Former Republican US Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts seeks to succeed Shaheen in New Hampshire
Brown, 65, was born at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and moved to Massachusetts as a toddler. After several terms in the state Legislature, he won a special election in 2010 for the U.S. Senate seat that had been held for decades by Edward Kennedy.
He lost to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012. He then moved to New Hampshire, where he unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen for the Senate in 2014. Shaheen, now serving her third term in the Senate, announced in March she would not seek reelection in 2026.
Brown also served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during President Donald Trump's first administration and briefly as dean of New England Law in Boston.
He first announced he was running to WMUR-TV.
'We've been blessed by two great governors, Chris Sununu and Kelly Ayotte,' Brown said in a campaign announcement video of the former and current Republican leaders. 'But in Washington, we haven't been represented by the right people.'
New Hampshire has an all-Democrat congressional delegation, with four-term Congressman Chris Pappas, 44, announcing his candidacy for the Senate seat in April.
Brown said in his video that Pappas 'has stood with Joe Biden as he opened the border, drove up the cost of everything, and made life just simply unaffordable.'
Pappas responded in a statement following Brown's announcement.
He said Brown 'stands with corporate special interests, supports efforts to strip away health care coverage from tens of thousands of Granite Staters, and backs President Trump's reckless tariffs that New Hampshire small businesses are speaking out against every single day.'
Brown announced his candidacy after Sununu declined to run. The popular governor decided not to seek a fifth, two-year term last year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier slept in House chamber after refusing GOP-mandated permission slip to leave
Claim: In August 2025, Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, slept overnight in the state House chamber because Republicans mandated that no Democratic lawmakers could not leave without a "permission slip" and a police escort, conditions she refused to accept. Rating: Context: Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, Texas Republicans announced they would redraw the state's U.S. congressional district maps mid-decade. The new maps projected that Republicans would gain five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democratic lawmakers protested the redistricting by leaving the state and preventing the quorum needed for a legislative vote on the redistricting. When the Democrats returned, Republicans mandated they not be allowed to leave the House chamber without a "permission slip" and a police escort, ostensibly to prevent them from leaving the state again. On Aug. 18, 2025, posts appeared on social media platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and X, claiming that Texas Republicans in the state House of Representatives had locked state Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, in the House chamber overnight, refusing to allow her to leave until she signed a "permission slip" and agreed to a police escort. Snopes readers wrote in and searched the site for more information about the incident. The claim is true. It was reported in several reliable publications, including The Texas Tribune, CBS News and NBC News. Collier posted to her X account on Aug. 19 showing her sleeping in the House. Collier's decision to remain in the House chamber rather than accept the Republicans' conditions was the latest development in a long chain of events that began in June 2025 when The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was pushing the state of Texas to redraw its federal congressional districts mid-decade in order to preserve the thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. District maps are generally drawn every decade following the census. Redrawing them mid-decade without being ordered to do so by a court is rare, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Texas is one of 26 states where the state legislators have the power to draw the maps. State Republicans, who control a majority in both legislative houses, agreed to redistrict, and submitted a congressional map that would likely turn five Democratic seats into Republican seats. State Democrats (and many Texans) protested the move. However, the Democratic Party hasn't held a majority in Texas since 2002, giving them very little power in the legislature to stop the redistricting proposal. According to The Texas Tribune, however, there is one option that both political parties in the state have used to delay legislation since as early as 1870 — denying a quorum. In order for a legislature to vote on a measure, a certain number of representatives must be present. This number is called a quorum. Without the politicians, no votes. So, state Democrats left Texas to block the redistricting bill's passage. Republican officials retaliated by issuing civil arrest warrants for the missing Democrats, although the move was largely symbolic because the warrants applied only within state lines. They also "moved to extradite absent members from Illinois, launched investigations and sought to declare at least one Democrat's seat vacant," according to The Texas Tribune. The missing Democrats returned to Texas following California Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement of a ballot initiative that would let that state redraw its own congressional districts to counteract the Texas redistricting. State House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Democrats would be given a permission slip that allowed them to leave the House on the condition that they were given an "around-the-clock escort" by Texas state troopers to ensure they did not attempt to break the legislative quorum again. Collier refused the police escort, meaning she would not be allowed to leave the state House until the next day when the body reconvened. "I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts," Collier said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. "When I press that button to vote, I know these maps will harm my constituents — I won't just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination." Astudillo, By Carla. "Texas Republicans' Redistricting Map: How the GOP Could Increase Its Stronghold." The Texas Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025, Betts, By Hayden. "Denying Quorum Has Been a Texas Political Strategy since 1870." The Texas Tribune, 3 Aug. 2025, Davisson, Matthew, and Jack Fink. Texas Democrat Says She's Locked inside State Capitol after Refusing Mandatory DPS Escort - CBS Texas. 