By Alan Burke
It's a race that's headed down its first home stretch.
The special primary on Dec. 8 and general election on Jan. 19 will choose a new U.S. senator from Massachusetts from six major party hopefuls: Democrats Martha Coakley, Mike Capuano, Steve Pagliuca and Alan Khazei, along with Republicans Scott Brown and Jack E. Robinson.
But the race comes at an odd time in the calender, and even the pollsters are uncertain who will actually vote given an electorate that seems largely disengaged.
Those who go to the polls will choose a replacement for appointed Sen. Paul Kirk and fill the seat occupied by the late Ted Kennedy for nearly half a century. And elected leaders across the region are choosing up sides, with Primary Day looming a week from tomorrow.
Attorney General Martha Coakley will go into the election with the backing of a majority of the North Shore's senior political leadership, including mayors, representatives, state senators and activists.
Her supporters include the likes of Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, Peabody Mayor Michael Bonfanti, Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and more — including state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, the Gloucester Democrat whose district also includes Rockport and Essex.
Ferrante said yesterday she's found Coakley and her AG's office "extraordinarily responsive" to community needs, especially citing Coakley's role in challenging the federal government regarding commercial fishing regulations and enforcement.
"She's shown a willingness to engage us on the issues — even ones that can be sticky," Ferrante said, noting Coakley's visit to the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, which remains under federal enforcement pressure.
"I just asked if she was willing to come down here to talk to folks, she did, she realized something was wrong, and she has worked with us to try to fix it," said Ferrante, who spoke on behalf of Coakley during a candidates' forum hosted by the Rockport Democratic Town Committee earlier this month.
Along with Congressman John Tierney and former Rep. Michael Harrington, both of Salem, however, Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk said yesterday that she's "leaning toward" Capuano, though she has yet to make a formal endorsement of the current congressman and former Somerville mayor.
"I find Capuano an attractive candidate because he was a mayor for nine years," Kirk said. "I think he would know more than others the issues our cities are facing.
"He would be a fighter for the things that we care about in the city," she said, such as water and sewer rate relief, public safety and other municipal concerns needing more and more federal attention.
State committeeman Arthur Powell of Beverly is another Capuano supporter. He points out that his man has been endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"He's in a unique position to follow the footsteps of Sen. Kennedy," he added.
Powell expects that Capuano, the former mayor of Somerville, will be especially capable of making Washington understand the needs of Massachusetts, particularly when it comes to dealing with unemployment. "I think this is an important part of the job. It's really about representing people in the community."
Alan Khazei has drawn support not from local elected officials, but from a number of community activists. They include breast cancer awareness activist Susan Wadia-Ells of Manchester, who spoke for Khazei at the Rockport forum, and insurance executive John Archer of Beverly.
Wadia-Ells said one of the key reasons for her support for Khazei was that he doesn't take money from lobbyists or political action groups.
"This means that Alan is free to vote for the best possible health care compromise, the best possible compromise to stop unfair profit-grabbing by wall street operatives and the best global warming policy that can be squeezed out of this special interest-controlled U.S. Senate," said Wadia-Ells.
She said that Khazei, a Harvard Law School graduate, was the only candidate with a deep knowledge of Middle Eastern politics and with personal knowledge of Iranian culture and history, who will be able and willing to take a huge immediate leadership role in helping the U.S. develop a thoughtful Iran policy.
"Alan Khazei is the next generation of creative leadership that the U.S. Senate desperately needs," said Wadia-Ells. "We need to grab him while we can."
State committeeman Powell, meanwhile, tears into investor and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, pointing to his work with Bain Capital, the firm that produced much of former Gov. Mitt Romney's wealth. In fact, he added, Pagliuca supported Romney's Senate bid versus Ted Kennedy in 1994, as well as, in the past, George W. Bush.
But none of that bothers Pagliuca backer Dave Gamache, a Peabody city councilor.
"If an idea is good," he said, "you should go with the good idea and not the party label." He believes that Pagliuca has good ideas — including his support for health care legislation.
"He is a self-made man," Gamache continued, noting that his man came from an ordinary family before establishing himself as a fabulously successful businessman. "Everything's he's touched has turned out very well. ... I hope he's the guy."
On the Republican side, Sen. Scott Brown has pretty much locked up the region's GOP officials.
"(Brown) is a hard worker who cares about the commonwealth of Massachusetts," said state Rep. Brad Hill, the Ipswich Republican whose district includes Manchester. "Fiscally, I agree with all his issues. If we keep going the way we are, the federal government is going to bankrupt this country."
Brown, he believes, would bring a voice of fiscal restraint to Washington.
Hill acknowledges that Brown will face a prodigious challenge if he wins the primary, having to overcome what will likely be a well-financed Democratic campaign and the state's historic reluctance to vote for Republicans.
Thus far Brown has relied as much on shoe leather and determination as money, Hill said. And he feels the time might be right for Brown.
"Many of the people I represent want to see a change," Hill said.
