Romney's decision kicks off campaign

And they're off.

A day after Governor Mitt Romney announced he won't run for reelection, the 2006 governor's race began in earnest yesterday: Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly accused Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey of being out of touch with Massachusetts, Healey hit back by calling Reilly ineffective, and Democratic hopeful Deval L. Patrick said he would make a stronger leader than either of them.

Reilly launched his offensive first, summoning reporters to a 10 a.m. press conference at the Omni Parker House. Speaking in front of shiny ''Reilly for Massachusetts" signs, he all but ignored Patrick, his probable primary opponent, instead taking direct aim at Healey for being ''a willing partner in an administration that has been the most partisan, divisive, and ineffective in my memory."

''They had their chance; they didn't get the job done," Reilly said. ''I will."

Reilly repeatedly linked Healey with Romney's assertions Wednesday night that his administration had accomplished almost everything he set out to do. He charged that Healey and Romney had ignored the University of Massachusetts system, compromised public education with funding cuts, and unfairly blamed others for problems such as housing shortages and the financial struggles of cities and towns.

''Mission accomplished? Everyone knows the mission isn't accomplished," Reilly told reporters, a sly reference to the banner behind President Bush as he declared in 2003 that the war in Iraq had been won. ''The lieutenant governor seems to feel that way, too, so it just points out all the more need for change."

Reilly said that the Romney administration has not succeeded in rolling back the income tax rate to 5 percent, which voters called for in a referendum in 2000. Reilly said he would get it done.

''The voters have made it very clear that they want a 5 percent income tax rate. It's our job to get that done, and we will get that done," said Reilly, who once opposed the tax cut because he felt the state could not afford the $600 million annual cost.

A few hours later, Healey chastised Reilly for ''going negative" on the first day of the race.

''I think he must be a bit scared," she told reporters after speaking on gang violence at a meeting of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association in Boylston. ''I'm just doing my job today, and I don't care what he's saying."

Healey said that Reilly, who is the state's top law enforcement officer, had been largely absent on one of the state's biggest issues: gangs and crime in urban areas.

''Well, frankly, I don't believe he's been a leader on the things that are most important to our communities," she said in response to reporters' questions. ''We can see simply by looking at the papers that what really matters right now is addressing the issue of witness intimidation and gang violence."

Patrick, meanwhile, used a meeting with Emerson College students to knock Reilly for having little experience beyond government service, portraying him as a Beacon Hill insider who would offer only ''ordinary" leadership.

''I don't think a history of caution, reticence, and finger-to-the-wind politics, which is what we have seen consistently from this attorney general, is what we need at this time," said Patrick, a former civil rights prosecutor under President Clinton.

Patrick then told reporters that Reilly's focus on Healey instead of him was a naive strategy. ''There are lots of people I meet out there around the state who are asking themselves, rightly, whether Tom Reilly is the best we can do," he said. ''There is an opening, and we are exploiting that opening."

Patrick also criticized Reilly's call to roll back the state income tax rate. ''I don't think it's honest to say to people that we can afford a tax rollback right now," he said. ''We have cities and towns . . . that are absolutely struggling because local aid has virtually disappeared and property taxes are in many places at an all-time high."

Romney later defended himself against Reilly's charges, saying his criticism implicates Democratic lawmakers, too. ''Virtually everything I accomplished I accomplished with the help of the Legislature," Romney told reporters.

Another 2006 hopeful is Christy Mihos, a Cohasset businessman and former Turnpike Authority board member who has yet to decide whether he will run as a Republican or an independent. Mihos could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Scott S. Greenberger of the Globe stafff contributed to this report.