2012 NH Gubernatorial Election: Maggie Hassan

Maggie Hassan is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for the 2012 election.

Maggie Hassan began her career in public service in 1999 when Governor Jeanne Shaheen asked her to serve as an advocate on the Advisory Committee to the Adequacy in Education and Finance Commission. Her experience as an attorney along with her role as the parent of two children, one of whom has severe disabilities, enabled her to provide a unique perspective as the commission did its work.

In 2004, Maggie was first elected to the New Hampshire Senate, winning one of the most competitive districts in the state. During her six years in office, she was selected by her colleagues to serve as both President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader of the State Senate. She served as chair of both the Commerce committee and the Public and Municipal Affairs committee. She also served on the Finance committee and was vice chair of the committee on Energy, Environment and Economic Development.

Maggie’s focus has been on keeping taxes low, job creation, balancing the budget, improving access to high quality and affordable health care, ensuring a quality education for every child, developing regional approaches to meet infrastructure needs, environmental protection and the development of a green economy. In 2010 Business NH named Maggie one of the state’s most powerful people.

In the Senate, Maggie often partnered with Governor John Lynch to focus on the economy and New Hampshire families. In 2008, she helped lead the way to finally pass universal kindergarten so that every child has the same opportunity to succeed. In order to lower the state’s dropout rate, she worked to raise the legal dropout age to 18.

Maggie knows that New Hampshire families can and will succeed in overcoming these troubled times and the challenges we face. But we must ensure they have the opportunities they need to solve the problems they face today and to work toward a better future. We have to set the right priorities and focus on the things that give people a simple hand up and help them solve their own problems.

Maggie earned her B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from the Northeastern School of Law. She lives in Exeter with her husband Tom, the principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, and has two adult children, Ben (age 24) and Meg (age 19).