Maggie Hassan Bio
Margaret Wood Hassan (born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 81st governor of New Hampshire from 2013 to 2017 and represented the 23rd district in the New Hampshire Senate from 2005 to 2010, becoming majority leader in 2008. She is one of only three women in United States history elected to both a governorship and a United States Senate seat. She lives in Newfields, New Hampshire, with her husband, Thomas Hassan, and has two children.
Early Life and Background
Margaret Wood Hassan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Margaret (Byers) Wood and Robert Coldwell Wood, a political scientist who served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. She grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts, alongside her siblings, including her brother Frank Wood, a Tony Award-winning actor. Her parents were politically active, and as a young person she helped prepare mailers for the League of Women Voters.
She attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, graduating with the Class of 1976, and later enrolled at Brown University, where she majored in history. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown in 1980, having met her future husband, Thomas Hassan, while both were students on campus. She then attended Northeastern University School of Law and received a Juris Doctor degree in 1985.
Path to US Politics
After law school, Margaret Wood Hassan joined the Boston law firm Palmer & Dodge, where she worked from 1985 to 1992. She later served as associate general counsel for Brigham and Women’s Hospital between 1993 and 1996 before moving to the Boston corporate defense and business law firm Sullivan, Weinstein & McQuay. In 1999, New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen appointed her as a citizen advisor to the Advisory Committee to the Adequacy in Education and Finance Commission, an early step toward her involvement in state government.
Democratic Party leaders encouraged her to seek a seat in the New Hampshire State Senate, and she first ran in 2002, losing to incumbent Russell Prescott. Two years later, in 2004, she returned to challenge Prescott again and won, beginning a six-year tenure representing the 23rd district. During her time in the State Senate, she held the positions of assistant Democratic whip, president pro tempore, and majority leader, building the legislative profile that would lead her to run for governor.
Maggie Hassan Career
Early Career (1985–2004)
Maggie Hassan spent the first part of her professional life practicing law in Boston. From 1985 to 1992, she worked as an attorney at the firm Palmer & Dodge, gaining experience in legal practice before transitioning into institutional and public advisory roles. Her shift toward public service continued in 1993 when she became associate general counsel for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a position she held for three years.
In 1996, she joined Sullivan, Weinstein & McQuay, a Boston firm focused on corporate defense and business law, where she practiced until 1999. That year, Governor Jeanne Shaheen named her a citizen advisor to a state education finance commission, formally connecting her to New Hampshire policy work. She launched her first political campaign in 2002, losing a State Senate race to Russell Prescott before defeating him two years later.
New Hampshire State Senate Era (2005–2010)
Maggie Hassan represented the 23rd district in the New Hampshire State Senate from 2005 to 2010, a region that includes East Kingston, Exeter, Kensington, Kingston, Newfields, Newmarket, Newton, Seabrook, South Hampton, and Stratham. She won reelection in 2006 and 2008 and rose through Senate leadership ranks, serving as assistant Democratic whip, president pro tempore, and majority leader. In 2008, Senate President Sylvia Larsen chose her as Senate Majority Leader, the number-two position in the chamber.
As majority leader, Margaret Wood Hassan played a major role in legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire, presenting three versions of a same-sex marriage bill, one of which narrowly passed both chambers. She also helped pass the FY2008-09 and FY2010-11 state budgets, navigating difficult fiscal debates that included tax and fee increases. Her tenure ended with a 2010 rematch loss to Russell Prescott as Republicans regained control of both chambers.
Governor of New Hampshire (2013–2017)
After announcing her candidacy in October 2011, Maggie Hassan won the 2012 Democratic primary with 53 percent of the vote, defeating former state senator Jacalyn Cilley with the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton. In the general election, she defeated Republican nominee Ovide M. Lamontagne 55 percent to 43 percent, carrying every county in the state. She was sworn in as the 81st governor of New Hampshire on January 3, 2013, and in December of that year was elected vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
During her governorship, she signed legislation creating a state sea-level rise commission and worked to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood clinics. In 2015, she vetoed a bill that would have removed the licensing requirement for carrying concealed firearms, and she appointed Jack Wozmak as the state’s drug czar in response to New Hampshire’s opioid crisis. She also helped mediate the Demoulas family dispute affecting the Market Basket grocery chain, a conflict that had threatened roughly 9,000 jobs in the state. Hassan won reelection in 2014, defeating Republican Walt Havenstein 52 percent to 47 percent.
United States Senate Era (2017–Present)
Maggie Hassan resigned as governor on January 2, 2017, to prepare for her swearing-in to the United States Senate, with Senate President Chuck Morse becoming acting governor. She had announced her Senate campaign in October 2015 and faced Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte in one of the most competitive Senate races of 2016. On November 9, 2016, she was declared the winner by about 1,000 votes, or 0.1 percent, and Ayotte conceded without seeking a recount.
In 2022, Maggie Hassan won reelection, defeating Republican nominee Don Bolduc 54 percent to 44 percent. During her Senate tenure, she participated in a bipartisan Trump administration task force to support the reopening of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she was in the Senate chamber on January 6, 2021, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol, an event she called an insurrection and one of the grimmest days in the country’s history. In October 2023, she traveled to China as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese officials. In 2024, the Lugar Center ranked her third among senators for bipartisanship.
Notable Events and Milestones
Maggie Hassan is one of only three women in United States history elected as both a governor and a United States senator, alongside Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte. Her 2016 Senate victory, decided by roughly 1,000 votes, stands as one of the narrowest Senate wins in modern New Hampshire history. She has also received six honorary doctorates between 2013 and 2017, including awards from the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, Southern New Hampshire University, the New Hampshire Institute of Art, New England College, and the UNH School of Law.
Maggie Hassan Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Maggie Hassan is the daughter of Margaret (Byers) Wood and Robert Coldwell Wood, a political scientist who served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. She has two siblings, including her brother Frank Wood, a Tony Award-winning stage actor. Her parents’ engagement in public affairs, including volunteer work with the League of Women Voters, helped shape her early interest in policy and government service.
Personal Life
Maggie Hassan married Thomas Hassan in 1983 after meeting him as a fellow student at Brown University. Thomas Hassan served as principal of Phillips Exeter Academy from 2008 to 2015 and later became president of School Year Abroad. The couple has two adult children, the older of whom has cerebral palsy. Hassan is a member of the United Church of Christ and, after leaving the Governor’s residence, settled with her husband in Newfields, New Hampshire.