Tagged: Stephen Lynch

Democrats and Republicans hoping to get their names on the ballot for the special U.S. Senate election face a signature-gathering sprint before the close of business Wednesday.

That's the deadline for collecting the 10,000 voter signatures necessary to secure a spot on the April 30 primary ballot.

Candidates typically try to collect more than 10,000 signatures to give themselves a cushion in case not all are certified.

The Massachusetts Republican Party remains optimistic about the upcoming special election to fill the senate seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry.  But it appears the minority party in the Bay State is facing long odds. 

   Republicans are facing a number of challenges in their quest to pick off a Democratic seat in the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts.  The immediate challenge for the party is getting a candidate willing to commit to the race, according to Tim Vercellotti, a political science professor at Western New England University.

There will be no senate comeback bid this year for Scott Brown. The former Republican senator announced Friday he will not run in the special election to fill the vacancy left by  John Kerry’s departure.

Brown  who became a national Republican star with his upset victory in the 2010 special election for senate in Massachusetts, then lost to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren last year, has decided to sit out this year’s senate campaign.

The race for US Senate in Massachusetts  is heating up. Congressman Stephen Lynch has launched a campaign for the Democratic nomination. Lynch and fellow Democratic Congressman Ed Markey are the only announced candidates, so far. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Lynch in Springfield about why he’s running for senate.