AG takes out papers for Senate bid

Coakley has been quietly putting together her probable Senate campaign over the past year, but has yet to officially announce. Yesterday’s move - a Coakley representative picked up the documents from the secretary of state’s office in the morning - is a clear signal she intends to jump in.

A campaign spokeswoman said Coakley did not want to comment yesterday. However, Coakley has told associates she will run for the seat even if a Kennedy family member enters the race.

Other potential candidates continued to tap dance around the issue, holding private conversations but giving no public indication of their intentions, as they awaited word on whether a Kennedy would enter the race.

Former US representative Joseph P. Kennedy II is said to be eyeing a run, but it is not at all clear he will. Some associates say he is sounding like a candidate; others say he is expressing some reservations.

Those close to him say that Kennedy is content in his private life and in running his energy companies, where his salary reached $544,792 in 2007, according to federal tax filings. That includes $77,000 he earns from his nonprofit operation, Citizens Energy, which provides discounted heating oil to low-income households. A US senator’s salary is $174,000.

Kennedy’s pondering has put something of a freeze on the campaign, with several other candidacies hinging on his decision. Three members of Congress - Edward J. Markey, Stephen F. Lynch, and Michael Capuano - are also considering running, though Markey and Capuano have told people they would be unlikely to run if Kennedy did.

Another potential major contender is former US representative Martin Meehan, now the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Republicans continue to look for candidates, with a potential list including former lieutenant governor Kerry Healey; former US attorney Michael Sullivan; Andrew Card, who was chief of staff to George W. Bush in the White House; and state Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham.

An adviser to Jane Swift said the former acting governor, a Republican, has also been considering running for the seat, but is now leaning against it. The adviser, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal political deliberations, said Swift feels her children are still too young for her to get back into public life, and that she is doing well professionally.

“She is feeling now that it is not the right time to switch gears,’’ the adviser said.

Coakley, a 56-year-old Medford Democrat, has not been shy about her political ambitions, consistently saying she would entertain running for higher office - including Senator John F. Kerry’s seat, when he was rumored to be on the short list for the nation’s secretary of state, or for Governor Deval Patrick’s seat, were he to accept an appointment in the Obama administration.

She opened a political bank account to begin exploring a possible run for Senate, an action that was said to anger Kennedy loyalists. The account has allowed her to test the waters for a run for federal office, but without disclosing the source of contributions unless she ultimately decides to run.

While Coakley, the only female statewide officeholder, has received high marks from voters during her two-and-a-half-year tenure as attorney general, she is also 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.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. Frank Phillips can be reached at phillips@globe.com.