After months of flirting with a political comeback, Republican Scott Brown announced Friday that he's formed a committee to explore a U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire against Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen.
"I'm going to stop complaining and get involved again," Brown told the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua.
Brown, who lost his 2012 re-election Senate bid in Massachusetts, previewed some of his campaign message in a speech laced with criticism of President Obama's health care law. Shaheen, who is seeking her second term, voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
He and his wife, Gail Huff, will embark on a listening tour of New Hampshire -- where they recently moved -- on Saturday.
Fox News helped lay the groundwork for Brown's announcement when the network revealed earlier in the day that it had cut ties with the ex-senator, who had been a contributor since early 2013.
The Associated Press was first to report that Brown was seeking to hire staff and planning to create the exploratory committee, which allows him to raise money for the race.
"Scott Brown's contributor agreement was officially terminated today once he notified Fox News of his intention to form an exploratory committee to run for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire," said Bill Shine, the network's executive vice president.
The exploratory committee allows Brown to raise money for the campaign, but his rivals for the GOP nomination and Democrats are already treating him as though he's in the race to win. A campaign by Brown in New Hampshire would expand the field for Republicans in this year's midterm elections. The GOP needs a net gain of six seats to win majority control of the Senate.
Public opinion polls in New Hampshire give Shaheen, who is seeking her second term in the Senate, the edge over her Republican rivals, including Brown. She had a 13-point lead over Brown in a recent Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll.
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