If, as Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” then the Kelly Ayotte campaign should be blushing.
On Sunday, the leftwing Democratic activist group Amplify NH announced it’s launching the “Don’t Let Scott Brown Mass Up NH” social media campaign. The effort comes complete with art that echoes the Ayotte campaign’s “Don’t MASS Up New Hampshire” slogan she used to win a nine-point victory over the Democratic nominee for governor, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.
Brown is widely believed to be considering running for U.S. Senate, likely a rematch of his 2014 race against Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in 2026. NHJournal has previously reported incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) sees New Hampshire as one of the top three GOP pick-up opportunities in the upcoming midterms.
While other Republicans are rumored to be considering entering the race, Granite State Democrats aren’t wasting any time labeling Brown the presumed GOP frontrunner and targeting him for attack.
“Massachusetts politician Scott Brown has deep ties to his home state, where he grew up, attended high school and college, and served 20 years representing the commonwealth in various government positions. There’s absolutely no denying it — he is a career politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Amplify NH Executive Director Ryan Mahoney in a statement released Sunday. “Kelly Ayotte and New Hampshire Republicans campaigned on keeping New Hampshire safe from Massachusetts politics — will she now support a candidate who spent his entire career representing the commonwealth? We are demanding of her this time: Don’t Mass Up New Hampshire!”
That last line had Granite State Republicans snickering, given Democrats’ outspoken defense of Massachusetts politics and Craig’s embrace of progressive Gov. Maura Healey (D-Mass.). State Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley even released a statement at the height of the gubernatorial campaign defending Massachusetts.
“It should surprise no one that Kelly Ayotte is being dishonest with Granite Staters – using Massachusetts as a punching bag publicly while simultaneously raking in checks from her millionaire friends and businesses across the Bay State,” Buckley said on July 1, 2024. “Ayotte’s bizarre obsession with Massachusetts is the latest sign she’s not focused on the issues that matter to Granite Staters.”
Now it’s the Democrats with the same “bizarre obsession.”
Brown, who lives in Rye, told NHJournal he wasn’t worried about the attack. Instead, he turned it on Democrats, noting the irony of their message.
“Even New Hampshire liberals agree: We don’t want Massachusetts-style progressive policies in the Granite State,” Brown said. “Too bad Sen. Shaheen votes with Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) nearly 100 percent of the time. The same with Sen. Hassan.”
In New Hampshire politics, Massachusetts is shorthand for far-left ideology and policy, such as support for sanctuary policies on illegal immigration, as well as allowing biological males to play on all-girls sports teams. The Amplify attack on Massachusetts could strike some Granite Staters as an endorsement of Ayotte’s criticism of Bay State liberalism.
At the same time, Brown has an unusual political resume.
In 2010, then-state Sen. Scott Brown won an upset victory over Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. He was handily defeated by Warren in 2012’s general election. (The last Republican to win a general election for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts was Edward Brooke in 1972.)
In 2014, Brown lost to Shaheen by just three points, the best performance by any non-incumbent New Hampshire Republican running for federal office in the past 14 years.
The “Don’t MASS Up” attack is a sign Democrats believe the carpetbagger issue, which they used against Brown a decade ago, can still be effective. Republicans aren’t so sure, noting Brown has spent the past 10 years working in the Trump administration or supporting Granite State Republican candidates and causes. His “No B.S. BBQ” events in Rye, N.H., during the 2016 and 2024 First in the Nation presidential primaries drew big crowds and big names, including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
And at least one Democrat told NHJournal they doubted the carpetbagger accusation would carry the same weight in 2026 as 2014.
“Yeah, I don’t think (Rep.-elect) Maggie Goodlander is going to like that very much,” the Democrat said on background.
Goodlander was just elected in New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District in November, despite having not lived there since at least 2009. She had to rent an apartment in Nashua earlier this year to have a residence in the district. (Goodlander and her husband, Biden administration official Jake Sullivan, live in Washington, D.C. and Portsmouth, N.H.)
A New Hampshire GOP campaign professional added that Democrats’ decision to target Brown may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“I will say this: If the Democrats only focus on Scott, he’ll win whatever primary there is with ease because of it.”
