Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor
Boston, MA (AHN) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Thursday formally launched her Senate campaign, becoming the first official contender for the seat of Ted Kennedy.
In a statement, the Democrat promised to bring "innovative leadership" to Congress and "restore economic security for all citizens," address healthcare reform, protect the environment and civil rights.
Coakley became the first to throw her hat in the race when she requested nomination papers on Tuesday for the special election scheduled for Jan. 19 next year. She has until Oct. 20 to submit her papers to local Registrars of Voters or Election Commissioners for the certification of signatures. She needs 10,000 certified signatures to qualify for the primary on Dec. 8.
The 56-year-old is the first woman attorney general of Massachusetts. She was a civil rights lawyer with the firms Parker, Coulter, Daley & White and Goodwin Proctor before entering politics in 1986 as an assistant district attorney in Lowell District Court.
She was special attorney for the U.S. Justice Department's Boston Organized Crime Strike Force the following year and appointed chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit of the Middlesex District Attorney's Office in 1991. She became Middlesex District Attorney in 1998.
Massachusetts has its first open Senate race in 25 years. Kennedy, who died last week after more than a year of battling brain cancer, had occupied his seat for 47 years, while Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has never lost an election since his first term in 1984.
Kennedy's passing has left Democrats with only a 59-vote majority in the Senate, one vote short to overcome Republican filibusters. Perhaps more significant is that the Obama administration begins the climactic period of the healthcare debate without its staunchest ally on the issue, whom even Republicans acknowledge had the unrivaled skill and clout that allowed him to achieve bipartisan solutions in many issues.
With the critical role he played and the legacy he left, there has been considerable attention to whoever succeeds Kennedy. Former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, son of his brother Robert Kennedy, has been favored by some pundits as the most qualified candidate for the special election.
Reps. Mike Capuano (D-MA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), and Jim McGovern (D-MA) have been mentioned as potential candidates. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who has represented the 7th district since 1976, is said to be considering a run.
Former Boston Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling, an independent who endorsed Republicans in the 2004 and 2008 presidential races, said late Wednesday that he "has some interest" in entering the race but that "many many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen."
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has said he will not seek the seat. Vicki Kennedy, the late senator's wife, has expressed no interest in either running or being appointed as interim replacement in the five months before the election, despite receiving what ostensibly is an endorsement from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who had frequently partnered with Kennedy in passing landmark bills such as the 1997 State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Massachusetts lawmakers plan to take up the issue of an interim replacement, a request Kennedy made in his final days, when they return from recess next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has expressed support for the proposal, and Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday appealed to lawmakers to consider it "regardless of their party affiliation."
The power of the governor to make such appointments was taken away in 2004, when state Democrats passed an amendment to keep then-Gov. Romney from appointing a Republican for the seat of Kerry, who eventually lost the presidential election and remained in the Senate.
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