Brown says constituent services would be '2nd to none'

LACONIA — Scott Brown has been involved in politics for decades, and one thing he knows is constituent services are paramount, no matter which side of the aisle you stand on.

Brown has experience in Washington, D.C., albeit serving Massachusetts as senator. The Republican, from Rye, is now making a bid as a Granite Stater, vying for a seat he narrowly lost a decade ago.

With Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) retiring at the end of her term, the seat is up for grabs. Brown and former Sen. John E. Sununu are front runners for the Republican primary in September. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) is shifting gears with his own run for Senate, hoping to keep the seat blue.

In an interview June 11, Brown talked about his run, and what makes him the most viable candidate.

Who is Scott Brown?

Brown was born at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, when his father was in the U.S. Air Force and his mother lived in Portsmouth. He lived there for three years, until his parents split up, sending him to Wakefield, Massachusetts, with his grandparents, in 1963.

Brown’s family history in New England dates back to 1717, and he's a ninth-generation son of the American Revolution out of Newington. He has been a taxpayer in New Hampshire since 1990, and his daughter and sister also live in the Granite State.

“It’s been good to come home,” Brown said. “As you recall, I was the ambassador from New Hampshire to New Zealand.”

Brown graduated from Wakefield High School, before receiving his higher education Tufts University and Boston College Law School. He met his wife, who then got a job in North Carolina. They have been married for 40 years, with two children, and four grandkids.

Brown lived in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and was an assessor, selectboard member, and state representative, then stopped the Democrat’s super majority by winning a special election following the death of longtime U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Brown said this race is really about the 90-day period between June and the primary election, but the previous 15 months is when he’s been able to build a base of support.

“You really only need 75,000 votes to win,” Brown said. “Look at Don Bolduc and Chuck Morse. The establishment supported Chuck, who I love, but Don won because he worked. That’s what I’m doing, as well. I’m glad I’m doing it. I think it’s important to have good people running.”

Why he's running

Brown called Sununu a “good man,” but thinks he is the more qualified candidate. The two live in the same town, and Brown rode his bike by his opponent's house the day before the interview. While he lives just 4 miles away, Brown and Sununu only met once, when he was a senator.

“He came out of left field,” Brown said. “I asked the Sununus if they were going to run and they said, ‘no, no, no.’ In actuality they were. If they had been honest with me, I probably wouldn’t be doing this right now.”

Brown recalls running against Shaheen a decade ago, when he lost by a margin of less than 2%. He ultimately became the ambassador, which he loved, but he said he came back to a different country.

“We have Kelly, the super majority in the Senate, large majority in the House, super majority in the Executive Council, but we have four people in D.C. who are just so far out of touch,” Brown said. “The men and boys, women and girls sports, open borders, sanctuary cities, lying about Joe Biden — who swore me in, I called it like five years ago.”

He said the Democrats, in Washington, have helped put in more taxes and regulations, while thwarting the New Hampshire advantage.

“I felt we need at least maybe one,” Brown said. “One out of four? Two out of 32 in the New England area to have a different opinion, a different voice, someone who has real experience.”

Brown said Sununu does have political experience, and pointed to his nearly four decades in the Army National Guard.

“I joined as an enlisted man after the blizzard of ’78,” Brown said. “Served at the Pentagon the last four years working for one of the joint chiefs. Been to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Dubai, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait. I understand the region, understand what is happening right now with the president, not only militarily, but geopolitically.”

What sets Brown apart

Brown is a grandfather of four, unlike his opponent, and he understands the challenges of young families. He said family and “kitchen table issues” are key aspects of this election.

“Paying for gas, paying for food, paying for schooling, going to getting a great education, keeping your kids safe, you know, dealing with a lot of the kind of crazy upside down stuff we’re seeing.”

Brown doesn’t think Sununu understands what it's like to worry about making the decision to send a kid to summer camp, or giving it up to buy food.

“I understand that,” Brown said. “I am literally living it right now.”

Brown said he started with nothing, his mother was on welfare, and both parents were divorced more than once. He was arrested at 12 years old, and is a sexual assault and a domestic abuse survivor.

