2026 senate race: Scott Brown launches bid to flip battleground New Hampshire seat from blue to pink; Pappas criticizes

Chris Pappas (left-X@ChrisPappasNH) and Scott Brown (AP)

Former ambassador and former senator Scott Brown launched his marketing campaign for senate within the swing state of New Hampshire on Wednesday.“I’m running for the United States senate to restore common sense, keep our border secure, and fight for our New Hampshire values,” Brown, a Republican, mentioned in a marketing campaign video announcement, posted on X. Brown, a former senator from neighbouring Massachusetts, is the primary main Republican to soar into the 2026 battle, coming into the race to substitute retiring longtime Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. But this isn’t his first try. He was 2014 senate GOP nominee in New Hampshire, dropping to Shaheen in a detailed contest.The race is anticipated to be aggressive and one with excessive stakes. Senate Republicans are eyeing to flip the decade-long congressional delegation from the New England state from blue to pink, alongside concentrating on Georgia and Michigan to broaden their 53-478 majority within the chamber.Brown, who served as ambassador to New Zealand within the first Trump administration, praised the President, who misplaced the battleground state to former vice-president Kamala Harris with a slender margin final November, in his launch video, saying that Trump “is fighting every day to right the ship. He sealed the border, he stood up to China, and he restored our standing in the world.”His announcement follows former New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu’s earlier determination not to launch a senate marketing campaign, regardless of President Trump publicly expressing his want for the favored reasonable to enter the race.In his marketing campaign launch video, Brown took purpose at former President Joe Biden and New Hampshire consultant Chris Pappas, who, as of now, appears to be the uncontested frontrunner for the Democratic nomination within the Senate race. 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.” He added, “Chris Pappas wants a better title,” he mentioned. “I want a better America.”Pappas’ marketing campaign was fast to fireplace again.“While Scott Brown looks for yet another opportunity to do Wall Street’s bidding and blindly support President Trump and his agenda, I’ll always put New Hampshire first,” the four-term congressman mentioned in an announcement to Fox News.The New Hampshire Democratic celebration additionally took a shot at Brown, “Scott Brown is a Trump loyalist running for senate to do the bidding of Wall Street and big corporations and support Trump’s reckless agenda of chaotic tariffs, gutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and pushing an extreme abortion agenda. New Hampshire voters rejected Brown once before, and they will reject him again,” longtime state celebration chair Ray Buckley argued in an announcement.While Brown would be the first main Republican within the race he’s not the one Republican eyeing nomination. Businessman and lawyer Phil Taub, well known for his veterans-focused charity, ‘Swim with a Mission’, is weighing a possible senate run. Other attainable contenders embody state senator Dan Innis and businessman Walter McFarlane.Brown has been laying the groundwork for an additional senate run for a number of months, together with becoming a member of GOP senators at their weekly lunch in March and sustaining connections with the Republican senate marketing campaign group.