Rep. Capuano declines Senate bid in Mass., clearing way for Elizabeth Warren

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) will not run for the Senate, likely clearing the way for Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren to get the Democratic nomination against Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

“After serious personal reflection, I have decided not to seek the United States Senate seat for Massachusetts at this time,” Capuano said in a news release. “There are several good candidates currently in the race and I am fully satisfied that any nominee from this group will represent Massachusetts effectively in the Senate.”

{mosads}Capuano ran for the Senate in 2009 and lost in the Democratic primary to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, whom Brown defeated.

Many Democrats in Massachusetts — and in Washington — had tried to convince Capuano early on to seek the seat again, but he said he wouldn’t make a decision until the end of summer. 

Recruitment efforts turned to Warren, a consumer advocate who helped design the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is a beloved figure on the left.

Warren has not yet officially announced she is running for the Senate, but appears to be strongly considering it. She has indicated she will announce her decision sometime after Labor Day. 

With Capuano deciding against a bid, Warren would be the clear front-runner in a Democratic primary field that also includes Newton Mayor Setti Warren and entrepreneur Alan Khazei. 

Liberal groups have lobbied hard for Warren to get into the race against Brown, and with Capuano out of the picture, the Democratic establishment is likely to quickly coalesce around Warren’s campaign, should she decide to run.

While Democrats consider Massachusetts their best pick-up opportunity in the Senate, Brown will be a formidable opponent: He has sought to position himself as a centrist and has approximately $10 million in the bank.

Capuano’s decision to seek reelection to the House is bad news for his House colleagues in Massachusetts. The state is losing a congressional district, and all of the state’s House members are Democrats. If he had run for the Senate, his district could have been eliminated in redistricting.

With Capuano running for reelection, that means someone else’s district is on the chopping block. The latest reports indicate that freshman Rep. Bill Keating might have to face off against fellow Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch.