Coakley is 1st to enter Senate race

Coakley now faces a series of challenges that include opening a campaign account and filling it with millions of dollars, potentially facing a member of the Kennedy family, and persuading voters that she has the ability to succeed a legendary politician who served Massachusetts for nearly half a century.

“Who will best follow that tradition?’’ she said in an interview with the Globe, one of a series she did following her formal announcement. “Maybe the name is Kennedy, but maybe it is not.’’

Two of her potential rivals - US Representative Michael E. Capuano and former US representative Marty Meehan - told the Globe yesterday that they were thinking about running.

Another potential candidate, US Representative Edward J. Markey, has been having discussions with advisers and making phone calls to determine whether he will enter the race. US Representative Stephen F. Lynch said he, too, is on the cusp of entering the race.

All eyes have been on former US representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, who has signaled that he would make a decision this week but has yet to publicly address whether he will enter the race.

Kennedy’s decision, which could be made over the weekend or early next week, is expected to have an impact on the decisions of other Democrats.

But it clearly didn’t affect Coakley, who not only announced before a Kennedy, but made her debut at Omni Parker House, a downtown hotel with historic ties to the Kennedy family. John F. Kennedy made his first public speech there at the age of 6, calling Mayor John “Honey Fitz’’ Fitzgerald “the best grandfather a child ever had.’’

Twenty-three years later, he returned to the hotel to announce his candidacy for Congress, a run that would lead to the Senate and eventually the White House. Kennedy announced his candidacy in the Press Room; Coakley made hers next door, in the Louisa May Alcott ballroom.

Coakley, who has been eyeing a run for the US Senate since 2004, when it appeared that John F. Kerry might ascend from his seat to the White House, appeared briefly overcome at the news conference, twice appearing to get teary-eyed, particularly when she mentioned her parents.

“This is a big thing for me,’’ she said later in the interview. “When I talk about my parents, I get a little emotional. It’s a family gene, I guess.’’

The 56-year-old Medford Democrat spoke of her childhood in North Adams and her history of public service: assistant district attorney, federal prosecutor, Middlesex district attorney, and her current role as state attorney general.

“And now I hope to bring my experience to Washington,’’ Coakley said.

As attorney general, Coakley has overseen an office of 525 employees and enforced numerous business and consumer-related laws. She also worked with state lawmakers to approve ethics reform laws, and recently challenged the federal Defense of Marriage Act as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Lynch, Markey, and Capuano have been placing phone calls to state politicians and fund-raisers, indicating their interest in running, but have been waiting to see what Joe Kennedy does before making a final decision.

“I’m doing my due diligence, calling as many people as time will allow and asking them what the situation is, asking them if I would be a viable candidate, asking them if I ran would they support me,’’ Capuano said in an interview.

Meehan, who is currently chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, has also been considering whether to run. His entrance could have a major impact because he has about $4.8 million in his campaign account.

“I am looking at it, and I’m certainly going to take the weekend to think this thing out,’’ Meehan said yesterday.

Lynch said in an interview last night that he will take out nomination papers and quickly decide, after talking further with his family, whether to run. If he does join the race, he said, his working-class background - he grew up in public housing and held union jobs - would differentiate him from the field.

“I’ve had the ability to have a strong connection with the people I represent’’ he said.

Potential Republican rivals include former lieutenant governor Kerry Healey; state Senator Scott P. Brown of Wrentham; former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Andrew H. Card Jr., a former state representative from Holbrook and a chief of staff to President George W. Bush; and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

Schilling, who is currently an unenrolled voter and would probably have to run as an independent or write-in candidate in the Republican primary, said yesterday on WEEI-AM that the chances of him running are “slim to none,’’ but he would not rule it out.

Coakley said she had to move quickly, without awaiting word on whether a Kennedy would run, because she needed to start raising money and forming a campaign network for a short election. She said she did not speak with Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the late senator’s wife.

“I’ve always sort of run my life, and run my career, and not worry too much about what other people are doing,’’ Coakley said in the interview. “I decide if it’s the right job for me, could I be good at it, could I do a good job, and then I go ahead.’’

Coakley has been quietly putting together her probable Senate campaign over the past year. A Coakley representative picked up the nomination documents from the secretary of state’s office Tuesday morning, and the minute she announced her candidacy yesterday, her website went live with an extensive list of photos and videos. Aides were at the announcement handing out signature forms, and campaign signs had already been printed.

While Coakley, the only female statewide officeholder, has received high marks from voters during her 2 1/2-year tenure as attorney general, she is fairly untested in political races. She won a relatively low-profile statewide race in 2006 and would now face a major competition for the first open Senate seat since 1984.

“It’s going to help her that she’s been decisive about her desire to pursue a Senate seat,’’ said Paul Watanabe, political science professor at University of Massachusetts at Boston. “But she’s going to be tested at a level that she hasn’t experienced before. She’s also going to have to compete pretty aggressively most likely with not only a lot of other experienced politicians, but experienced fund-raisers.’’

One major advantage for Coakley is that she is likely to be the only candidate in the field who has previously won statewide office. Several congressional members - many of them high-profile in Washington - are well known in their districts but less so across the state.

Congressional members also face a busy schedule in Washington over the next several months, and will have to take crucial, and controversial, votes.

Coakley also has strong ties to state legislators, whose endorsements and own campaign networks could play a role. Several legislators were at Coakley’s announcement yesterday, but perhaps more significant were two top aides to Senate President Therese Murray who were wearing Coakley buttons. Murray, who is traveling in Russia, is close with Coakley.

Coakley said she is still working on a date for her first fund-raiser, but will start from a significant disadvantage in a field that will probably include several congressional members who already have federal campaign accounts.

Coakley said she will need to raise “a couple million, at the minimum.’’ Her state campaign account cannot be applied to a federal election.

Coakley said she supports a public option for health insurance, saying it is “a viable option that makes sense.’’

Andrew Ryan and Andrea Estes of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.