Exclusive / Scott Brown isn’t leaving New Hampshire’s ‘weird’ Senate race

Republicans thought Scott Brown would take the hint and clear the field in New Hampshire’s Senate race. He doesn’t plan to.

Brown told Semafor he’s not dropping his campaign, despite the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Leadership Fund, and President Donald Trump endorsing his opponent, John E. Sununu. Republicans hoped that Brown would bail, perhaps enticed by a job in the Trump administration or a deal with the president.

But Brown is soldiering on, despite polls showing him as a serious underdog in the September primary. He said that Sununu has alienated the Republican base, that he can run as an “independent” candidate — and, most importantly, that he doesn’t care what the national party wants.

“Certainly they want me to drop out, because that’s what they do. They’ll put pressure on me,” Brown told Semafor in an interview. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Brown, who served as US ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during Trump’s first term, entered the Senate race nine months ago. He said that, had Republicans “been honest with me and said, ‘Hey, John’s thinking about doing it,’ I probably wouldn’t run. But they weren’t.”

It’s not hyperbole to call New Hampshire’s the strangest primary on the map, between two former senators — one of whom represented a neighboring state. Neither GOP candidate has served in Congress for more than a decade. Another odd fact: Both Sununu and Brown have lost to retiring New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Brown’s defiant stance is an annoyance to Senate Republicans, who would like unity in a race where they face steep odds anyway against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who faces no serious primary opposition. Given how late the state’s primary is, a bitter internal fight does Republicans no favors heading into November; but they have one nonetheless, in a state that Trump has never won.

“Scott Brown just said the quiet part out loud: He can’t beat John Sununu,” Mike Schrimpf, a spokesperson for Sununu’s campaign, responded to Brown’s interview. “Fortunately, the filing date isn’t until June, so it’s not too late for Brown to heed his own advice and drop out of the race.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who served with both Brown and Sununu, summed up the dynamic: “Two good guys. It is kind of weird. Sorry to see it. But the Sununu family is sort of a dynasty.” Because of that, Cornyn added, Brown’s rival has “a better shot at winning the general election.”

Although Republicans’ path is tough no matter who wins, Brown — a moderate as a senator — is convinced that Sununu didn’t deserve the Trump endorsement he won in February.

“Was I surprised that he endorsed the original never-Trumper who was with Kasich, Haley, and called him a loser?” Brown said of Sununu. “Everyone was surprised, and the MAGA people who were with me before are definitely with me now. They’re never going to vote for him. What did he do to sell his soul?”

Trump’s non-endorsement also allows Brown to chart his own course. He told Semafor that Congress needs to vote on any ground troops in Iran, though he’d “absolutely” support it, because “a lot of the people that I speak with are very upset that [Trump’s] now considering putting boots on the ground without getting the proper authority.”

Brown is friends with Senate Majority Leader John Thune but didn’t say he’d support the South Dakotan as leader, should he win. Thune helped recruit Sununu but has not directly weighed in on the race, though he is closely linked with SLF and the NRSC.

Overall, Brown doesn’t think much of the way Republicans are running the Senate.

“No more fundraisers, no more weekends off. They got to get their crap together and actually get the people’s business done. This TSA thing is embarrassing,” Brown said. “They need to get their s–t together, and they need to do the people’s business.”