Stefany Shaheen’s kids donated $7,000 each to their mom’s campaign, federal disclosures show
New Hampshire congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen (D.), the daughter of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D.), received the federal maximum in campaign donations from her four Gen Z children, financial disclosures show. Three of them are unemployed and one just graduated high school.
Stefany Shaheen’s kids donated $7,000 each to their mother’s campaign on June 30, according to campaign finance records. That includes Stefany Shaheen’s youngest son, who graduated from high school in May and will attend Duke to play baseball this year. The donations were part of a $525,000 fundraising haul that the 51-year-old Democrat, who is running to replace outgoing Rep. Chris Pappas (D.), has attributed to strong “grassroots” support for her “people-powered” campaign.
The hefty donations from the Shaheen kids raise questions about how they came up with the cash to fund their mother’s campaign. Stefny Shaheen’s three youngest children, who range in age from 19 to 21, are “not employed,” according to campaign disclosures. Her eldest daughter, 25, runs a media production company.
Candidates are allowed to take campaign donations from their children regardless of their ages, but the practice has raised ethics and legal concerns in other races, especially when the children in question are young or unemployed.
In 2022, Vermont House candidate Liam Madden, a Republican, admitted that he distributed $25,000 from his wife’s bank account to his children, including a toddler son, to make maximum donations in their names in order to qualify for a debate. Such “straw donor” schemes—in which campaign donors give money in another person’s name—are illegal.
Last year, Arizona House candidate Conor O’Callaghan, a Democrat, faced scrutiny over thousands of dollars in donations from his three children, all of whom were in elementary school. O’Callaghan was accused of making “straw donor” donations, but provided bank statements to Arizona media outlets that showed the funds came from the children’s accounts.
The Shaheens have not been accused of straw donor activity, but the donations have already raised eyebrows in New Hampshire political circles.
“Maxing out to the tune of $7,000 in their early 20s is impressive,” Democratic activist Jay Surdokowski told local outlet NH Journal. “I couldn’t afford that until I was at least 35 and even then it was a real stretch—still is, to be honest.”
Stefany Shaheen’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment or documents to show the origins of her children’s donations. It has touted her $525,000 fundraising tally as a record for a first-time New Hampshire House candidate in the first quarter of their campaign. Democratic candidate Maura Sullivan, who ran for a House seat in 2018, raised $800,000 in the same quarter.
A large chunk of that pie has come from the Shaheen family and allies of Jeanne Shaheen, who was elected New Hampshire governor in 1996 and senator in 2007.
In addition to the children’s donations, Shaheen family relatives gave at least $32,000 to the campaign, according to campaign records. Jeanne Shaheen’s political action committee, A New Direction, gave $5,000 to the campaign, and the PACs of five Senate Democrats gave another $22,500.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic megadonor John Morgan made maximum donations to Stefany Shaheen’s campaign, and former secretary of state John Kerry gave $1,500 to her campaign, records show.
It’s perhaps a testament to the power of the Shaheen name in New Hampshire politics that the House candidate kept her maiden name and passed it to her four children. Stefany Shaheen is married to Craig Welch, the executive director of the Portsmouth Housing Authority. Welch contributed $7,000 to his wife’s campaign, records show.
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