War chests build for Senate race
Markey, Meehan raise over $1m
US Representatives Edward J. Markey and Martin T. Meehan are breaking fund-raising records in frenetic drives to prove they are the leading Democrats in a US Senate race that may never take place, the campaign to replace Senator John F. Kerry if he wins the presidency.
With the books closing today on the second-quarter filing period, the two Massachusetts lawmakers, who face longshot challenges from Republicans in their House districts, are tearing up the landscape here, in Washington, and across the country, emptying donors' pockets and hitting up their favorite special interests.
Markey and Meehan have raised more than $1 million each in the last three months, a level of fund-raising that Massachusetts has never seen by incumbent congressmen.
Markey aides said he raised between $1.1 million and $1.2 million, swelling his war chest from $754,513 in March to well over $1.5 million, perhaps as much as $2 million when the books are balanced.
Meehan, of Lowell, matched that with fund-raising that his aides said will reach more than $1 million in individual donations for the same period. He will have well over $3 million in his account, said Meehan aide Chris Khory.
Markey, who at 57 is the dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, spent yesterday on a West Coast swing where the industries regulated by the Energy and Commerce Committee on which he serves have been a major source of campaign cash. His aides were not making his schedule public. His usual donor lists includes cable and Hollywood entertainment giants such as Fox Television, Walt Disney Co.,
Meehan, who built a national reputation for championing campaign finance reform, was in his Fifth District this week working the telephones to hook last-minute donors, looking to hold the shrinking lead he has held over Markey. He scheduled three parties across the district last night and more fund-raising events in Boston, Lawrence, and Lowell today to boost his total.
Democrats in the Legislature are trying to rush a bill to Governor Mitt Romney's desk that would strip his powers to appoint a replacement, presumably a Republican, to fill Kerry's seat. It calls for a special election between 145 and 160 days after a vacancy in a US Senate seat is declared. Yesterday, House Republicans tried to slow the bill during debate, hoping to run out the clock for the legislative session.
Markey and Meehan have quickly jumped ahead of two other delegation members, Barney Frank of Newton and Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston, both of whom have indicated they are interested in the seat. Frank said yesterday that he expects to run, assuming that Kerry wins the White House and that Democrats don't capture the US House in November. With a Democratic majority, he would become chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
Frank ended the first quarter with $69,000 in his account, and he expects to have $300,000 by tomorrow. Lynch aides said he will raise $100,000 this quarter. He had $290,000 in accounts on March 31.
