I assume by now you’ve heard the news? If not, let me drop the bomb: State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) is “very interested” in challenging Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) this year for US Representative of the 10th Congressional district.
The prospect of Rep. Perry taking on Big Bill gets me absolutely giddy. Having worked with Rep. Perry since he got into the State House, I know for a fact he would run a powerful, punishing, and perhaps most importantly, positive campaign against Rep. Delahunt.
It would, I think, be a truly awesome race that would seriously test both men, and a rare win-win situation for voters in that, no matter which of these guys won, the Cape would have a strong voice in Congress.
I want this to happen! It’d be like the Thunderdome of local politics…two men enter! One man leaves!
Of course, for this to come to pass Rep. Perry would first have to win what is shaping up to be an active Republican primary.
Last week Republican Joseph D. Malone of Scituate, former two-term state treasurer (1991 to 1999), announced he would “almost certainly” challenge Rep. Delahunt. Mr. Malone unsuccessfully challenged Ted Kennedy in 1998 and, 10 years later, lost the Republican nomination for governor of Massachusetts to A. Paul Cellucci.
Then there is Ray Kasperowicz of Cohasset, a US Navy veteran and a nine-year member of the Cohasset Sewer Commission, who announced his candidacy back in September, and Donald A. Hussey of Hingham. Another possible challenger from the GOP: State Senator Robert L. Hedlund (R – Weymouth).
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Let’s talk a minute about the predicted surge of Republican candidates for 2010 (the catalyst for which is, of course, Senator-elect Scott P. Brown’s big win last week).
The Massachusetts GOP this week launched this year’s recruitment initiative, dubbed “The New Majority.” Prospective candidates can go to www.massgop.com and file online an recruitment form. “The staff of the MassGOP will respond to each online application with information on how to run a campaign and an assessment of the district in which the individual has an interest in running,” stated the official press release.
“When a potential candidate decides to run for elected office, the MassGOP provides assistance including candidate trainings, voter identification information, district information, message and campaign timeline development, incumbent voting records, as well as other opposition research.”
Not too dissimilar to past recruitment efforts, but the GOP is trying an interesting new tactic: offering this service to unenrolled candidates (hence the “New Majority,” making the Democratic Party the old majority). This should be interesting…
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Now that Martha Coakley has blown the US Senate race (face it, folks, she choked), what about that nice little attorney general gig she’s had for the past four years?
Word among her aides last week was that she was planning to run for re-election, and boy, doesn’t that set the stage for some big fun? The GOP is eyeballing Coakley the way leopards eyeball a wounded gazelle, and why not? She muffed a race against a solid opponent who was better at getting his message out and connecting with voters, and it could easily happen a second time if the Republicans can find someone who can bring the pain.
AG Coakley won her seat in 2006 by beating Lawrence W. Frisoli, a Belmont attorney who did not campaign that well, so one could speculate that AG Coakley herself is not a strong campaigner and won the post by dint of having a weaker opponent.
(The shame is, she has done good work as AG and it would be a shame to lose her simply because she’s lousy at selling herself, but I digress.)
State Representative Karyn Polito (R – Shrewsbury) has been mentioned as an early possible challenger, as has Peter Flaherty, a former prosecutor, one of W. Mitt Romney’s aides during his stint as governor, and a Senator-elect Brown campaign supporter.
On the flip side, the prospect of AG Coakley running again has already caused one Democrat to rethink his candidacy. C. Samuel Sutter, Bristol County’s district attorney, had been kicking the idea around but has since backed off.
Democrat William Keating, Norfolk County district attorney and a former state senator, is as of this week still planning to run for the office.
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We have an early dropout in Joe Connolly, the Democrat and Norfolk County treasurer who intended to run for state treasurer. He posted a notice on his website stating that he was bowing out due to health concerns.
This leaves Republican Brian J. Herr and Democrat Steve Grossman all by their lonesomes.
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To bring this baby full circle, Senator-elect Brown is scheduled to make an appearance at the Falmouth Inn this evening (January 29) at 7 PM, as a thank-you to folks who showed up at a pre-election rally.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Tags: 2010 election, Bill Delahunt, GOP, Jeff Perry, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Legislature, Scott Brown
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
