The race for an open seat representing the Granite State in the U.S. Senate has kicked off in earnest, after a former Republican U.S. Senator from Massachusetts announced he will seek a return to Congress’ upper chamber.

Former U.S. Ambassador Scott Brown announced Wednesday that he will seek the Republican nomination to the seat soon to be vacated by retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Brown last served in Congress after winning a special election to fill the seat vacated upon the death of long-serving U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas announced in April he would run for the seat.

In a morning social media post, Brown said that he’s running in New Hampshire again — he previously lost to Shaheen in 2014, after moving to the state in 2013 — to “restore common sense, keep our border secure, and fight for our New Hampshire values.”

“My life began here in New Hampshire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,” Brown said in a campaign video with the shipyard as backdrop.

In the time that followed, Brown said, he’s worn a lot of different hats. He served as a U.S. Army officer, as President Donald Trump’s first-term ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, as well as a “coach, husband, dad, and the Republican that won the so-called Kennedy seat.”

“My life has been the American story, but I worry about what America is going to look like in the future for my four grandchildren and all of yours. And, like a lot of you, I’m worried about where this country is headed,” he said.

When the incumbent Democratic lawmaker announced in March she would retire at the end of her term, it quickly became clear that the Republican Party saw New Hampshire as a potential pick-up for the GOP in 2026.

The first candidate floated for the run was former Gov. Chris Sununu, who despite not announcing his candidacy received Trump’s endorsement. That plan was quickly dashed after the former governor indicated he and his family weren’t ready for him to jump back into politics after leaving office at the start of 2025.

Sununu suggested at the time that the seat could be won by a Republican candidate, but that it didn’t have to be him.

In a Fox News interview given in late December, Brown indicated he had begun to perform the “due diligence” required to see if it were time for another run. The results of that research became clear Wednesday morning.

“We’ve been blessed by two great governors, Chris Sununu and Kelly Ayotte, but in Washington we haven’t been represented by the right people,” he said, before attacking Pappas’ record in Congress.

Brown’s video announcement then shifts to Trump, who he said is “fighting to right the ship” thrown off course by the Biden Administration’s policies on the border, Israel’s war in Gaza, and inflation.

“If we send Chris Pappas to the Senate, we’ll get more of the same,” Brown said.

The National Republican Senate Committee followed Brown’s announcement with a ringing endorsement and promise to keep their eye on the ball in New Hampshire.

“Scott Brown is right that Democrats like Chris Pappas are out-of-touch with Granite Staters. New Hampshire is in play for Republicans in 2026, and we play to win,” NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia said in a statement.

Pappas responded to the Brown’s announcement by calling Brown a “MAGA loyalist” who is “running to flip this seat red.”

“New Hampshire rejected him before, and we can do it again,” he wrote.