Busy week this week, so let’s get to it!
Robert A. O’Leary has put an end to weeks of speculation and announced that he will not take another shot at Congress.
Mr. O’Leary, a former Barnstable County commissioner and State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, ruled out a re-match against Congressman William R. Keating (D) because of the heavy financial cost of running a Congressional campaign.
“It was painful to make this decision,” Mr. O’Leary said in a statement released last week.
Rep. Keating and Mr. O’Leary faced off in 2010 for the Democratic nomination, and Rep. Keating eked out a win with 51 percent of the vote.
With Mr. O’Leary officially out, the field of candidate for the Ninth Congressional District remains at four confirmed candidates: Rep. Keating; Democrat C. Samuel Sutter, Bristol County’s district attorney; Plymouth Republican Christopher Sheldon; and non-party candidate Peter A. White of Mashpee.
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On another Keating-centric note, Rep. Keating last week picked up another early union endorsement, and it’s a big ‘un: the Massachusetts AFL-CIO has not only given the freshman Congressman its official thumb’s up, AFL-CIO President Steven A. Tolman said returning Rep. Keating to office was “one of our top priorities.”
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Looking more locally, County Commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet last week informed me personally that they would both be running for re-election this year.
That brings us to a field of three candidates for two spots on the board, the third being non-party candidate Ronald K. Beaty Jr. of Barnstable. I’ve heard chatter about a potential Republican candidate, who has taken out papers but has not made any formal announcements, so that’s not yet a done deal.
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Also not a done deal, but close to it: Hyannis attorney Brian Mannal has announced plans to challenge seven-term State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) — in the primary!
Mr. Mannal was born in Centerville, moved to New Mexico with his family as a child, and returned to his hometown to raise his family. He briefly worked for former Milford state rep Marie J. Parente and for George H.W. Bush’s campaign in 2000.
This could be a very interesting contest. Rep. Atsalis has had only one serious challenge during his time in the Legislature: his 2002 race against Ann B. Canedy, which he won by a mere 101 votes. Could a fellow Democrat succeed where many Republicans have failed?
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I’m going to change Thomas F. Keyes’ name to Thomas F. Tease.
The Sandwich Republican has, since losing his 2010 race against Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth), suggested through occasional e-mails that read very much like campaign position papers and a couple of fundraisers that he would mount a second challenge this year.
This week Mr. Keyes sent out to supporters a link to this video:
http://youtu.be/Db-1IkeIWpw
Please note that he doesn’t specify whether he means he plans to run again or refund the donations…although — and here’s your free grammar lesson for the day, Tom — the way he phrases his announcement makes it sound like he’ll be returning everyone’s money.
I somehow think that isn’t what he’ll announce next month, but we’ll all find out together, won’t we?
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Tags: Brian Mannal, Christopher Sheldon, Demetrius Atsalis, Mary Pat Flynn, Ninth Congressional District, Peter White, Rob O'Leary, Ronald Beaty Jr., Sam Sutter, Senate President Therese Murray, Sheila Lyons, Tom Keyes, William Keating
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
