Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced a run for governor. She joins an already crowded Democratic field for the 2014 election.
Stressing job creation, economic development, and education the state’s top prosecutor, Martha Coakley entered the 2014 fray for governor Monday morning. She greeted people at a diner in her home town of Medford, the first stop in what her campaign said will be a three-day barnstorming swing that will take her to 18 cities across the state. Her campaign tour was scheduled to hit western Massachusetts Tuesday.
Coakley also released a video on her campaign website.
If Coakley succeeds in being elected governor it would mark a dramatic political comeback from her shocking loss in the 2010 special Senate election to Republican Scott Brown.
Coakley enters the race for the Democratic nomination for governor as the presumptive frontrunner, according to Tim Vercellotti, a professor of political science at Western New England University.
But Coakley will be forever dogged by her failure in 2010 to keep the Senate seat held for nearly 50 years by Ted Kennedy in Democratic hands.
Although Coakley is rated as one of the state’s most popular politicians in public opinion polls, it is not clear if Democratic activists want her at the top of the ticket, according to Mike Shea, a Democratic political analyst.
Another of the Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls State Treasurer Steve Grossman has spent months traveling the state and lining up support from party activists and local officials. He has secured the backing of at least two powerful politicians in western Massachusetts--Hampden County Sheriff Mike Ashe and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
Coakley is expected to be endorsed by Emily’s List, a national political group whose mission is to elect women to office. Massachusetts has never elected a female governor. Former Lt. Gov. Jane Swift became acting governor in 2001, but did not seek the office in the 2002 election.
The Democratic field for governor also includes national security expert Juliette Kayyam, former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Donald Berwick and biotech executive Joseph Avellone. State Senate Dan Wolf suspended his campaign while he contests an Ethics Commission ruling.
Massachusetts Congressman Mike Capuano is expected to make a decision about running for governor in a few weeks.
Charles Baker, who was the Republican nominee for governor in 2010, is the only announced Republican candidate for 2014.