Carol Shea-Porter (born December 2, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for . She held the seat from 2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2015, and 2017 to 2019. Shea-Porter was first elected in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent Jeb Bradley. She beat Bradley again in 2008 but was defeated in 2010 by former

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Mayor

Frank Guinta Frank Christopher Guinta (born September 26, 1970) is an American businessman and politician who represented New Hampshire's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013 and 2015 to 2017. A member of ...

and left Congress in January 2011. In 2012, Shea-Porter reclaimed her seat as she beat Guinta in a rematch. She faced Guinta for a third time in the 2014 election and lost for the second time. On July 2, 2015, she announced she would again run for her old seat. She defeated Guinta for the second time, facing him for the fourth election in a row. On October 6, 2017, Shea-Porter announced that she would not run for re-election in 2018. Fellow Democrat Chris Pappas was elected on November 6 to succeed Shea-Porter in the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...

Early life, education and career

Early life and education

Shea-Porter was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and grew up in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire, attending local public schools, and graduating from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

. (registration required) She earned a bachelor's degree in social services and a master's degree in public administration. An early video "audition" introducing herself to the voters for the 2006 Congressional race which she won. Prior to becoming involved in politics, she and her family lived in Colorado, Louisiana, and Maryland, during which time she was a social worker and community college instructor.

Career

After returning to New Hampshire, she worked for the

Wesley Clark Wesley Kanne Clark (born Wesley J. Kanne, 23 December 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at United States Military Academy, West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the U ...

presidential campaign and was a volunteer for

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

’s presidential run. She is married to Gene Porter, a former U.S. Army officer, with whom she has two grown children.

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2006

In 2006, Shea-Porter was a liberal community activist who had never held public office. Shea-Porter, who had won some fame for being escorted from a

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

rally wearing a T-shirt that read "Turn Your Back On Bush," ran on a strong anti-

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

message. In addition to opposition to the Iraq war, Shea-Porter campaigned on a platform of increasing the minimum wage and universal healthcare. In the five-way Democratic primary, the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

put its weight behind state legislator Jim Craig. Shea-Porter won the September 12, 2006, primary with 54% of the vote. Craig finished second with 34% of the vote. On November 7, 2006, Shea-Porter narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Jeb Bradley in the 2006 midterm elections to become the first woman elected to Congress from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Shea-Porter received 100,899 votes (51%) to Bradley's 94,869 votes (49%). She received no financial support from either the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

or the

and was outspent by her opponent three to one.

2008

Shea-Porter was re-elected to a second term in November 2008, defeating Bradley for the second time, winning by 52% to 46% margin. The ''

Concord Monitor The ''Concord Monitor'' is the daily newspaper for Concord, the state capital of New Hampshire. It also covers surrounding towns in Merrimack County, most of Belknap County, as well as portions of Grafton, Rockingham and Hillsborough count ...

'' in 2008 changed its endorsement, which had gone to Bradley in 2006, to support Shea-Porter, citing her positions in favor of increased minimum wage, ending the Bush tax cuts, and veterans issues. During her 2008 re-election campaign, she reversed course and requested financial support from the

. The Committee enrolled Congresswoman Shea-Porter in their "Frontline" program "which helps vulnerable incumbents with fundraising and campaign infrastructure."

2010

Shea-Porter was defeated by her Republican opponent, former

Mayor

, who won by a 54% to 42% margin, larger than Shea-Porter has won to date.

2012

Shea-Porter launched a 2012 campaign for her old House seat in New Hampshire's 1st District. She received the endorsement of Democracy for America, and was selected as one of their Dean Dozen. In the general election she narrowly won the seat back from

, who had won in the 2010 election.

2014

Shea-Porter ran for re-election. She was once again a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program, which is designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents heading into the 2014 election. Shea-Porter made ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

s "Ten Most Vulnerable" list for the third quarter. According to ''Roll Call'', New Hampshire is a swing state and could be susceptible to national political trends. The Rothenberg Political Report considered the election a “Toss-up.”

