Former Trump ambassador eyes Senate return, potentially setting up rematches in key swing state races

Rye, New Hampshire – exclusive – Scott Brown is on the move.

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

If Brown moves forward and launches his campaign in the coming months, it could set up a high-profile rematch with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a key swing state. A hotly contested and costly Senate conflict.

Brown, 65, who has competed in nine triathlons this year and averages about 40-50 shows a year as the lead singer and guitarist for rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, has done more than just run back to the Senate.

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He has been meeting with various Republican and conservative groups in New Hampshire in recent weeks.

In an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, Brown said he is doing his due diligence and meeting with anyone and everyone. Meetings and gatherings.

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Brown is targeting New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation.

“What really annoys me is how they basically cover it up [President] Joe Biden over the last four years, what they did or didn’t do on the border, what they did and didn’t do on inflation, they’re completely out of touch with what we want in New Hampshire. The more I think about it, I think we can do better,” Brown argued.

Brown, then a senator from blue-state Massachusetts, made headlines in 2010 when he won a special election to the U.S. Senate to serve out the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown is interviewed by Fox News Digital during a “Backyard Barbecue” political event in Rye, New Hampshire, in August 2023 (Fox News-Paul Steinhauser)

After losing re-election in 2012, now Sen. Elizabeth Warren Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, where he spent the first years of his childhood, and his family’s roots stretch back to colonial times. Months later, he launched a Senate campaign and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.

Brown hosted nearly every Republican presidential candidate at speaking engagements in the 2016 cycle, which he called “no-BS backyard barbecues,” ultimately endorsing Trump just weeks before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown to serve as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand. The former senator served in New Zealand for four years.

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After the end of Trump’s first administration, Brown returned to New Hampshire to support his wife, Gayle, a former television news reporter and anchor, running for Congress in 2022.

The Brown family has remained politically active in other ways, again hosting a number of Republican presidential candidates as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at their “backyard barbecue” during the 2024 presidential election.

Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown, left, runs with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on July 30, 2023 in Rye, New Hampshire. (Fox News-Paul Steinhauser)

In May 2023, Brown told Fox News Digital “absolutely” when asked if he would consider running for Senate again.

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

Brown joined late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.

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This time, he stressed, “I have a long runway. The first time obviously didn’t, and I’m going to do what I’ve been doing for almost a decade, go around and meet people who are involved.” In the process.

Months after he changed his residence to New Hampshire, he ran for the Senate for the first time and faced repeated accusations.

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

Amplify NH claimed in a press release that “this gentleman from Massachusetts is seeking another opportunity at power, once again positioning himself as New Hampshire’s Senate candidate.”

Brown said he’s not worried.

“We’ve had a house here for over thirty years and we’ve been working here full-time for over a decade. So now I think it’s old news.”

He also said New Hampshire’s congressional delegation “voted 100 percent for Massachusetts.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering prescription drug costs at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, New Hampshire. Speech (AP Photo/Steven Sene) (Associated Press)

While Shaheen was re-elected by about 16 points in 2020 and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won re-election in 2022 by nearly 9 points, Senate Republicans are eyeing 2026. New Hampshire as they aim to expand the upcoming 53 percentile to New Hampshire. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, are likely to be key targets for Senate Republicans.

Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but cut his deficit to just 3 percentage points in a matchup with Vice President Kamala Harris after losing to the president in the Granite State in 2020 Biden’s gap is 7 percentage points.

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Republicans retained one open gubernatorial seat in the party — former Sen. Kelly Ayotte replaced longtime Gov. Chris Sununu — while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire House and Senate.

Asked if he would like Trump to join his Granite State campaign if he decided to run, Brown said, “Absolutely, if he has the time.”

Brown pointed to Trump and said, “Not only has he obviously helped across the country, but he’s helped here in New Hampshire.”

Former ambassador and former senator Scott Brown performs with his rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats (Scott Brown and The Diplomat)

Shaheen has not yet announced whether she will seek re-election in the Senate. That decision will likely be made early in the new year.

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

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Shaheen will also celebrate his 78th birthday next month.

When asked if age would be a factor in a Shaheen-Brown rematch, Brown said he liked Shaheen and was very grateful for her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added “it’s certainly up to her. ”.

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