Northeast
Former Trump ambassador eyes Senate return, potentially setting up key swing state campaign rematch
RYE, N.H. – EXCLUSIVE – Scott Brown is on the move.
The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, who later served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President-elect Trump’s first administration, is seriously considering a 2026 run to return to Congress.
If Brown moves ahead and launches a campaign in the months ahead, it would potentially set up a high-profile rematch with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in what would likely be a competitive and expensive Senate clash in a key swing state.
The 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who on average performs around 40–50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just thinking about running to return to the Senate.
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Former senator and former ambassador Scott Brown, who’s considering a 2026 run for the Senate in New Hampshire, competed in 9 triathlons in 2024. (Scott Brown)
He’s been meeting in recent weeks with various Republican and conservative groups in New Hampshire.
Brown, in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, said he’s doing his “due diligence, meeting with anybody and everybody. So you’ll be seeing me a lot around, whether it’s parades, triathlons, my rock band, meeting and getting out and really learning.”
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And Brown is taking aim at New Hampshire’s all-Democrat congressional delegation.
“The thing that really ticks me off is how they’ve basically covered up for [President] Joe Biden for the last four years, what they’ve done or not done on the border, what they’ve done and not done in inflation, and they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better,” Brown argued.
Brown made headlines in 2010 as the then-state senator in blue-state Massachusetts won a special U.S. Senate election to serve the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown speaks with Fox News Digital, at one of his ‘Backyard BBQ’ political events, in August 2023 in Rye, New Hampshire (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
After losing re-election in 2012 to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he had spent the first years of his childhood and where his family had roots dating back to the colonial era. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.
After hosting nearly all the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he termed “No BS backyard BBQs,” Brown eventually endorsed Trump in the weeks ahead of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years.
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Returning to New Hampshire at the end of the first Trump administration, Brown supported his wife Gail, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022.
And the Browns also stayed politically active in other ways, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their “Backyard BBQs” during the 2024 presidential cycle.
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown (left), is joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as DeSantis ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, in Rye, New Hampshire on July 30, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Asked in May 2023 if he’d consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital “of course.”
Now, as Brown considers another Senate run, time isn’t working against him.
Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.
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This time around, he emphasized, “I have a long runway. I didn’t have that obviously the first time, and I’m going to do what I have been doing for almost a decade now, going around, meeting with people participating in the process.”
During his first Senate run, which came months after he changed his residency to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced carpetbagger accusations.
Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire took aim at Brown.
Amplify NH claimed in a release that “the gentleman from Massachusetts is clawing for another chance at power, framing himself once again as a Senate candidate for New Hampshire.”
Brown says he’s not concerned.
“We’ve had a house here for over three decades, and we’ve been fully engaged full-time here for over a decade. So now I think that’s old news.”
And he argued that New Hampshire’s congressional delegation “votes 100% with Massachusetts.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (AP)
While Shaheen cruised to re-election in 2020, winning by roughly 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won re-election in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are eyeing New Hampshire in 2026 as they aim to expand their incoming 53-47 majority in the chamber. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be heavily targeted by Senate Republicans.
Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but he cut his deficit to just three points in his face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020.
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And the GOP kept an open gubernatorial seat in party hands – former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded longtime Gov. Chris Sununu – while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire state House and Senate.
Asked if he’d like Trump to join him on the Granite State campaign trail if he decides to run, Brown said “if he’s got the time, of course.”
And pointing to Trump, Brown said “not only did he help obviously, nationally, he helped here in New Hampshire.”
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown performs with his rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats (Scott Brown and the Diplomats)
Shaheen has yet to announce if she’ll seek another term in the Senate. That decision will likely come early in the new year.
But Shaheen, in a fundraising email to supporters on Friday, didn’t sound like she was getting ready to retire.
“Democrats need to be ready to fight back” against the incoming Trump administration, she wrote. The senator added that last month’s election setbacks for Democrats highlight that “early preparation has never been more important.”
And Shaheen, a former three-term New Hampshire governor, is taking over next month as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the top two positions on the powerful panel.
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Shaheen also turns 78 next month.
Asked if age would be a factor in a potential Shaheen-Brown rematch, Brown said he likes Shaheen and really appreciated her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added that “that’s certainly up to her.”
