Sounds like a Class A opportunist:
Cahill has made little secret of his ambitions for the governor’s office but hasn’t said whether he’ll challenge Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, who plans to run for a second term.
Cahill is more conservative than Patrick and would have faced an uphill fight to win the Democratic Party nomination, given that the party’s primary voters tend to be more liberal than the party, or the electorate, as a whole.
Cahill had previously acknowledged that he was considering the party switch, given the daunting task of trying to unseat an incumbent Democrat.
“It’s just an option that I have to consider, given I have a governor of my own party who is, as of now, planning to run for re-election,” Cahill said last month.
A Suffolk University poll actually showed Cahill beating Patrick in a primary, but apparently he doesn’t have the stomach for that. Back in 2006, this race also saw an independent candidate, but the well-funded Christy Mihos (who is running as a Republican this time) pulled just 7%. Evidently Cahill thinks he can do much better.
The Swing State Project currently rates this race as Likely Dem, but that may change in a hurry (and also potentially mess up our lovely chart if Cahill gains traction).
RaceTracker: MA-Gov