Gail Huff Brown (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Huff; born February 9, 1962) is an American broadcast journalist. Huff most recently worked as a special correspondent and news contributor for

WWJE-DT WWJE-DT (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Derry, New Hampshire, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of True Crime Network. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision- owned station WUNI (channel 66) ...

. Huff also previously worked with

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...

, an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

station, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

for several years,"Staff Bio: Gail Huff"
, WJLA-TV after seventeen years for

WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...

, the

affiliate in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. She is the wife of former U.S. ambassador and Senator

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...

Early life and education

Huff was born in

Winterset, Iowa Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa. The population was 5,353 at the time of the 2020 census. Winterset is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. History Winterset was platted during a cool spell in the summ ...

, where her father was a medical doctor, an epidemiologist.Defoe, Jennifer Kain
"The Senator's Wife, Gail Huff, Goes to Washington"
, ''Southern New England Living''McGlothlen, John
"Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown has Iowa ties"
''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'', 21 January 2010Beaumont, Tom
"As you expected, an Iowa connection to Massachusetts Senate race"
''The Des Moines Register'', Jan 20, 2010 In 1978, her family moved to

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

. She graduated from

Waltham High School Waltham High School is a public high school in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1849, it is among the oldest public secondary schools in the Commonwealth and the only high school in the Waltham Public Schools district. Hist ...

in 1980 and attended

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay, Boston, Back Bay neighborhood. Bentley has one undergraduate school which off ...

, earning a

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (d ...

in business communications. She attended graduate classes at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

before beginning her broadcast career in 1984.

Career

Huff's broadcast journalism career began with

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

–based

WNCT-TV WNCT-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Greenville, North Carolina, United States, serving Eastern North Carolina as an affiliate of CBS. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW (via The ...

in 1984. In 1986, she joined

WLNE-TV WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island, area. The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, as a general assignment reporter. She later held the same position at

WFSB-TV WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky Hill ...

, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

in 1989. All three television stations were

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliates. Huff was employed as a reporter at WCVB-TV starting in 1993, working the 3–10 A.M. shift, while her daughters,

Ayla Brown Ayla Marie Brown (born July 28, 1988) is an American singer and former college basketball, NCAA basketball player from Wrentham, Massachusetts. In 2006, she was a contestant on American Idol (season 5), fifth season of ''American Idol'', finishi ...

and Arianna, were growing up. During her husband's campaign, Huff stayed away from news assignments that may have affected his election prospects, and never appeared at campaign events until his victory speech on January 20, 2010. She resigned her position at WCVB-TV six months later, citing family considerations. Later that year, she took a position with

On February 28, 2013, she resigned from WJLA-TV, and moved with her husband, to

Rye, New Hampshire Rye is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,543 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is home to several state parks along the Atlant ...

. In 2015, Huff joined NH1 News in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

, as a special correspondent and news contributor. At ''NH1 News'' Huff often completed stories for ''NH1 News Investigates'', one of New Hampshire's leading investigative news teams. Huff also served as an anchor for breaking news and special reports outside of regularly scheduled newscasts for ''NH1 News''. Huff departed journalism in 2017 to support her husband in his role as U.S. ambassador.

2022 congressional campaign

In September 2021, Huff declared her candidacy for

New Hampshire's 1st congressional district New Hampshire's 1st congressional district covers parts of Southern New Hampshire and the eastern portion of the state. The district contains parts of Hillsborough, Rockingham, Merrimack, Grafton, and Belknap counties; and the entirety of ...

in the 2022 election. She identifies as a

conservative Republican The Republican Party in the United States includes several factions, or wings. During the 19th century, Republican factions included the Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform; the Radical Republicans, who advocated the immediate and t ...

. Prior to running for office, Huff supported

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...

. In 2021, she stated that she is "much more conservative" than her husband, and she supports former President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. After filing for her congressional campaign, she was asked about her position on abortion, specifically in relation to the

Texas Heartbeat Act The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an Statute, act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the Six-week abortion ban, detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of p ...

, and she replied that she supports the current law in New Hampshire on abortion, which is legal during most of a pregnancy, but supports Texas's and other states' "right to pass any law they want" to restrict abortion." She said her views on abortion are similar to those of Governor

Chris Sununu Christopher Thomas Sununu ( ; born November 5, 1974) is an American politician and engineer who served as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire from 2017 to 2025. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Sununu is the son of former New Hamps ...

, who is pro-choice. Facing opposition in the primary campaign over abortion, Huff stated that she is a "mix of both"

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

and pro-choice. She announced that she supports overturning ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'' and that abortion rights, and the question of whether or not to ban abortions, should be decided on a state level. She released a statement saying, “I’ve made my position on abortion clear: I support states’ rights, and I especially support our law here in New Hampshire. I do not support late-term abortion, federal funding for abortion or foreign aid being used for abortion....” Following the overturning of ''Roe'', she ran an ad saying she will support abortion rights in New Hampshire. In an interview, Huff said that she supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, but declined to answer whether she believes it should be a state issue and the Supreme Court should overturn the ''Obergefell'' decision which legalized same-sex marriage nationally. Huff has made unsubstantiated claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election, saying that there were "a lot of irregularities."

Personal life

At one time, she hosted a parenting series on Lifetime that featured child psychologist

Penelope Leach Penelope Jane Leach (née Balchin; born 19 November 1937) is a British psychologist who researches and writes extensively on parenting issues from a child development perspective. Leach is best known for her book ''Your Baby and Child: From B ...

. Huff starred in

singer-songwriter Digney Fignus' 1984

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song "The Girl With The Curious Hand". Huff is a fitness enthusiast who in 2007 took a fitness challenge with

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

applicants. She is an avid cyclist.

References

External links

"Gail Huff's Two Lives: Scott Brown's Wife Is Also Boston TV Reporter"
''The Huffington Post'', March 22, 2010 * Fee, Gayle; Raposa, Laura
"‘Curious Hand’ of fate touches on newsgal’s past"
''The Boston Herald'', Thursday, October 15, 2009 * Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith
"Huff is leaving Channel 5"
''The Boston Globe'', June 8, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Gail Living people American television reporters and correspondents People from Waltham, Massachusetts Spouses of Massachusetts politicians Bentley University alumni People from Rye, New Hampshire Waltham High School alumni 1962 births Women in New Hampshire politics Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections