http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/10/10/gop_sees_openings_in_us_house_races/Democratic US Representative William D. Delahunt of Quincy this year is facing an aggressive Republican challenger from the middle of the 10th Congressional district, which extends along the coast from Quincy to Provincetown. US Representative Barney Frank of Newton is defending the congressional seat he has held for the past 24 years against a conservative talk show host running as an independent.
Congressman Stephen F. Lynch is unopposed this year, but the South Boston Democrat is campaigning anyway, making the rounds of community groups, readying mailings, and otherwise trying to solidify his hold on the 9th District seat he first won in a special election three years ago. While the Nov. 2 US House election is the top priority for the congressmen who represent the southern suburbs, another potential contest is competing for their attention: the special US Senate election that would be held if John Kerry wins the presidency.
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Delahunt, Lynch and Frank all have said they would consider running for the Senate if Kerry defeats President George W. Bush and gives up his Senate seat. Under a bill passed by the Legislature this year, a special election would be held, taking the decision out of the governor's hands, if a Senate seat becomes vacant. The primary could come as early as February, with the final election following in March.
For the state's 10 congressmen, the special election represents a rare and inviting opportunity to move up the political ladder. A US Senate seat in Massachusetts has not been vacant since 1984, when incumbent Paul Tsongas, facing a battle with lymphoma, decided against running for reelection and Kerry won the race to replace him. Unlike in a regularly scheduled Senate election, the rules governing the special election would allow incumbents to keep their House seats if they decided to join the race but lost. The three area Democratic congressmen have substantial war chests now. At the Aug. 25 filing deadline, Lynch had $403,000; Frank, $331,000; and Delahunt, $1.7 million.
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Delahunt has a big fund-raising advantage over Jones, who had raised $193,000 by the August filing deadline. But Jones, a fiscal conservative with moderate views on social issues, has run an aggressive campaign, airing radio ads and regularly deploying sign-holding supporters at overpasses on routes 3 and 6. The 10th District has the most favorable voter registration numbers for the Republican Party of any of the state's congressional districts. About 27 percent of voters are Democrat and 18 percent Republican, with the rest unenrolled or belonging to other parties. Victor DeSantis, a Bridgewater State College political scientist and director of the Institute for Regional Development, said the state Republican Party's push for state Senate candidates from the 10th District could benefit Jones.
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I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, hope that Barney Frank decides not to run for senate, because Delahunt has stated that he won't run if Frank does, because of his friendship with Frank. I know that Barney is the number 1 choice here at the DU Mass board. But I don't see how one can look at and claim he wouldn't be the weakest candidate in a statewide election of the congressmen. And I also don't see how others so underrate Delahunt, because to me it's obvious he's the strongest candidate, or would be, in a general statewide election; he comes from the most republican district in the state, he's an EXPERT and has SERIOUS CREDENTIALS on foreign policy and crime, 2 issues that, at least nationally, favor republicans, and he doesn't have to defend himself from the flip-flop attack, however scurrilous and misleading it may be, about critisizing the Patriot Act and more importantly Iraq war, because unlike people such as Meehan, Markey, and Lynch, he voted against both resolutions that related to them (I don't call a vote for the Iraq resolution a vote "for war" although we have to accept that that misunderstanding has become reality for a ton of Americans, probably the far majority).
He's also my hometown congressman and someone I've both met and seen give speeches live and have seen him over and over on C-Span sticking it to the Bushies, something I can't say for Meehan and Markey and to a lesser degree Frank, who tend to seek the more mainstream/self-publicizing commercial news-channel route.
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