Just in case you missed it, eight-term Democratic Rep. Marty Meehan has announced that he will resign from Congress in July to become the next chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, which means that we will have a special election on tap to fill his seat within 160 days of the vacancy.
A few words about Meehan: ProgressivePunch gave him a rating of 87%, which is by no means bad, but that only fits him about midway in the Democratic caucus in terms of progressive voting patterns. For a D+11 Massachusetts district, one would think that he could have afforded to play to the base a bit more. My biggest knock against Marty, though, was his utter selfishness during the netroots-led “Use It Or Lose It” campaign last fall to arm the DCCC with the additional resources it needed to help expand the battlefield in closing weeks of the 2006 elections. Despite sitting on a $5+ million warchest, Meehan only gave a paltry $125,000 (PDF) to the DCCC during the last cycle, and dug his heels in the ground while his House colleagues, such as fellow Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, donated up to 30% of their cash-on-hand on top of their required dues. Like a squirrel burrowing more seeds than he could use underground for the winter, so too did Meehan cling to his oversized war chest in the hope that he could use it in the event of a Ted Kennedy or John Kerry retirement (which did not happen for Kennedy in ’06, and won’t for Kerry next year, either). So, after all those months of stinginess to his fellow Democrats, Meehan won’t be able to use his warchest, anyway. One wonders what will become of the $5m+. Gifts to the DCCC, DSCC and other Democratic candidates? Or will he hide it under the earth once more, hoping for a Kennedy retirement in 2012? I’ll let you guess the answer.
In any event, it’ll be a new day for MA-05. The question is: which one of the following names is both a suitably progressive Democrat and a team player?
Politicians eager to fill Meehan’s seat have wasted no time positioning themselves for a run, with at least 10 candidates flirting with a potential campaign. The list of Democrats include Niki Tsongas, wife of the late US senator Paul Tsongas; state Representative Barry R. Finegold of Andover; Eileen Donoghue, the former Lowell mayor and current city councilor; state Representative James B. Eldridge of Acton; and Stephen Kerrigan, a former aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy and to Attorney General Thomas Reilly.
Race Tracker: MA-05