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Field taking shape for Kennedy’s Senate seat
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The motorcade carrying the body of
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy passes the
US Capitol in Washington, Saturday,
Aug. 29, 2009. Kennedy died last
month after a battle with cancer. He
was 77. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez
Monsivais)
With five candidates bowing out of the race over the past week, the field of people competing for the Senate seat long held by Ted Kennedy is taking shape.
Current and former congressmen Ed Markey, Richard Neal, Joe Kennedy and Martin Meehan, all Democrats, and Republican former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey have all decided not to run, while a five other candidates have made their interest in running clearer.
Among more than a dozen Democrats mentioned as possible successors to Ted Kennedy, only Attorney General Martha Coakley has formally announced a campaign. Congressmen Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano have pulled papers to run, however, and are expected to join her in the race.
With Markey and Joe Kennedy out, Coakley becomes the early favorite. A Rasmussen Reports poll released this week showed her with 38 percent support among likely voters in the Dec. 8 Democratic primary. Lynch, a moderate on many social issues, was second with 11%, while Markey was third with 10%.
Seven percent backed Capuano, while three percent backed Rep. John Tierney, who has not announced a decision to run. Five percent preferred some other candidate.
Congressman Jim McGovern has also been mentioned as a possible candidate but has not announced what he will do. Many officials had been waiting to see what Joe Kennedy, the late senator's nephew, decided. However, the similar voting records of the more experienced congressmen considering a run - Markey, Tierney, Neal and McGovern, and the senority they have in the House made them less likely that newer representatives to run.
Healey’s decision does not do as much to clear up the GOP field, but some movement has occurred. Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card has signaled his interest, and seemed likely to make his decision by early next week.
Card’s entry might spark decisions among others in the GOP pool of candiates. The only declared Republican candidate is Bob Burr, a local elected official from Canton, but State Sen. Scott Brown, who is testing the waters, would likely step aside if Card runs, according to the Christian Science Monitor, Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, businessman Jeff Beatty and former Ambassador Chris Egan have been mentioned as possible candidates but have not given any public indication of their plans.
Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who had been considered a possible GOP candidate if his voter registration indicated he was a Republican in time, said in a radio interview Thursday he is still mulling a run.
“Sen. McCain has contacted me,” Schilling told WEEI radio. “I’ve received a couple different phone calls from a couple different people, expressing, doing some Q&A on whether I was interested. I know there’s some interest in running some legitimate polls to find out if it’s worth doing. I recognize that, I think, if I were to enter the race and ever if we did a half-assed job, it would have an effect, and that might not necessarily be a good thing, on who gets in.”
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