Sharon Carson is a member of the New Hampshire State Senate, representing District 14. She assumed office in 2008. Her current term ends on December 2, 2026. Carson was elected unanimously as President of the New Hampshire Senate, on December 4, 2024. Carson is originally from Limestone, Maine. She served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1978 to 1995, attaining the rank of Sergeant First Class. She received an associate degree in laboratory technology from Mount Wachusett Community College, and her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in American History from the University of New Hampshire. She also worked as an adjunct professor at Nashua Community College. Carson served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008. During her House tenure, she served on the House Education Committee. She was elected to the New Hampshire Senate in 2008. In 2022, Carson became state Senate majority leader. WMUR TV's Adam Sexton wrote that Carson "is known in Concord for a no-nonsense approach to politics and her work on public safety issues and [the state's Division for Children, Youth, and Families] reform." In 2023, she sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would require teachers to tell parents of changes to a student's gender identity. Also in 2023 she voted to end discussion of a bill that would have legalized cannabis in New Hampshire, defeating the bill. Upon her swearing-in as Senate president, she said she wanted to "preserve and expand the New Hampshire advantage, ensuring that our state remains a place where families thrive, businesses grow, and communities flourish." In 2025, Carson outlined priorities for the legislative session and said, "We will increase transparency in school budgets, we will continue to support funding for special education, and we will provide communities with property tax relief by sending state aid to local school districts through the student-centered education funding formula." Also in 2025, Carson introduced a bill that would make the state's Division for Children, Youth, and Families a separate department from the state's Department of Health and Human Services.
