Trump’s former ambassador hopes to return to the Senate, which could set up a key campaign rematch in swing states

RYE, NH – EXCLUSIVE – Scott Brown is on the move.

The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate candidate from New Hampshire, who later served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President-elect Trump first administration, is seriously considering running in 2026 to return to Congress.

If Brown goes ahead and launches a campaign in the coming months, he would potentially set up a high-profile rematch with the Democratic party. Es. Jeanne Shaheen, in what would likely be a competitive and costly Senate clash in a key state.

Brown, 65, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who averages 40 to 50 concerts a year as singer and guitarist for the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just thinking about running. to return to the Senate.

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He has met in recent weeks with several Republican and conservative groups. in New Hampshire.

Brown, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, said he is doing his “due diligence, meeting with anyone and everyone. So you’ll see me out there a lot, whether it’s in parades, triathlons, my rock band, meetings and meetings”. go out and really learn.”

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And Brown is taking aim at New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation.

“What really bothers me is how they’ve basically covered up for (President) Joe Biden for the last four years, what they’ve done or haven’t done on the border, what they’ve done and haven’t done on inflation. and they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire and the more I think about it, I think we can do better,” Brown argued.

Brown made headlines in 2010 when the then-state senator from the blue state of Massachusetts won a special election. United States Senate elections to serve out the remainder of the term of the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.

After losing re-election in 2012 to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where she had spent her early childhood and where her family had roots dating back to colonial times. Months later he launched a Senate campaign and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.

After hosting nearly every Republican presidential candidate in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he called “No Backyard BBQs,” Brown finally endorsed Trump in the weeks leading up to the nation’s first primary in New Hampshire. . After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown to be 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 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 stayed politically active in other ways as well, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their “Backyard BBQs” during the 2024 presidential cycle.

When asked in May 2023 if he would consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital “of course.”

Now, as Brown considers another Senate run, time is not against him.

Brown intervened at the end of the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.

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This time, he emphasized: “I have a long history. Obviously I didn’t have it the first time, and I’m going to do what I’ve been doing for almost a decade: go around, meet with people who participate in the process.”

During his first Senate bid, which came months after he changed his residence to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced accusations of bluster.

Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire took aim at Brown.

Amplify NH said in a statement that “the gentleman from Massachusetts is seeking another shot at power, running once again as a Senate candidate from New Hampshire.”

Brown says he’s not worried.

“We’ve had a home here for over three decades and we’ve worked here full time for over a decade. So now I think that’s not news anymore.”

And he maintained that New Hampshire’s congressional delegation “votes 100% with Massachusetts.”

While Shaheen won reelection in 2020, winning by about 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won reelection in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are eyeing New Hampshire in 2026 as they aim to expand their incoming reelection bid. of 53 points. 47 majority in the chamber. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be a major target of Senate Republicans.

Trump lost in New Hampshire last month, but cut his deficit to just three points in his matchup with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020.

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And the GOP kept an open gubernatorial seat in party hands (former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded veteran Gov. Chris Sununu) while expanding its majorities in the New Hampshire state House and Senate.

Asked if he would like Trump to join him on the Granite State campaign trail if he decides to run, Brown said “if he has the time, of course.”

And pointing to Trump, Brown said he “obviously not only helped nationally, but he helped here in New Hampshire.”

Shaheen has yet to announce whether he will seek another term in the Senate. That decision will likely be made early in the new year.

But Shaheen, a former three-term governor of New Hampshire, will take over next month as top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the powerful panel’s top two posts.

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Shaheen will also turn 78 next month.

When asked if age would be a factor in a possible rematch between Shaheen and Brown, Brown said he likes Shaheen and really appreciated her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added that “that’s certainly up to her.”

“I’m 65 years old. I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m 40. My wife says I act like I’m 12,” he added.