Mayday PAC Mayday PAC is an American crowd-funded non-partisan Super PAC created by Harvard Law School professor and activist Lawrence Lessig. Its purpose is to help elect candidates to the Congress to pass campaign finance reform. It is notable for raisin ...

, a super PAC seeking to reduce the role of money in politics, announced its endorsement of Shea-Porter because of her support of campaign finance reform. She was also being supported in her election campaign by

EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...

, a political action committee that seeks to elect pro-choice Democratic women. Shea-Porter lost to Guinta again by a margin of 52% to 48%.

2016

Shea-Porter ran again for U.S. Congress in 2016 and was elected on November 8. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She faced incumbent Republican

and independent candidate Shawn O'Connor in the general election, defeating them both with 44.2% of the vote to return to Congress. Shea-Porter has lost to Guinta twice and beat him twice. In January 2017, Shea-Porter announced she would not attend the inauguration of Donald Trump according to WMUR-TV and multiple other sources.

Tenure

In 2010, Shea-Porter was a lead co-sponsor of a bill aimed to help protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from the disposal of toxic waste in open air burn pits. Also in 2010, she co-sponsored legislation to establish a national commission to study urological war injuries. After the 2012 Benghazi attack, Shea-Porter said the U.S. should continue a relationship to achieve democracy in Libya. Shea-Porter supports decreasing U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources and agrees with a number of the objectives of financier and oil magnate T. Boone Pickens on these matters including continuance of

emissions trading Emissions trading is a market-oriented approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). One prominen ...

measures, a system already in effect for her constituency in the form of the

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie") is the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, ...

. Shea-Porter opposes the Keystone XL pipeline and believes that the United States needs a policy that moves away from oil as a primary energy source. She voted for the

American Clean Energy and Security Act The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bil ...

, which proposed a cap and trade system under which the government would allocate carbon permits and credits to companies. She has advocated for the creation of a federal institute dedicated to reducing dependence on foreign oil. Shea-Porter voted for the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

(often better known as Obamacare), saying "We’ll continue to work on that, but this is a good bill.” She led an effort to pass the Affordable Care Act and stated her support for closing the "donut hole" in Medicare reimbursements for senior citizens. In June 2013, Shea-Porter voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions that take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization. Shea-Porter voted against the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013, which would have “docked pay for members of Congress if they didn’t make progress on passing a budget.” She also opposed a vote to freeze federal employee pay. In August 2014 Shea-Porter voted against an immigration bill that would increase funding for border protection and more administrative support. Shea-Porter voted for the auto industry bailout and the " Cash for Clunkers" bill. Shea-Porter was named a vice-chair of the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...

Town hall disruptions

Following the passage of the

, many members of Congress held town hall meetings throughout their districts in an effort to explain and, in some cases, defend their votes. Shea-Porter, like several of her colleagues, found herself on the defensive at two such events held in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. She took about a dozen questions at each, the majority of which "were in opposition to Shea-Porter's health care vote.""Tempers hot at Shea-Porter health meetings" Union Leader (August 30, 2010)

Committee assignments

;Previous *

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Workforce is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 45 members of this committee. Since 2025, the chair of the Education and Work ...

(2007–2011; 2017–2019) * Committee on Armed Services (2007–2011; 2013–2015; 2017–2019) ** Subcommittee on Military Personnel ** Subcommittee on Readiness * Committee on Natural Resources (2007–2011; 2013–2015) ** Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs ** Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation She was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Arts Caucus, and the

United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advan ...

