Corey Lewandowski, the former 2016 campaign manager for President Donald Trump, is thinking about running for office himself in his home state of New Hampshire.

The Windham resident told WMUR on Thursday that he’s “very seriously” considering a 2020 campaign against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is running for a third term next year.

Lewandowski confirmed his interest amid reports that Republican operatives were looking to recruit him into the race and two weeks before Trump’s scheduled campaign rally in the Granite State. In a statement to WMUR, he attempted to tie Shaheen, the state’s first female governor and senator, to national Democratic leaders.


“Jeannie Shaheen has failed the people of New Hampshire by voting in lock step with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi,” Lewandowski said. “The people of New Hampshire deserve better. If I run, I would be a voice for all the people of New Hampshire.”

In response to the news, New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Josh Marcus-Blank blasted Lewandowski as “a craven lobbyist who has been credibly accused of assault many times and is chomping at the bit to strip away Granite Staters’ health care.”

“Meanwhile, @JeanneShaheen is making a difference for NH families, leading efforts in the Senate to expand access to health care and taking on the big drug companies to lower the costs of prescription drugs,” Marcus-Blank wrote in a tweet. “The contrast couldn’t be more clear.

Meanwhile, @JeanneShaheen is making a difference for NH families, leading efforts in the Senate to expand access to health care and taking on the big drug companies to lower the costs of prescription drugs. The contrast couldn't be more clear. #nhpolitics — Josh Marcus-Blank (@jmbtopia) August 1, 2019

Lewandowski, who was fired by Trump midway through the 2016 campaign, briefly ran a lobbying firm after the election. According to Politico, he continues to advise clients on dealing with the Trump administration without registering as a lobbyist. During the campaign, Lewandowski was twice caught on camera starting physical altercations at Trump events. In 2017, a Trump-supporting singer accused Lewandowski of slapping her on the buttocks.

If he runs, the 2020 race won’t be the first time Lewandowski made a bid for elected office. In 1994, the Lowell native and then-UMass Lowell student tried to run for a local State House seat in his hometown. However, he failed to get the required number of votes as a “write-in” candidate in the uncontested Republican primary race to get on the general election ballot. He also unsuccessfully ran for Windham town treasurer in 2012.


This time around, Lewandowski would have company in the Republican primary: Bill O’Brien, the former New Hampshire House Speaker, announced last week he would run against Shaheen and retired military veteran Donald Bolduc announced a campaign in June.

A former three-term governor, Shaheen was first elected in 2008, unseating incumbent Republican Sen. John Sununu. She was one of the few swing-state Democrats to survive in 2014, wining a second term in a tight race against Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator-turned-New Hampshire resident-turned-U.S. ambassador to New Zealand.