A day after announcing he is mulling a run for the US Senate this year, Republican Jim Ogonowski criticized incumbent Democratic Senator John F. Kerry as a Washington insider who is out of touch with average Massachusetts residents.
"We need someone who represents the working-class people of Massachusetts," Ogonowski said in a phone interview yesterday. "Kerry doesn't live here. You don't see him on the streets of Boston, of Worcester, of Lowell, of Pittsfield."
Ogonowski, a Dracut farmer and retired military officer who lost a close race for Congress last fall in his political debut, said party leaders and activists in Massachusetts have urged him to challenge the Democratic incumbent and 2004 presidential nominee. Ogonowski said he is "strongly considering" entering the race and will decide on his candidacy in the next two weeks.
"Everybody's been encouraging me, and it's been great to see the support out there," he said. "Washington's broken, and there's no one in Washington who represents the status quo more than John Kerry."
The Associated Press first reported Saturday that Ogonowski was considering a Senate run. Kerry, in his fourth six-year term, last faced a serious challenge from Republican Governor William Weld in 1996.
In a statement, Kerry spokesman David Wade did not address Ogonowski's possible candidacy. "Senator Kerry is running for reelection so he can continue fighting to change Washington," he said. "John Kerry brings to public service a lifetime of fighting the tough fights for change and standing up with courage and conviction, and he'll keep doing that in the United States Senate."
Ogonoswki, the brother of an airline pilot killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lost to Democrat Niki Tsongas by 6 percentage points in the race for the Fifth Congressional District, but gained 45 percent of the vote and made the race far closer than expected in a heavily Democratic area.
He ran as a populist reformer committed to challenging the status quo and cracking down on illegal immigration, and pointed to his years of military service as an officer in the Air Force and Air National Guard.
Yesterday, he said he would continue to press for strong national security, immigration and tax reform, and energy independence.
Peter Torkildsen, chairman of the state Republican Party, said Ogonowski has been speaking to Republicans across the state recently to try and revitalize the state party and get more challengers for congressional candidates.
"He is a terrific candidate," Torkildsen said.
"If he chooses to do this, he'll be very formidable."
Kerry would also have a huge financial advantage, with $9.5 million in his campaign accounts, compared with $65,750 in Ogonowski's.
Several Republicans have declared their candidacies, including Jeff Beatty, a military veteran from Harwich who ran unsuccessfully in 2006 against US Representative William Delahunt, and Kevin Scott, a businessman from Wakefield who lost the 2006 Republican primary for US Senate to Kenneth Chase.
