Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) announced Friday he has formed an exploratory committee for another Senate run, this time in the state of New Hampshire.
“I’m going to stop complaining and get involved again," Brown said. "So I am announcing that I have formed an exploratory committee to prepare a campaign for the U.S. Senate."
Brown made the announcement at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua.
"Together we're going to make 2014 a great Republican year in New Hampshire and all around this country," Brown said.
“A big political wave is about to break in America, and the Obamacare Democrats are on the wrong side of that wave," Brown continued.
According to WMUR-TV's James Pindell, Brown was open about his ambitions even before his big announcement while speaking to college students:
The AP reported Thursday Brown had begun seeking campaign staff in New Hampshire:
Brown spent much of the past two weeks calling key New Hampshire Republican officials and influential GOP activists, saying he was going to run and seeking their support. At the same time, Brown's camp has quietly begun offering paid positions to Republican operatives for a prospective New Hampshire campaign.
Several people involved in the discussions said some in the GOP establishment remain skeptical given the former Republican senator's recent track record. The 54-year-old Brown angered Massachusetts Republicans last year after indicating he would run in the state's special U.S. Senate election, only to change his mind late in the process.
"He's been reaching out to opinion leaders, to grassroots activists, getting a sense of, 'Would you be supporting a Scott Brown campaign,'" said former New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta, who is running again for Congress and was included in Brown's outreach efforts. "That, to me, says he's serious. But I think only Scott Brown knows if Scott Brown is going to run."
Brown set up a New Hampshire-based political action committee called The People’s Seat PAC Inc. in October 2013. In December 2013, Brown confirmed he had moved to New Hampshire, making him eligible to run in that state. He had put his Massachusetts home on the market in September of that year.
At the time, Brown said the move was "strictly personal."
"I am looking forward to being close to my mom as she gets older and needs assistance from my sister and me. I am also looking forward to being closer to my immediate and extended family," Brown said in December.
If Brown runs and wins a Republican primary in the Granite State, he'll face off against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). A February poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed Brown trailing Shaheen 47 percent to 39 percent.
See Brown's full remarks from Friday's speech here.
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