Former Trump Ambassador Scott Brown launches bid to flip key battleground Senate seat from blue to red
"My life has been the American story, but I worry about what America is going to look like for my four grandchildren — and all of yours," Brown said in a campaign video announcement, which was shared first nationally with Fox News.
Brown is a former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and the 2014 GOP Senate nominee in New Hampshire who later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President Donald Trump's first administration. He becomes the first major Republican to jump into the 2026 battle to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
It's expected to be a competitive and expensive race for a seat the GOP is working to flip from blue to red. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, are the three top targets for Senate Republicans as they aim to expand their 53-47 majority in the chamber.
While Republicans enjoy total control of New Hampshire's state government, the Granite State, for nearly a decade, has had an all-Democratic congressional delegation.
And Brown took aim at them in an interview with Fox News Digital, arguing that "they're just really out of touch with the values of New Hampshire. … I think we can do better.
"I'm looking to help save America and help protect our New Hampshire advantage," Brown added, referring to the state's economic and social characteristics, which have long made it attractive for businesses and residents.
In his campaign launch video, Brown criticized former President Joe Biden and Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, who at this early date appears to have cleared the field in the race for the Democratic Party Senate nomination.
Pointing to what he charged was "the soaring inflation, open borders, rising crime and extreme-left policies" of the Biden administration, Brown argued, "Chris Pappas has stood with Joe Biden every step of the way, from opening the border to driving up the cost of everything. It's time for a change."
Brown has made a handful of trips to the nation's capital to meet with GOP leaders and officials, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott of South Carolina.
And Brown told Fox News he's been dealing with the Trump political team.
"I support him. I would love his support," Brown said of his former boss, whom he noted he voted for in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
In his announcement video, he added that "President Trump is fighting every day to right the ship."
Pointing to the military strike the president launched on Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend weekend, Brown said Trump's decision was "brilliant, and he should be commended."
And he criticized Pappas for saying in a statement, "I am monitoring the situation in Iran closely."
"There's nothing to monitor. The president did the right thing," Brown argued.
On the eve of Brown's campaign launch, the New Hampshire Democratic Party pilloried Brown as a "Trump loyalist" and charged that he "has a decade-long, extreme record on abortion."
While Brown is the first major Republican in the race, he may not have the GOP primary field to himself.
Republican businessman and attorney Phil Taub, best known for his Swim with a Mission charity supporting veterans, is considering a run. Among the others mulling a bid are state Sen. Dan Innis and businessman Walter McFarlane.
Brown made headlines in 2010 as a state senator in blue state Massachusetts when he won a special U.S. Senate election to serve the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.
After losing re-election in 2012 to Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he had spent the first years of his childhood and where his family had roots dating back to the colonial era. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.
After hosting nearly all the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he called "No BS backyard BBQs," Brown eventually endorsed Trump in the weeks ahead of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years.
Returning to New Hampshire at the end of the first Trump administration, Brown supported his wife Gail, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022.
And the Browns also stayed politically active in other ways, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates at their "Backyard BBQs" during the 2024 presidential cycle.
Asked in May 2023 if he'd consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital, "Of course."
Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.
This time around, the 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons last year and who, on average, performs around 40–50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is giving himself plenty of political runway.
Brown has been crisscrossing New Hampshire since late last year, meeting with Republican and conservative groups.
"It's different than when I ran before,," Brown told Fox News. "I've now had the opportunity to go to places that, quite frankly, I didn't have time to do [in his 2014 campaign]. I've been meeting with people, meeting with everybody."
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