Rye, New Hampshire – Exclusive -Scott Brown is on the move.
The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate candidate for New Hampshire, who then served a four-year term as US ambassador to New Zealand in 2014. President-elect Trump The first administration, is seriously considering a 2026 run to return to Congress.
If Brown moves forward and launches a campaign in the coming months, it will likely lead to a high-profile rematch with Democrats that it. Jean Shaheen, In what will likely be a competitive and costly Senate fight in a key swing state.
The 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who averages 40 to 50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just considering a run to return to the Senate. .
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Former Senator and former Ambassador Scott Brown, who is considering a run for the New Hampshire Senate in 2026, is competing in 9 tri-state races in 2024. (Scott Brown)
He has met in recent weeks with various Republican and conservative groups In New Hampshire.
In an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, Brown said he does his “due diligence, meeting with anyone and everyone. So you'll see me pretty much everywhere, whether it's at parades, triathlons, my rock band, or Meetings and meetings. Go out and really learn.”
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Brown is targeting the congressional delegation, which includes all Democrats in New Hampshire.
“The thing that really surprises me is how they basically covered up for (President) Joe Biden over the last four years, what they did or didn't do at the border, what they did and didn't do with inflation.” “They're so far from what we want here in New Hampshire, and the more I think about it, the more I think we can do a better job,” Brown said.
Brown made headlines in 2010 when the then-blue Massachusetts state senator won a special award. US Senate elections To serve the remainder of the term of the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.
Former Ambassador and former Senator Scott Brown speaks with Fox News Digital, at one of his political events, “Backyard BBQ,” in August 2023 in Rye, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
After losing re-election in 2012 to the incumbent Senator. Elizabeth Warren Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he spent the early years of his childhood and where his family has roots dating back to colonial times. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.
After hosting nearly all of the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he called “No BS Backyard BBQs,” Brown ultimately endorsed Trump in the weeks leading up to the nation's first primary in New Hampshire. After Trump was elected president, Brown was nominated as US ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years.
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Returning to New Hampshire at the end of Trump's first administration, Brown supported his wife, Jill, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022.
The Browns have also remained politically active in other ways, once again hosting several Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their “backyard barbecues” during the 2024 presidential cycle.
Former Ambassador and former Senator Scott Brown (L), joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as DeSantis is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, in Rye, New Hampshire on July 30, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
He was asked in May 2023 if he would consider running again for the Senate, Brown told Fox News Digital “naturally.”
Now, as Brown considers running again for the Senate, time is working against him.
Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.
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This time, he emphasized, “I have a long runway. Obviously I didn't have that the first time, and I'm going to do what I've been doing for almost a decade now, which is go around and meet with people involved in this process.”
During his first Senate run, which came months after he changed his residence to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced accusations of corruption.
Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire targeted Brown.
“The gentleman from Massachusetts is seeking another shot at power, once again portraying himself as a Senate candidate for New Hampshire,” Amplify NH claimed in a statement.
Brown says he's not worried.
“We've had a home here for over three decades, and we've been working full-time here for over a decade. So now I think this is old news.”
New Hampshire's congressional delegation “votes 100% with Massachusetts,” he said.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Stephen Sini) (AP)
While Shaheen qualified for reelection in 2020, winning by nearly 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won reelection in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are looking to New Hampshire in 2026 where they aim to expand the 53-point mark. 47 majority in the Council. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be heavily targeted by Senate Republicans.
Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but reduced his deficit to just three points in his confrontation with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020.
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The GOP kept an open governor's seat in party hands — former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded longtime Gov. Chris Sununu — while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire House and Senate.
Asked if he would like Trump to join him on the campaign trail in the Granite State if he decided to run, Brown said, “If he had the time, of course.”
Referring to Trump, Brown said: “Not only has he obviously helped nationally, he's helped here in New Hampshire.”
Former Ambassador and former Senator Scott Brown performs with rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats (Scott Brown and the Diplomats)
Shaheen has not yet announced whether she will seek another term in the Senate. This decision is likely to come early in the new year.
But Shaheen, a former three-term New Hampshire governor, will next month take over as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the powerful committee's two top positions.
Shaheen will also turn 78 next month.
In response to a question about whether age would be a factor in a potential rematch between Shaheen and Brown, Brown said that he loves Shaheen and really appreciates her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added that “it is definitely up to her.”
He added, “I am 65 years old. I cannot believe it. I feel like I am 40 years old. My wife says I act like I am 12 years old.”
