U.S. Senate candidate Bob Smith filed his official election paperwork in Concord on Friday, and also picked up the endorsement of fellow Republican Karen Testerman.
Citing concerns over splitting the conservative vote, Testerman, an activist from Franklin, is dropping her bid for the seat held by Jeanne Shaheen.
“This is not about any individual, this is not about any agenda,” Testeran told supporters. “This is about the United States of America.”
Smith served two terms in the United States Senate, briefly leaving the Republican Party in 1999 before a failed presidential run.
He thanked Testerman for her support before criticizing revelations of NSA spying programs, President Obama’s foreign policy, and Shaheen’s support of the Affordable Care Act.
“That’s not America, and people know it and they are tired of it, and they are coming out in droves,” says Smith. “It is going to be a fun election, and a fun election night.”
Smith recently moved back to New Hampshire from Florida, where he unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2010.
He faces former State Senator Jim Rubens and former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in September’s primary.