Would New Hampshire voters embrace former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) if he ran for U.S. Senate in their state?
Brown sold his home in Massachusetts on Dec. 17 and has reportedly reached out to a town clerk in Rye, N.H. (where he has a second home) to establish that as his official place of residence. He’s headlining a New Hampshire Republican State Committee annual holiday party fundraiser on Dec. 19. In October, he launched a political action committee, the People’s Seat PAC, which allows him to contribute to statewide candidates. And so far he’s only forgotten which state he’s in once -- though such slip-ups won’t help with the conservative New Hampshire state lawmakers who’ve threatened armed rebellion were he to win a Granite State Senate seat.
Though Brown hasn’t announced that he will challenge Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in 2014, there are precedents for such a cross-border move. The following politicians thought the grass might be greener across state lines.
Liz Cheney
Cheney moved her family from Virginia to Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2012, initially insisting that she was focused on helping GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. She announced her U.S. Senate bid challenging incumbent Mike Enzi, a fellow Republican, earlier this year.
Hillary Clinton
Instead of returning to Arkansas, the Clintons moved out of the White House and into a white-shingled house in Chappaqua, N.Y., at the end of President Bill Clinton’s second term. Terry McAuliffe, the president’s chief fundraiser at the time and now the Democratic governor elect of Virginia, personally secured the loan on the home. Hillary Clinton visited every county in the state on a “listening tour” and went on to win her bid for U.S. Senate in 2000.
Dennis Kucinich
When redistricting eliminated his Ohio seat in the 2012 election, then-Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) considered -- but did not ultimately follow through on -- a move to Washington state. Progressive groups courted him to run in Washington, though state Democratic leaders were opposed to the idea.
Ben Jones
Former “Dukes of Hazzard” star Ben Jones, a Democrat, represented a Georgia district in the House for two terms before running and losing in Virginia in 2002 against current House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R).
Bill Brock
Brock served one term as a U.S. senator for Tennessee. After losing his reelection bid in 1976, he became chairman of the Republican National Committee and then served as the U.S. trade representative and later secretary of labor under President Ronald Reagan. He resigned his Cabinet post to run Sen. Bob Dole’s 1988 presidential campaign. In 1994, by then an established resident of Maryland, he won that state's Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Democratic incumbent Paul Sarbanes soundly defeated him.
Endicott “Chub” Peabody
Pulling a reverse-Brown, Peabody, a former Democratic governor from Massachusetts, moved to Hollis, N.H., to challenge GOP incumbent Warren Rudman for the U.S. Senate in 1986. He lost that race and a subsequent race for a House seat.
Ed Foreman
Foreman, now a motivational speaker, was elected to the House from Texas and served one term. Following his loss in 1964, the Republican moved across the border and four years later won a House seat in New Mexico, where he was again defeated after one term.
James Shields
Shields is the only person in U.S. history to represent three different states -- Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri -- in the Senate. He also nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln in 1842, after Lincoln published inflammatory letters mocking him.
Daniel Webster
Webster spent two terms in the House as a member of the New Hampshire delegation before moving to Massachusetts to serve as both a representative and a senator. He spent 19 years in the Senate, where he gave a controversial speech calling for a compromise on slavery in 1850.
Sam Houston
Houston served as governor of Tennessee before playing a crucial role in the fight for Texas independence: As the commander of the Texas Army, he won the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. He later served Texas as both a senator and governor.
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