Capuano won't run for governor, raising questions on party unity

In the first major development of the Democratic race for governor, US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a hard-edged urban populist from Somerville with liberal social views, announced yesterday he will not seek the nomination.

The four-term congressman said he had decided that, after several months of considering whether to make a statewide race, he is not prepared to sacrifice his personal and professional life to spend the necessary time required to raise funds and mount a campaign for governor.

''It takes up your entire life for two years," said Capuano, who turns 53 tomorrow. He said he would focus his energy in Washington on fighting Republicans' efforts to overhaul Social Security and also on winning transportation funding for the state. He said he is confident that he could have beaten Governor Mitt Romney, although he said he is not convinced that Romney will run for reelection. Romney told reporters in December he would run again in 2006.

Capuano's decision leaves, at this early stage of the political process, two major office holders, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and Secretary of State William F. Galvin, as the leading potential contenders for the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Chris Gabrieli, the 2002 Democratic lieutenant governor nominee and a wealthy venture capitalist, is also considering a run.

Capuano's departure from the race is likely to mean that the party will not have the chance to consider a candidate who would pull together the party's two strongest bases: urban voters and liberal political activists.

The Dartmouth educated congressmen, who served as Somerville's mayor before running for Congress in 1998, supports gay marriage, abortion rights, and gun control. He also voted against the Iraq War resolution and the antiterrorism Patriot Act, saying that it was a threat to civil liberties.

But his roots, Capuano said, would have dictated the campaign he ran.

''My campaign would have been on the streets," Capuano said, saying that talking to voters at such gathering places as VFW halls, churches, and Little League games is an effective antidote to the media blitz that dominates most races.

State Democratic Party chairman Philip W. Johnston said Capuano's decision raises the issue of whether the party can avoid a divisive primary battle.

''Obviously it would be in the party's best interest to avoid a primary, but if it does happen, it is important that the candidates focus on the failures of the Romney administration," he said. ''I am convinced we can win the governorship back if we adhere to that approach."

Reilly, who has made clear to party activists that he is running for governor, has a $2.5 million campaign chest and is increasingly being referred to as the front-runner by some party insiders who want to avoid a divisive primary.

''The Democrats' establishment has quickly rallied around Attorney General Reilly, and the fund-raising capacity he has in place is formidable," said Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor at Tufts University.

But Galvin, who has a high public profile and $1.5 million in his political account, said yesterday that he, too, is interested in the race. Galvin ran briefly for the nomination in 2002, but dropped out when it became clear he could not win enough convention delegates to qualify for the primary ballot.

Some Democrats, who point out that the party has not won a gubernatorial election since 1986, are privately hoping that former US representative Joseph P. Kennedy II will jump into the race, which would transform the 2006 campaign. Kennedy flirted with running for governor several times over his years in Congress, from 1987 to 1999, but never jumped into a race.

Kennedy -- who has been running his nonprofit fuel-oil company, Citizens Energy, since he left Congress -- has publicly shunned speculation that he would run for governor, but some of his supporters say he has kept a keen interest in Massachusetts politics.

Berry said that Reilly's low-key style may not work well against what he said is the more dynamic and telegenic candidate in Romney. Berry suggested that Reilly needs to develop the same kind of profile as his counterpart in New York state, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has made headlines prosecuting securities fraud.

''Attorney General Reilly needs a little Spitzer in him," Berry said. ''He comes across as a bureaucrat, not as a tough guy."

As attorney general, Reilly has alienated some party faithful. For example, he faces antipathy from gay activists, a small but well organized bloc in the party angry over his defending a 1913 law that barred out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts earlier this year.

His decision to call for the resignation of former University of Massachusetts president William M. Bulger in 2003 angered some party regulars, particularly on Beacon Hill, where Bulger has pockets of support.

Galvin and Reilly said they respect Capuano and understand his decision.

''These are intensely personal decisions, and he is clearly doing what he believes is best for both him and his family," Reilly said.

Said Galvin: ''I have a great respect for him. It was a personal decision of his. He is a good friend."