The race for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death last week of Edward M. Kennedy got off to a cautious start yesterday, despite a tight five-month election schedule that leaves little time for campaigning.
By the end of the day just one major candidate — state Attorney General Martha Coakley — opted to take out nomination papers. A campaign aide declined to comment.
But others weighing a run include Gloucester attorney Edward O'Reilly, who is eyeing a second Senate bid after unsuccessfully challenging U.S. Sen. John Kerry in last year's Democratic primary.
"I am very seriously considering it. I ran for the same office less than a year ago and received 31 percent of the vote," said O'Reilly, a former Gloucester firefighter and commercial fisherman.
"I have to make a decision by the end of next week, around Sept. 10, just because of time needed to collect 10,000 signatures (of registered voters) to get on the ballot by the deadline," O'Reilly said. "You really need to collect about 12,000 to 14,000 in case they're challenged; about 10 percent will be bad. Last time, I collected about 15,000."
"I've been talking with a lot of people, family, friends, supporters. The job is a lot of work, and if I decide to do it, I'm going to do it to win."
"It's a serious decision, a life-altering decision," he said. "I have to consider my work. I've just gotten back to practicing criminal law again. I'd have to make sure my clients are taken care of.
O'Reilly said another consideration is money; he has less than $10,000 in his federal campaign war chest, left from his run against Kerry.
"Anyone already in the federal system has a distinct advantage; Coakley cannot move her state money to a federal campaign," he said. "It takes an obscene amount of money to run for a Senate seat. The Internet, e-mail and Web sites for fund-raising have leveled the field, but I was outspent something like 10 to 1 in my last campaign."
O'Reilly also served on the Gloucester School Committee and is a past member of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association.
Meanwhile, Curt Schilling, the former major league pitcher who won the allegiance of Bostonians by leading the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series, said yesterday that he has "some interest" in running for the seat held for nearly 50 years by Kennedy.
Schilling, a registered independent and longtime Republican supporter, wrote on his blog that, while his family and video gaming company, 38 Studios, are high priorities, "I do have some interest in the possibility."
"That being said, to get to there, from where I am today, many, many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen," he added.
Any other comment "would be speculation on top of speculation," Schilling said, adding, "My hope is that whatever happens, and whomever it happens to, this state makes the decision and chooses the best person — regardless of sex, race, religion or political affiliation — to help get this state back to the place it deserves to be."
Schilling refused to comment when his office was contacted by phone.
The 42-year-old lives in suburban Medfield and campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2004 and Sen. John McCain in 2008.
He and his wife, Shonda, have four children ages 7 to 14.
Other possible contenders decided to hold back in part to see whether a member of the Kennedy family might decide to enter the race — including Kennedy's widow Vicki Kennedy or his nephew, the former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II.
Another possible contender — former Congressman Martin T. Meehan — said he is "thinking about" a run for the seat and hopes to make a decision by the end of the week.
Meehan, now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, is waiting to see whether a Kennedy jumps in. Meehan has $4.8 million in his federal campaign account, the largest sum of any potential candidate.
"There's a lot of speculation about whether Joe Kennedy or Vicki Kennedy would run and I think either of them would make a great senator," he said. "Certainly if one of the two Kennedy candidates decided to run, I would support them."
Other possible candidates include several members of Massachusetts all-Democratic congressional delegation — Reps. Stephen Lynch, Michael Capuano and Edward Markey. All three have sizable federal campaign war chests, including $1.3 million for Lynch, $1.2 million for Capuano and $2.8 million for Markey as of June 30.
Capuano said he hopes to make a decision in the next week or so, and in the meantime he's reaching out to political allies and completing more mundane tasks like upgrading computers.
"I'm doing my own gut check now," Capuano said. "This is not something I take lightly. I want to make sure there's a legitimate path to victory for me."
Capuano, who has Joe Kennedy's old House seat, suggested he would be unlikely to run if Kennedy seeks the seat.
"If Joe's in it, it's awfully hard to run against someone you respect so much," Capuano said.
Other perceived candidates took their names out of the running yesterday.
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray issued a statement saying that despite receiving "words of encouragement from many supporters suggesting that I consider running for the United States Senate seat," he will keep his day job.
"I look forward to running and winning re-election with Governor Patrick in 2010," Murray said.
Gov. Deval Patrick, in response to a reporter's question, also snuffed out a suggestion that he might have his eye on the Senate seat, saying he remains focused on his job as governor.
Potential candidates will have to decide fairly quickly if they're in or out given the quick pace of the special election.
The first major deadline, Oct. 20, is less than two months away. That's when candidates vying for their party's nomination must deliver the signatures of at least 10,000 registered voters to local officials for certification to secure a spot on the Dec. 8 primary ballot.
The final election is just six weeks later on Jan. 19.
Voters are facing their own deadlines. The last day to register for the primary is Nov. 12, and for the general election the registration deadline is Dec. 30.
While possible candidates have their eye on the special election, Massachusetts lawmakers were gearing up for a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 9 on a contentious bill that would change state law to let the governor make an interim appointment to the seat until the election.
Gov. Patrick supports the change, but House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, and Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, haven't said whether they back it.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report compiled by staff writer Andrea Holbrook. She may be contacted at holbrook@gloucestertimes.com
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