CONCORD, N.H. — Former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown won New Hampshire’s Republican U.S. Senate primary Tuesday, moving forward in his attempt to get back to Washington from another state.
Brown faced nine primary opponents, although only two mounted serious campaigns. The front-runner from the start, he spent months tailoring his message toward a November showdown with incumbent Jeanne Shaheen and spent Tuesday reminding voters that Republicans need to gain six seats to win a majority in the Senate during the last two years of President Barack Obama’s term.
“This is one of the most important elections in the country — it could determine the fate of the Senate,” he said. “I’m pointing out to them that I have the tools, resources and the team to actually take on and beat Senator Shaheen.”
This is Brown’s third U.S. Senate campaign in five years. He won a 2010 special election to replace the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Democrat. He was defeated by Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012.
In a stunning defeat, nine-term incumbent U.S. Rep. John Tierney on Tuesday lost a bitter Democratic primary contest to political newcomer Seth Moulton in the state’s 6th Congressional District.
Tierney is the first sitting Massachusetts congressman to lose a primary since 1992. Moulton, an Iraq war veteran, credited his win in part on voter frustration with Congress.
