldwell Hassan (Wood; born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2017.

She attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Massachusetts, and graduated with the Class of 1976.

Wood then enrolled at Brown University, where she majored in history and graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree.

While there, she met her future husband, Thomas Hassan, also a student at the university.

After graduating from law school in 1985, she worked at the law firm Palmer & Dodge.

She later worked as associate general counsel for Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

She received a J.D. degree from the Northeastern University School of Law in 1985.

From 1985 to 1999, Hassan worked as an attorney.

From 1985 to 1992, she worked at the Boston law firm Palmer & Dodge.

From 1993 to 1996, Hassan was associate general counsel for Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In 1996, Hassan began working as an attorney for Sullivan, Weinstein & McQuay, a Boston corporate defense and business law firm.

In 1999, then-New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen appointed her as a citizen advisor to the Advisory Committee to the Adequacy in Education and Finance Commission.

Hassan first ran for the New Hampshire Senate in 2002 after Democratic Party leaders recruited her.

Hassan first ran for the New Hampshire Senate in 2002 after Democratic Party leaders suggested she run.

She lost to incumbent Russell Prescott, 54% to 46%.

She lost to incumbent Russell Prescott but ran against Prescott again in 2004 and won.

In 2004, she ran against Prescott again and won, 52% to 48%.

Hassan was elected to a total of three two-year terms, representing New Hampshire's 23rd district from January 2005 to December 2010.

In 2006, she was reelected against Natalie Healy, 60% to 40%.

She became the State Senate majority leader in 2008 before losing reelection in a 2010 rematch with Prescott.

In 2008, she defeated Lee Quandt, 57% to 43%.

She served as the assistant Democratic whip, president pro tempore, and majority leader of the State Senate during her six years in office.

In November 2010, Hassan lost to Prescott in a second rematch, 53% to 47%, as Republicans regained control of both the state House and state Senate.

Hassan declared her candidacy for governor in October 2011.

She defeated former state senator Jacalyn Cilley in the Democratic primary and faced the Republican nominee, attorney Ovide M. Lamontagne, in the general election.

Hassan won with 55% of the vote, becoming the state's second female governor.

A member of the Democratic Party, Hassan was the 81st governor of New Hampshire from 2013 to 2017.

Born in Boston, Hassan graduated from Brown University and earned a J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law.

She was reelected in 2014.

After becoming governor, Hassan was elected vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association and served as a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention.

In 2016, Hassan ran for the U.S. Senate and narrowly defeated Kelly Ayotte, the Republican incumbent, by about a thousand votes (about 0.1% of the vote).

She was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Don Bolduc.

She is serving with Jeanne Shaheen, another former governor.

Hassan and Shaheen are the only two women in American history to be elected both governor and U.S. senator.

Hassan was born Margaret Wood in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Margaret (Byers) and Robert Coldwell Wood, a political scientist who served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Lyndon Johnson administration.

She has two siblings, including Tony award-winning actor Frank Wood.

She grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

As a child she sang in school choirs and at church.

Her parents were politically active and she collated mailers for the League of Women Voters.