New web page suggests New Hampshire AG John Formella could run for Congress

A handful of newly registered website addresses—including formellaforcongress.com—show that New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella—a Republican—may be eyeing a run for  New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in 2026.

The news was first reported by the Granite Post on Monday.

The URL was registered on May 9 and comes as Formella’s future as the state’s AG is uncertain. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte declined to appoint Formella for another term to the office.

According to a report from New Hampshire Public Radio, Ayotte announced in March that Formella will not be nominated to a new four-year term this month and instead will be kept on in a “holdover” status while she reviews the department.

Some New Hampshire political insiders view Ayotte’s maneuver as a possible sidelining of what she may see as a potential political rival in Formella, who is viewed as a long-term candidate for higher office in New Hampshire.

If Formella does take the plunge, he would enter the race with a résumé in line with the national conservative movement’s culture‑war agenda rather than bread‑and‑butter New Hampshire issues.

Last August, Formella joined 25 Republican attorneys general in an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a West Virginia law that bars transgender girls from playing on girls’ school teams. The move aligned him with similar efforts in other states and with the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint, which calls for rescinding federal protections for LGBTQ Americans.

RELATED: NH Republican Attorney General refuses to back medication abortion access amid Supreme Court review

Critics immediately contrasted the filing with a federal judge’s decision days earlier that allowed 15‑year‑old Parker Tirrell to keep practicing with her high‑school soccer team after New Hampshire’s own sports‑participation ban was challenged in court.

Formella has also sided with gun‑rights groups in multiple high‑profile challenges. Last year he joined a 20‑state lawsuit seeking to invalidate a new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms rule that would close the so‑called “gun‑show loophole” by requiring many private sellers to run background checks.

While Formella has been quick to litigate on firearms, he has conspicuously abstained from multistate efforts to safeguard abortion access. When every other New England attorney general joined an April 2024 brief defending the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, Formella stayed silent. Abortion‑rights groups argue that his stance puts him at odds with New Hampshire’s long‑standing bipartisan support for reproductive freedom.

Taken together, the pattern has Democrats—and some moderate Republicans—questioning whether the attorney general’s record fits the swingy 1st Congressional District he is expected to target. Former President Joe Biden carried the district by six points in 2024, and recent Saint Anselm polling shows majorities there back abortion rights, red‑flag gun laws, and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ residents.

“John Formella has spent nearly a decade defending Trump’s most extreme policies, from gutting environmental protections to undermining abortion rights and blocking gun safety laws, all while helping to create an $80 million hole in our state budget,” said Amplify New Hampshire Executive Director Ryan Mahoney in a statement.

“Instead of standing with hardworking Granite Staters, Formella has shown time and time again that he will prioritize corporations, lobbyists, and the ultra-wealthy. New Hampshire deserves leaders who will fight for working people, for lower costs, and to protect Granite Staters even when it means standing up to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their dangerous economic policies.”