Key Facts
Career & Education
About
Margaret Coldwell Wood Hassan (née Margaret Coldwell Wood), commonly known as Maggie Hassan, is a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (Democrat), serving as the junior senator since 2017 after winning the 2016 election by a narrow 0.1% margin and reelection in 2022. She serves on the Senate Finance Committee, Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (chair of a subcommittee), Veterans' Affairs Committee, and as Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee since 2025. Prior to the Senate, she was Governor of New Hampshire (2013–2017), elected in 2012 and reelected in 2014, where she balanced budgets, expanded Medicaid, addressed the opioid crisis, legalized medical cannabis, and vetoed concealed carry changes. She previously served in the New Hampshire State Senate (23rd District, 2004–2010), including as Majority Leader (2008–2010). Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Margaret Byers Wood and Robert Coldwell Wood (a political scientist and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Lyndon B. Johnson), she grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and has a brother, Frank Wood, a Tony Award-winning actor. She earned a B.A. in history from Brown University (1980) and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law (1985). Her legal career included positions at Palmer & Dodge (1985–1992), as associate general counsel at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (1993–1996), and at Sullivan, Weinstein & McQuay (1996–1999). In 1999, she was appointed by Gov. Jeanne Shaheen as a citizen advisor to the New Hampshire Advisory Committee to the Adequacy in Education and Finance Commission. She married Thomas Hassan in 1983, whom she met at Brown University; he served as principal of Phillips Exeter Academy (2008–2015) and later as president of School Year Abroad. They have two adult children, Ben (who has cerebral palsy) and Meg, and reside in Newfields, New Hampshire. She is a member of the United Church of Christ. Notable controversies include a 2018 incident involving an intern's profanity toward President Trump, 2019 staffer crimes related to the Kavanaugh hearings, criticism of her husband's handling of sexual abuse allegations at Phillips Exeter Academy (2022), and a 2016 campaign flier controversy. Her estimated net worth was approximately $9.5 million in 2017 and $3.5 million in 2018, with no recent verified figures.