Jeb Bradley: 'I Was Only Joking' About Rumors Being True

Jeb Bradley, the state Senate Majority Leader and former congressman, was quoted by the Associated Press in a story Aug. 5 about the rumors being true – that he was preparing to challenge U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in 2014.

But Bradley, who said he made the remark in what he thought was a private setting with U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-NY), said he was only joking about the rumors.

"I have made no decisions whatsoever," Bradley said in a phone interview with Patch. "That's the bottom line."

When further pressed on his political future, Bradley repeated that he had not made any decisions about it. Shaheen, a former governor who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008, has decent favorability ratings in the latest Granite State Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for WMUR.

It also polled Granite Staters about Bradley and former state Sen. Jim Rubens (R-Hanover), who is exploring a run for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Read the Granite State Poll press release and the questions asked of respondents between July 18 and July 29.