NEWBURYPORT — Republican frontrunner Scott Brown remembers playing basketball at the Salvation Army, running in the Yankee Homecoming Road Race and said he has been to just about every restaurant in Newburyport
The son of longtime Newburyport City Councilor C. Bruce Brown, Brown is running for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy earlier this year.
Brown is squaring off in Tuesday's Republican primary against Duxbury businessman Jack E. Robinson.
"I remember Newburyport when it was just an old fishing town," Brown said. Brown split his time growing up between Newburyport and Wakefield after his parents divorced.
Now a state senator from Wrentham, Brown has built a U.S. Senate campaign built on fiscally conservative stands.
"Out-of-control spending, health care and the cap and trade bill are all issues that are important from Newburyport to the Cape and Islands. Everyone is nervous about how to pay the bills," he said.
Opposed to a second economic stimulus bill and in favor of the president's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan on top of the 17,000 sent earlier in 2009, Brown has criticized his Democratic opponents for their lack of support.
Brown is also against the health care bill. While he voted for the state's mandatory health reform, Brown believes the national bill is too expensive and will drive costs up while losing health care jobs.
Yesterday, Brown criticized opponent and Democratic front-runner Martha Coakley on her openness to a "war tax."
"Martha Coakley is again demonstrating just how willing she is to place additional burdens on working families instead of looking for ways to cut back on spending," Brown said. "It's almost as if she wants to punish people for supporting a war she opposes.
"We can afford to pay for our military priorities if we stop Washington's domestic spending spree. The choice of U.S. senator is going to turn on this critical issue: Who can voters trust to cut wasteful spending, keep taxes low and get our economy moving again. I am that person, and I look forward to making the case for fiscal responsibility in the general election campaign that begins next week."
Brown said as the December primary looms, he will be boosting campaigning to reach more voters through newspaper, television and radio advertising.
Having run for election and re-election several times over his 20 years in public service, Brown said he is not deterred by the special election.
"I've run in a special election before, and this time is similar," Brown said. "It's a short period of time, and unless you won one, you don't understand what it takes to win one. Everything is more condensed and much more intense. As time goes by, there is more attention to what is happening."
Harping on fiscal responsibility and conservatism, Brown said he chose to run for Senate after seeing the competition.
"I didn't think there was proper representation in terms of protecting pocketbooks and small businesses," Brown said. "I have a lot to offer in terms of experience."
He said the federal government should work to free up credit to allow business expansion, increase the maximum Small Business Administration loans from $2.5 million to $5 million and keep the current tax cuts in place to drive job growth. He opposes the Democrats' cap and trade bill, which sets strict new limits on factory emissions. Brown said the bill will be costly to families and businesses, because it will drive up costs.
Brown is a lawyer who lives in Wrenthem with his wife, Channel 5 reporter Gail Huff, and two daughters: Ayla, a student at Boston College and best known for her basketball skills and stint on "American Idol"; and Arianna, a student at Syracuse University.
"I have military experience," Brown said, noting one of the characteristics that sets him apart from others in the race. "I've taken thousands of votes, and my strength is that I don't walk away from touch votes."
Brown is a graduate of Wakefield High School, Tufts University and Boston College Law School. He is a 29-year member of the Massachusetts National Guard, where he currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Brown was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service in homeland security after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Brown lists his key issues as being job creation, holding the line at spending by living within one's means, health care and the cap and trade bill.
"If people listen to the Democrats, they don't seem to get it, and they are out of touch with the common person," Brown said. "I've never voted for a tax increase; I've worked across party lines. We have 12 people down there now that vote the same way with the same special interests. I'll first ask what each bill is good for, and if it's not good for Massachusetts residents, I won't vote for it; it's not happening."
Sen. Scott Brown Candidate Profile
Age: 50
Home: Wrentham
Family: wife Gail; two daughters Ayla and Arianna
Experience: state senator, lawyer
Issues: fiscal responsibility, jobs, and cap and trade
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