FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2015 file photo, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown greets people on the floor of the House Chamber at the Statehouse in Boston. U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand Brown told a New Zealand website Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, he accepted advice that he should be more culturally aware after a U.S. inquiry into his conduct at a Peace Corps event in Samoa. The Stuff news outlet says Brown acknowledged complaints were made about his comments to a female food server at the event and to guests upon his arrival in the Pacific country in July. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2015 file photo, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown greets people on the floor of the House Chamber at the Statehouse in Boston. U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand Brown told a New Zealand website Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, he accepted advice that he should be more culturally aware after a U.S. inquiry into his conduct at a Peace Corps event in Samoa. The Stuff news outlet says Brown acknowledged complaints were made about his comments to a female food server at the event and to guests upon his arrival in the Pacific country in July. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) Credit: Steven Senne

Within minutes of Gov. Chris Sununu’s announcement that he’s not running for Senate, former Republican Sen. Scott Brown said he hopes New Hampshire’s governor reconsiders his decision.

Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the senate, later moved to New Hampshire and came close to defeating Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in 2014. Brown later served as ambassador to New Zealand during the Trump administration.

Once Sununu said he wasn’t challenging Hassan Tuesday morning, Brown said he started getting calls from Republicans in New Hampshire and the nation’s capital urging him to run. But Brown said that a 2022 campaign is not on his radar right now, as he’s supporting his wife Gail Huff Brown’s GOP run for Congress in New Hampshire’s First District.

Speculation is also shining on former GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who was defeated by Hassan by just over 1,000 votes in 2016. But sources close to Ayotte’s inner circle downplayed suggestions that the former senator would run for her old job next year.

GOP sources say there’s also chatter that New Hampshire Education Department commissioner Frank Edelblut, who was likely to run for governor if Sununu launched a a Senate campaign, may now bid for Senate in the wake of Sununu’s announcement.

There’s already one declared Republican candidate in the 2022 race for Senate in New Hampshire. Retired Gen. Don Bolduc, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2020 GOP Senate nomination, launched his campaign nearly a year ago.