19 Aug. 2025, Eckman, Sarah J., and Whitaker L. Paige. Mid-Decade Congressional Redistricting: Key Issues. In Focus, IF13082, Congressional Research Service, "Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier Refuses to Leave Texas House, Protesting State Trooper Escorts." KERA News, 19 Aug. 2025, Goodman, J. David, and Shane Goldmacher. "White House Pushes Texas to Redistrict, Hoping to Blunt Democratic Gains." The New York Times, 9 Jun. 2025, Governor Abbott Orders Texas Department Of Public Safety To Arrest Delinquent House Democrats. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. Guo, By Kayla. "Rep. Nicole Collier Spends Night on Texas House Floor after Refusing Police Escort." The Texas Tribune, 19 Aug. 2025, ---. "Texas House Democrats Return to Capitol, Ending Walkout over Redistricting Plan." The Texas Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025, Izzo, Jack. "This Democratic US House District in Texas Is Real, but It Was Drawn by Republicans." Snopes, 8 Aug. 2025, Klibanoff, By Eleanor. "Texas House Issues Arrest Warrants for Democrats Who Left State to Block Congressional Redistricting." The Texas Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025, Koseff, Alexei. "5 Things to Know about Gavin Newsom's Plan to Redraw California's Election Maps." CalMatters, 18 Aug. 2025. Lewis, Daniel. 'We've Had Enough': Texas Democrat Who Slept on State House Floor Speaks out | CNN Politics. 2025. "National Overview." All About Redistricting, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. "Party Control of Texas State Government." Ballotpedia, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. "Texas Democratic Legislator Is Sleeping in the State Capitol after Refusing Security Escort to Leave." NBC News, 19 Aug. 2025, Tracy, Matt. "Over 300 Protests Held Saturday against Trump Redistricting Push." Reuters, 17 Aug. 2025.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump's White House Joins TikTok
President Trump has started an official White House account on TikTok, deepening his ties with the Chinese-owned social media company as he repeatedly declines to enforce a federal law that would ban the company's app because of national security concerns. The first post by @WhiteHouse on TikTok — showing Mr. Trump at various events while dramatic music plays — referenced a viral video on the social media site that featured footage from the movie 'Creed' and music by the rapper Kendrick Lamar. The White House's embrace of TikTok continues a remarkable turnabout for Mr. Trump, who tried to ban the platform in his first term. Mr. Trump created a personal account in June 2024, and his popularity on the app soared amid his effort to court TikTok's predominantly younger voters. Donors to Mr. Trump and the company's executives have also undertaken a lobbying effort to prevent TikTok from going dark in the United States. Mr. Trump's return to TikTok — the last post on his personal account was on Election Day — is the latest sign that he has little intention of enforcing the national security ban on the app. The ban stemmed from a 2024 law that requires app stores and cloud computing providers to stop distributing or hosting TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. A bipartisan coalition in Congress passed the law over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to gather information about Americans or spread propaganda. After drawing a devoted following on TikTok that supported his successful re-election bid, the president-elect threw the app an unexpected lifeline in its quest to continue operating in the United States. Hours after the federal law banning the app took effect in the final days of the Biden administration, Mr. Trump said that he would issue an executive order to delay the enforcement of the ban. The law has a section allowing Mr. Trump to grant a 90-day extension if a buyer is found, but only if there is 'significant progress' toward a deal that puts TikTok in the hands of a non-Chinese company. Mr. Trump made several additional extensions anyway. TikTok has until mid-September to find a new owner, but Mr. Trump could grant another extension.
USA Today
24 minutes ago
- USA Today
White House launches official TikTok account: 'America we are BACK!'
WASHINGTON - The White House launched an official TikTok account on Aug. 19, taking advantage of the short video app's more than 170 million U.S. users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump. Trump has a soft spot for the popular app, crediting it with helping him gain support among young voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election. Lawmakers in Washington worry, however, that its U.S. user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for U.S. investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance. Past intelligence assessments have said the app's owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans. The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Aug. 19 with an initial video showing footage of Trump as he declares: "I am your voice." "America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?" the caption read. The TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year, @realdonaldtrump, has more than 15 million followers. The Republican president also relies heavily on his Truth Social account to deliver his message and posts occasionally on his X account. "The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. "President Trump's message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we're excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before," she said. A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by Jan. 19 of this year unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump opted not to enforce the law after he began his second term as president on Jan. 20. He first extended the deadline to early April, then to June 19, and then again to Sept. 17. Extensions to the deadline have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring national security concerns related to Chinese control over TikTok. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Rod Nickel and Edmund Klamann)
