Stefany Shaheen focused on healthcare, economy in Congressional bid

LACONIA — Stefany Shaheen has her sights set on Congress. The Democrat is running with a major focus on healthcare and constituent services.

Shaheen is running for an open seat in District 1, as incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) is running for U.S. Senate, for the seat vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Stefany Shaheen's mother.

Who is Stefany Shaheen

Shaheen was born and raised in New Hampshire, growing up in Madbury. She was a public school kid who graduated from Oyster River High School, and built a business called Good Measures.

Good Measures was inspired by her daughter’s diabetes diagnosis. The company connects people with any kind of medical condition with registered dietitians and diabetes educators in real time.

Shaheen held elected office for eight years, serving on the Portsmouth City Council as well as the city’s police commission, and has worked and lived in the Granite State her entire life. She graduated from Fairfield University, in Connecticut, and is an alumna of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

She has four grown children, all raised in Portsmouth, and has a Lakes Region connection. Her husband, Craig Welch, grew up in Meredith, and graduated from Inter-Lakes High School. Welch and Shaheen met while he was attending the University of New Hampshire, and he is executive director of the Portsmouth Housing Authority.

In a recent interview, Shaheen said her life's cause became healthcare, after her daughter, Elle, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, at age 8.

“That really changed the trajectory of my life,” she said.

Healthcare

“Ultimately, I think, what got me into this race is really RFK Jr., becoming secretary of health and human services,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen said, having dedicated much of her life to making healthcare better, she felt it personally when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took charge of that department. She thought someone at the helm of the agency responsible for the health and wellbeing of Americans, and doesn’t believe in “proven science” and vaccines, was not fit for that role.

“I felt like everything I had been working for to make things better for my own family was now even further jeopardized and at risk, and getting worse,” Shaheen said. “That is really what compelled me to stand up and say, ‘I have to fight back.’”

Shaheen said a switch flipped, because she would give anything for a vaccine to cure or prevent her daughter's disease. But this isn’t just about her family.

“We just lost a member of the military to the flu in Texas,” she said. “We’ve lost kids to measles. We know how to prevent these things, to mitigate the risks. To have someone who is actively perpetuating this information, and is a danger to Americans, I felt like I’ve got to fight back.”

For 18 years, Shaheen said she battled with insurance and pharmaceutical companies to get her daughter the care she needed. At one point, Elle needed to prick her fingers and inject insulin almost a dozen times a day, and any time she ate anything, she needed a shot. Today, she has an insulin pump on one arm, and a glucose monitor on the other, which give her information about her blood sugar.

“That’s because the process works when you make investments in the right places,” Shaheen said.

She said with a combination of funding and the FDA doing its job, and the ability to get reimbursement for treatments and technology, lives can get better. But when it doesn’t work, people are in a position to fight for lifesaving medication.

“No one in this country should have to ration insulin in order to get through the day, and put themselves at risk of surviving,” Shaheen said. “I’ve seen firsthand, at every turn, health insurance companies making it harder for people to get the care they need.”

With Medicare Advantage plans pulling out of the state, Shaheen said there are suddenly 70,000 seniors without access to dental, vision, and hearing care. This makes no sense to her, and seniors will now pay out of pocket, if they can get the care they need at all.

“There is just so much at stake as it relates to healthcare,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen also said ultimately a “patchwork of state laws” cannot be allowed to govern women’s access to reproductive care. She had two miscarriages between her second and third daughters, and during the second, she required a dilation and curettage, an early form of abortion that can be hard to get.

“I feel firmly that women being able to access reproductive healthcare is a critical priority,” Shaheen said. “These are not decisions that politicians should be making.”

Constituent services

Shaheen and Pappas are friends — she introduced him at the Puritan Backroom, in Manchester, in 2017, when he announced his candidacy for Congress. She was the first person to publicly endorse him for the U.S. Senate race, and is proud of his work. One thing of his she admires, and plans to continue, is optimal constituent services.

“When you have two congresspeople in a state, it is really so important that you’re committed to doing the work that your constituents need,” Shaheen said.

Addressing the need for Veterans Affairs benefits, or helping with emergencies when out of the state or country, and fighting for policy priorities are always necessary. However, Shaheen said answering to the people of District 1 will be critical, possibly more than ever.

