Massachusetts: Lewis Enters Open-Seat Race As Independent

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Massachusetts state lawmaker-turned-lobbyist Maryanne Lewis says she has collected 4,000 signatures and will be running for an open seat in Congress as an independent, reports the Boston Business Journal.

Writes the Journal: "The entrance of an unenrolled candidate into a race for a district closely divided along partisan lines could shake up an already-volatile electoral environment, which voted overwhelmingly for Republican Sen. Scott Brown over Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in January's U.S. Senate special election and will be studded this fall with campaigns for several open seats."

The story describes Lewis, a lawyer and former aide to the legendary Speaker Thomas P. "Tip O'Neill, as a moderate. When she was in the state Legislature, she was a Democrat.

The rest of the field so far includes Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating and state Sen. Robert O'Leary, both Democrats; and state Rep. Jeff Perry and former state Treasurer Joseph Malone, both Republicans.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/08/delahunt-massachusetts-congres.html