“I wasn’t born on third base, and think I got a triple,” Brown said. “I don’t have the big family name, or the restaurant, or people handing me things. I had to go and fight for it.”

Brown noted Sununu has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, as well as the Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Leadership Fund, Turning Point USA, and special interest groups. Pappas, he said, has Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List, and teachers’ unions.

“And then you look at me. I don’t owe anybody anything, and it’s so refreshing,” Brown said.

Brown said independents represent the largest majority in the state, and while people look at him knowing he has been a Trump supporter, he said he has no problem calling him out if he sees something with which he doesn’t agree.

“I still support a lot of what he’s doing, but I’m going to call balls and strikes,” Brown said. “I’m going to call him out, or say, 'Sir, maybe you should look at it differently.' I think he needs people like that.”

Campaigning

Brown said for two cycles he has been holding barbecues, showing up for events, coaching junior high school sports, and campaigning across the state, making himself known. He wonders where Sununu has been, and even said there are people who mistakenly think his brother, former Gov. Chris Sununu, is running.

“He’s not out campaigning,” Brown said. “I have already put on 200 miles today, and I did 450 the other day. I’m going around doing it the New Hampshire way.”

If Brown wins the primary, the focus will be convincing people it's time to vote red. He said New Hampshire has tried blue for quite some time. “How’s that working out for you?”

“The Democrats have already lined up in our Legislature, saying what they want to do,” Brown said. "They want to institute an income tax, a sales tax, repeal interest and dividends tax, have the wokeism, DEI, all those things, the sanctuary cities, they want all that.”

Brown thinks NH has a chance to determine who controls the U.S. Senate, and thinks bringing him to the table, with his qualifications, would be beneficial. He also said Sununu tends to run on smoke and mirrors, saying he will stop ICE facilities, and he hasn’t passed any key legislation.

“You see the pattern every time he runs,” Brown said. “What has he actually done? I think that’s what people are saying. That’s what they’re saying to me at least.”

Not only has Brown been a U.S. senator, he has been an ambassador, which he said neither Sununu nor Pappas have experience in. He said when it comes to international affairs, there is no learning curve.

Country at a crossroads

Brown said since he got back from New Zealand, the country has changed, and the rhetoric is “off the charts.” He said he’s been called a fascist and a Nazi, and is unsure why, considering he took the oath of office, to protect and defend, almost 40 years ago. He has family members who don’t talk to their parents because they voted for Trump.

“When has that happened?” Brown asked. “I am a Ronald Reagan-, Tip O’Neill-philosophy guy. You battle by day, then grab a Scotch, come to work, and do your job. I’ve always been like that. I try to find one shred of something we can agree on.”

Brown said as ambassador, in the embassy, he used music to try to come to a common vision, to see eye to eye. He said this was hard at times, being in a left-leaning country and representing a Trump-led U.S., but he always found ways to have a conversation. He loved having barbecues, participating in triathlons, talking about life, anything to win the hearts and minds.

“I’ve noticed in our country there is so much anger,” Brown said. “I don’t want to choose left or right, but I see with the people on the left a lot, they are just very angry.”

Brown acknowledged the current division, but said he is a “Scott Brown Republican,” and the only people he owes anything to are the residents of this state and country. He said the thing that's always saved him is he reads the bills, which often takes the politics out of things.

“A good idea is a good idea, and if it is something that is going to benefit New Hampshire, or hurt New Hampshire, I will obviously support or not support it,” Brown said. “That’s the priority.”

Brown said New Hampshire is nothing like Massachusetts, or really most of New England, saying the Live Free or Die mentality is being thwarted by the federal delegation.

“That’s one of the reasons I am running,” Brown said.

Brown said when people call him, they say they need help immediately. He learned from taking over for Kennedy, in Massachusetts, he had to drastically improve constituent services. He said his constituent services will be “second to none.”

“The thing we need, and people are asking for, is they want someone to pick up the phone when they call the office and solve their problems,” Brown said. “Constituent services, in my mind, are the most important thing.”

For more information, visit scottbrown.com.