Report: National GOP urging Scott Brown to make Senate run

National Republicans are urging former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to run for Senate in New Hampshire, believing he’d be the strongest candidate against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

According to a report in the Boston Globe, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Vice Chairman Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have both pressed Brown to get in the race.

{mosads}“He knows of our interest in him pursuing this,” Moran told the Globe. Moran added that he doesn’t “think Scott Brown is just fooling around.”

Brown has drawn criticism from some in New Hampshire for flirting with a Senate bid in the state but drawing out his decision-making process.

He hasn’t shut the door on a Senate bid there, but he’s also left the option of running for president on the table. He’s visited other early primary states like Iowa, prompting speculation he could be playing a longer game.

But Brown recently put his Massachusetts home on the market, and last month launched a political action committee to back candidates in New Hampshire.

He’s also made frequent visits to the state over the past few months, appearing at Republican fundraisers and rallies. Some Republicans feel his indecision could be preventing candidates from entering the race.

So far, only conservative activist Karen Testerman and former state Sen. Jim Rubens have entered the GOP primary. Former Rep. Charlie Bass, one of the GOP’s last remaining big names looking at the race, announced his decision not to run Monday — but all but endorsed Brown after making his announcement.

Republicans believe Shaheen to be vulnerable in 2014, especially if there is a strong backlash over problems with the launch of the ObamaCare enrollment website. 

But Shaheen has nearly $3 million cash in the bank for a bid. She was an early critic of the botched healthcare rollout, and wrote a letter to President Obama calling for an extension of the law’s enrollment deadlines. She was later joined by every vulnerable Democratic senator running for reelection in 2014.