Electoral history

! style="background:#ccc;", Year ! style="background:#ccc;", Office ! style="background:#ccc;", Election ! rowspan=7, ! style="background:#ccc;", Subject ! style="background:#ccc;", Party ! style="background:#ccc;", Votes ! style="background:#ccc;", % ! rowspan=7, ! style="background:#ccc;", Opponent ! style="background:#ccc;", Party ! style="background:#ccc;", Votes ! style="background:#ccc;", % ! rowspan=7, ! style="background:#ccc;", Opponent ! style="background:#ccc;", Party ! style="background:#ccc;", Votes ! style="background:#ccc;", % ! rowspan=7, ! style="background:#ccc;", Opponent ! style="background:#ccc;", Party ! style="background:#ccc;", Votes ! style="background:#ccc;", % , - , 2006 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 100,837 , , 51.31 , , Jeb Bradley , , Republican , , 95,538 , , 48.61 , colspan=4, , colspan=4, , - , 2008 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 176,461 , , 51.78 , , Jeb Bradley , , Republican , , 156,394 , , 45.89 , , Robert Kingsbury , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, , 8,100 , , 2.4 , colspan=4, , - , 2010 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 95,503 , , 42.36 , ,

, , Republican , , 121,655 , , 53.96 , , Philip Hodson , , Libertarian , , 7,966 , , 3.5 , colspan=4, , - , 2012 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 171,356 , , 49.7 , , Frank Guinta , , Republican , , 158,482 , , 46.0 , , Brendan Kelly , , Libertarian , , 14,521 , , 4.2 , colspan=4, , - , 2014 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 116,626 , , 48.2 , , Frank Guinta , , Republican , , 125,321 , , 51.8 , colspan=4, , colspan=4, , - , 2016 , , General , , Carol Shea-Porter , , Democratic , , 162,080 , , 44.3 , , Frank Guinta , , Republican , , 157,176 , , 43.0 , {{Party shading/Independent (United States), Shawn O'Connor , {{Party shading/Independent (United States), Independent , {{Party shading/Independent (United States), 34,735 , {{Party shading/Independent (United States), 9.5 , Others , , 11,581 , 3.17 {{S-end

Personal life

Porter is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

.{{Cite report , url=https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2017/01/19161723/Member-affiliations-for-web.pdf , title=Religious affiliation of members of 115th Congress , date=2017-01-03 , publisher=

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

, access-date=2023-04-18

References

{{Reflist, 33em

External links

{{Commons category * {{CongLinks , congbio=S001170 , votesmart=65891 , fec=H6NH01230 , congress=carol-shea-porter/S001170 *{{C-SPAN, 1021773 {{s-start {{s-par, us-hs {{s-bef, before= Jeb Bradley {{s-ttl, title=Member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

New Hampshire's 1st congressional district New Hampshire's 1st congressional district covers parts of Southern New Hampshire and the eastern portion of the state. The district contains parts of Hillsborough, Rockingham, Merrimack, Grafton, and Belknap counties; and the entirety of ...

, years=2007–2011 {{s-aft, after=

, - {{s-bef, rows=2, before=Frank Guinta {{s-ttl, title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district, years=2013–2015 {{s-aft, after=Frank Guinta , - {{s-ttl, title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district, years=2017–2019 {{s-aft, after= Chris Pappas , - {{s-prec, usa {{s-bef, before= Trey Gowdy, as=former U.S. Representative {{s-ttl, title= Order of precedence of the United States
''{{small, as former U.S. Representative'', years= {{s-aft, after= Lewis F. Payne Jr., as=former U.S. Representative {{s-end {{USCongRep-start, congresses= 110th–111th, 113th & 115th

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

es , state=

{{USCongRep/NH/110 {{USCongRep/NH/111 {{USCongRep/Line {{USCongRep/NH/113 {{USCongRep/Line {{USCongRep/NH/115 {{USCongRep-end {{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Shea-Porter, Carol 1952 births 2016 United States presidential electors 21st-century American women politicians American Roman Catholics American social workers Catholics from New Hampshire Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people People from Rochester, New Hampshire University of New Hampshire alumni Women in New Hampshire politics 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives