WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, the first woman elected to Congress from New Hampshire, said Friday she’s retiring at the end of her term.

Shea-Porter, 64, said in a statement that “the time has come in my life to pause and decide on a different path.”

Shea-Porter, who was a community activist before coming to Washington, has cut a reliably liberal profile, voting for the “Obamacare” health law and the 2010 financial overhaul bill. She has been an ally of Nancy Pelosi.

She said she shares “a vision of an America with government that believes in honest and open elections, creates opportunity for all, supports local business and grows the economy while it cares for its young, its old, and its most vulnerable citizens, and believes in good stewardship of our Earth and its resources.”

She was originally elected in the Democratic wave of 2006 and has swapped the seat back and forth with former Republican Rep. Frank Guinta, depending on the state’s electoral whims. She won it back last year, with 44 percent of the vote in a three-way race.