New Hampshire state senator and businessman Dan Innis is entering the race for U.S. Senate, joining former Ambassador Scott Brown in the Republican primary.
Innis previously ran for Congress in the state’s 1st Congressional District in 2014 and 2016, but never won his party’s nomination. He has since served three terms in the state Senate, and is the former dean of the UNH Paul College of Business. He has also owned and operated multiple hotels and inns during his career.
In a video announcing his candidacy released Wednesday, Innis — wearing jeans and a T-shirt, surrounded by chickens and goats on his Bradford farm — targeted Democrats for their approach to immigration policy.
“They think a wide open border is compassionate,” says Innis. “Tell that to the families losing loved ones to fentanyl, to the towns overwhelmed by crime and chaos, and to the taxpayers who are footing the bill.”
Innis also mentions the need to provide “backup” to President Trump in his video.
“I believe in borders, law and order, and putting Americans first,” says Innis. “I’ve worked to lower your taxes and to stop illegal immigration. And when I’m in Washington, I’ll call bull when I see it.”
Innis joins Brown as the only Republicans to so far announce their candidacy for the Senate seat left open by the pending retirement of Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Brown served in the U.S. Senate in 2010 in Massachusetts, but lost a re-election bid to Democrat Elizabeth Warren. He then relocated to his family’s second home in Rye, and challenged Shaheen in 2014. He lost that race, but in 2016 backed Trump’s candidacy and was rewarded with an ambassador post in New Zealand and Samoa.
Both Brown and Innis are already taking aim at Rep. Chris Pappas, who is the only major candidate to announce a bid for the Democratic nomination. Pappas is serving his fourth term in Washington after previously holding elected offices up and down the ballot in New Hampshire.
He was endorsed by Shaheen, who announced her plans to retire from the Senate earlier this year when her term ends in 2026.
