Newt Gingrich calls on Massachusetts voters to reelect Scott Brown

By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said today that Massachusetts voters could play a critical role in the fight to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul.

“Reelecting Senator Brown is a key step toward being able to repeal Obamacare,” Gingrich said, speaking to about 55 employees of Dyn, an Internet infrastructure company.

In order for Congress to take up repeal of the overhaul, Gingrich said, Republicans must wrest control of the Senate from Democrats. Keeping Brown’s seat in Republican hands is considered crucial to the GOP plan. Brown is expected to face a tough challenge from Democrat Elizabeth Warren in a Democratic-leaning state that already has the most comprehensive health care program in the country.

Gingrich said he believes if Republicans have a majority, “we’d get the no vote.”

Brown was elected in a special election in 2010 to take the seat held by Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy for decades. A centerpiece of Brown’s campaign was halting Democratic efforts to enact health care changes. His election forced Democrats to pass key parts of the legislation through a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation, which prevented filibusters.