Oct. 16 set for vote on Meehan successor
A special election to choose a successor to US Representative Martin T. Meehan was set yesterday for Oct. 16, giving a growing field of candidates about five months to fight for the the state's first open congressional seat in six years.
The election, called yesterday by Governor Deval Patrick, will be preceded by a Sept. 4 primary.
Meehan, a Democrat who has been tapped to be the next chancellor of University of Massachusetts at Lowell, submitted his official letter of resignation yesterday and will leave Congress July 1.
By calling the special election for Oct. 16, Patrick chose the most distant date he could by law, which requires a vote within 160 days of a resignation.
A crowded field of candidates has emerged. According to Federal Election Commission records, two Democrats have already raised more than $300,000: Niki Tsongas of Lowell, wife of the late US senator Paul Tsongas, and state Representative Barry R. Finegold of Andover.
On the Republican side, the best-known candidate may be Jim Ogonowski, an Air Force lieutenant colonel from Dracut whose brother was a American Airlines pilot whose plane was hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, and flown into the World Trade Center. Ogonowski has not yet registered with the FEC, and no other Republicans reported raising any money by March 31.
Meehan, who has served in Congress for 15 years, is leaving office with more than $5 million in his campaign war chest, money he must donate to approved charities or other political candidates or parties. Spokesman Andrew Gully said yesterday that Meehan had not decided what to do with the cash. 