Coakley's lead in AG race seems to defy challengers

There's still more than a year to go before the state Democratic Party nominates its candidate for attorney general, but as far as party officials can determine, the race is already wrapped up, and the nominee is Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.

The reason? Coakley has lined up the support of several prominent women in Massachusetts politics, has banked more than $200,000, and seems to have scared away any potential challengers from either the Democratic or Republican party, at least so far.

''We haven't heard a whisper of a possible opponent," said Democratic Party spokeswoman Jane Lane. ''Martha Coakley is a very ambitious person, in the best sense of the term, and the other people eyeing that seat knew it. She's a tough opponent, an astute campaigner, and taking her on would not be a walk in the park by any means."

Best known as a lead prosecutor in the ''shaken baby" case involving British au pair Louise Woodward, Coakley has run the state's largest and busiest district attorney's office since Thomas F. Reilly left in 1998 to become attorney general. But with Reilly now running for governor, Coakley is moving to replace him again.

As a result, lawmakers and legal eagles who toyed with the idea of running for attorney general, such as state Senator Jarrett T. Barrios of Cambridge, have instead flocked to try to succeed Coakley in Middlesex County, which as the state's most populous county has served as the proving ground for the past three attorneys general. At least four Democrats are vying for the Middlesex district attorney's office: Barrios, Representatives Michael Festa of Melrose and Peter Koutoujian of Newton, and former assistant US attorney Gerald Leone.

Republicans appear reluctant to take on Coakley, too. To date, no GOP candidate has entered the fray, and party officials acknowledge they are still seeking a willing participant. The short list of possible Republican contenders includes former US attorney Wayne Budd, current US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, and Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

''We are in the process of touring the state and meeting with dozens of individuals that we think would be good candidates for attorney general, secretary of state, and auditor and treasurer," said state GOP executive director Tim O'Brien. ''I would think outside of Middlesex County, people do not know who Martha Coakley is. We're looking to recruit somebody who's tough on crime, can raise money, and can give Martha a run for her money."

Still, Coakley is demonstrating an impressive ability to raise campaign cash. State election finance data show the North Adams native had a campaign balance of roughly $226,000 by June 30.

Coakley believes the time is right for the state to elect its first female attorney general and has been wooing support from women. Roughly 200 female power brokers attended a June 1 fund-raiser for Coakley in Boston, and her list of donors includes Senate Ways and Means chairwoman Therese Murray; lawyer and Democratic activist Cheryl Cronin; top City of Boston lawyer Merita Hopkins former state treasurer and current Girl Scouts of Greater Boston chief executive Shannon O'Brien; and at least four other female Democratic lawmakers.

''As my dad said, sometimes the best man for the job is a woman," Coakley said in a phone interview, referring to her now-deceased father, Edward J. Coakley ''He even gave me a plaque to that effect."

Coakley -- a native of the same Berkshire County community as former acting governor Jane Swift, the first woman to hold the state's corner office -- said she believes a woman could bring a unique and valuable perspective to the job of the state's top cop.

''My message to women has been that this is a great opportunity to get involved on issues important to women: civil rights, the gay marriage issue, healthcare issues, regulation of insurance rates," said Coakley, an ardent supporter of the 2003 ruling that legalized same-sex matrimony.

Jim Nuzzo, a Republican political consultant and close observer of state politics, said he is perplexed at the lack of enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle for taking on Coakley, who he believes has vulnerabilities. He pointed to Coakley's role in prosecuting the Fells Acres child sexual abuse case, the first in a wave of day-care abuse trials nationwide that were criticized for the way child witnesses and testimony were handled. ''It's hard to believe people will look at that and see that as a terrific decision to go after that [case]," he said. ''It looks now like prosecutorial abuse." He added, ''It doesn't make any sense to me as to why she's getting a free pass."

But as former head of the Massachusetts Women's Bar Association and the alumna of two Boston law firms, Coakley has deep ties to the state legal establishment that have earned her powerful backers and fund-raisers. For instance, Coakley's campaign for attorney general has received nearly $14,000 from the law and lobbying firm, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, where former state attorney general Francis Bellotti and state Board of Higher Education chairman Stephen P. Tocco work.

Coakley insists the cash is flowing in not because of who she knows, but what she knows. ''They support me because of the work I do," she said.