“I’m 65. I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m 40. My wife says I act like I’m like 12, he added.
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New Hampshire
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New Jersey
Soaking rain, gusty winds looming in N.J. this weekend before cold air sweeps in
New Jersey residents can expect quiet conditions Thursday night before a warm front lifts northward, bringing increasing clouds and a chance of rain showers by Friday afternoon.
Temperatures are forecast to rise 10 to 15 degrees above normal, reaching the mid-50s, as a precursor to a wet start to the weekend.
The first round of precipitation is expected to arrive late Friday afternoon into the early evening hours. While rainfall is generally expected to be light during this initial phase, there could be an isolated rumble of thunder, according to forecasters from the National Weather Service.
A cold front will pass through the region overnight, likely creating a lull in the rain showers before the next system arrives.
More widespread rainfall is forecast to return Saturday afternoon and evening as low pressure tracks across the area. During this time, rain could become heavy at times.
Rainfall totals between a half inch and 1.5 inches are predicted across New Jersey through Saturday night. Despite the anticipated volume of water, forecasters say flooding risks should be minimal to none.
Due to the recent stretch of mild temperatures, there is no concern regarding ice jams or river ice hindering runoff.
There is some uncertainty in the forecast regarding specific temperatures and wind speeds for Saturday, the weather service said.
Conditions will change significantly on Sunday as a secondary cold front moves through the region, forecasters said. As the rain clears, strong cold air advection will result in a breezy day, with west to northwest wind gusts peaking in the 30 to 40 mph range.
Temperatures will drop throughout the day, falling into the 20s for most of the area by Sunday night.
Looking ahead to the start of the work week, high pressure will build over the region, bringing dry conditions. Monday and Tuesday are expected to feature clear skies and temperatures near normal for January.
By Tuesday and Wednesday, return flow will develop as high pressure moves off the coast, helping temperatures moderate to about 5 degrees above normal.
No significant weather impacts are expected from Monday through next Thursday.
Current weather radar
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania launches new website to combat human trafficking | StateScoop
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency on Thursday launched a new website aimed at preventing human trafficking and better supporting victims by bringing together resources for first responders, social service providers and members of the public.
The announcement came during Human Trafficking Prevention Month at a roundtable discussion in Philadelphia that included state and local officials, advocates, social service providers and survivors.
The new website, developed with Villanova University’s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, provides trauma-informed training materials, guidance on recognizing warning signs of trafficking and information on how to report suspected cases.
“The fight against trafficking begins with coordination and working together to raise awareness of the warning signs, making sure people know where and how to report, strengthening support for survivors, and holding perpetrators accountable,” Kathy Buckley, director of PCCD’s Office of Victims’ Services, said in a press release.
Human trafficking is the crime of using force, fraud or coercion to induce another person to perform labor or sex acts.
According to the Philadelphia Anti-Trafficking Coalition, the number of identified trafficking survivors in the region increased by 23% in 2025 compared to the previous year. The organization cites housing, food assistance, medical care and counseling among the most common needs for survivors
“That’s the goal of our new website and the purpose of this conversation today, shining a light on organizations leading this work and ensuring that all across Pennsylvania, every individual knows there are people and resources dedicated to combating all forms of exploitation,” Buckley said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 26 states have enacted legislation creating human-trafficking task forces, study groups or similar coordination efforts. Eight of those states — Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island apply to sex trafficking only, while the others target both labor and sex trafficking.
In 2019, researchers in the Biotechnology and Human Systems studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a Human Trafficking Technology Roadmap aimed at helping federal, state and local agencies to better identify, investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. The report’s recommendations include building tools that automatically analyze large amounts of data, establishing centralized collections of evidence templates and trafficking “signatures,” and developing shared computing systems for law enforcement and courts.
Pennsylvania’s new website builds on efforts by the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro, who announced his reelection bid Thursday, to combat human trafficking. Those include spending $14 million over the past two budget cycles on the Victims Compensation Assistance Program and moving the state’s Anti-Human Trafficking Workgroup under PCCD’s leadership. That group now focuses on training, law enforcement coordination, victim services and public awareness.
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