The campaign trail

While campaigning, Shaheen has been listening to the people, and she constantly hears about the desire for change.

“They’re angry about what’s happening in the country,” Shaheen said. “They’re very worried about what these priorities, the priorities we’re seeing in the Trump administration, how those are translating in their own families.”

Shaheen said until they change course and change leadership, issues will continue. This is why she's so motivated to win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, noting they can’t wait until the 2028 Presidential Election to change the direction of the country.

Wherever she goes, Shaheen hears about the housing crisis. She hears about high gas prices directly affecting bank accounts.

“They want us to make sure they are not one accident, or diagnosis, away from financial ruin or bankruptcy,” Shaheen said. “That’s pretty consistent across the entire district.”

Shaheen said she was just in Laconia, for Motorcycle Week. With reports attendance was down due to tariffs and a lack of Canadian visitors, economic pressure is noticeable on the local level.

“In New Hampshire, we have been disproportionately impacted by the tariffs,” Shaheen said. “I think the combination of, 90% of our businesses are small business, Canada is our largest trading partner, and we rely on Canadians to support our hospitality industry. Ultimately, to lose that kind of visitorship really impacts everything.”

This includes hotels, restaurants, and events like Motorcycle Week. She said now that the Supreme Court has deemed the tariffs illegal, she isn’t worried about major corporations, with teams of lawyers. Her main concern is whether small businesses will be reimbursed, and has been talking with business leaders everywhere, since she entered the race.

“I spoke to a coffee roaster not long who relies on a distributor to get the beans. So the reimbursement has to go to the distributor, and the distributor hasn’t been able to get anyone to help process the request for reimbursement,” Shaheen said. “Meanwhile, their delivery fees have gone up, because of the price of gas. It’s a big issue.”

She also heard from businesses dealing with supply chain challenges.

Shaheen is worried about cuts to Medicaid in rural communities, saying that in the 2nd Congressional District, they have already seen two community health centers closed. The full effect of Medicaid cuts won’t be seen until 2027.

“People are starting to talk about that now, because they know what is coming, but it hasn’t fully hit,” Shaheen said. “That, I think, is a very big concern.”

One thing that surprised her on the campaign trail is how galvanized people are. She hears the desire for change, and also sees people showing up who want to take action.

“They want to be part of the solution, and want to help deliver the change.”

The current administration

“Ultimately, what’s at stake is making very clear what the Trump administration has chosen to prioritize, at the expense of American families,” she said.

Shaheen said there has been focus and relentless commitment to the war in Iran, without a plan for getting in, or out. Depending on estimates, she noted more than $100 billion has been spent on the war, and there is a $1 trillion budget for the department of defense.

“The department of defense has never been audited before, and you combine that with the amount of money we’re now spending on homeland security,” Shaheen said, “and all these dollars are being directed in ways that aren’t actually making life better for American families.”

Shaheen said costs aren’t coming down. Instead, things like housing, childcare, and healthcare are becoming less and less affordable. She said energy prices, which are some of the highest in the nation, aren’t being addressed.

“To me, that’s really what this election is about,” Shaheen said. “It’s about where we, as Americans, are going to prioritize the resources we have, and fight back against corruption we’ve seen from Donald Trump and the Trump administration. And the way in which these dollars are being really taken from the working people’s pockets to line the pockets of billionaires.”

Leading a divided nation

Shaheen thinks there have been intentional efforts to divide the American people, and pit them against each other. She said when people feel disillusioned, or fight with each other, it distracts from what is happening: “grifting and corruption” taking place at the expense of Americans.

Having served as a city councilor, where there is no Democrat or Republican label, it helps to serve alongside neighbors.

“That level of transparency, accountability, and problem solving is what Americans want from government at every level,” Shaheen said. “The local, the state, and the federal level. They want to elect leaders who are going to work together, to solve the problems they know need to be solved.”

Shaheen said this holds people accountable, seeing voters in the grocery store, or a sporting event. She said people are tired of the noise, and want leaders to work together to deliver, and stressed people need to fight.

“That’s a fight I’m ready for,” Shaheen said. “We need fighters who are ready to roll up their sleeves, who have a track record of delivering results.”