Jockeying for Kerry's Senate seat begins

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http://www.boston.com/news/politics/us_senate/articles/2004/08/08/jockeying_for_kerrys_senate_seat_begins/

Jockeying for Kerry's Senate seat begins
Markey, Meehan, Frank could run
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | August 8, 2004

WASHINGTON -- <snip>Many of the 10 Massachusetts congressmen, who share similar party identifications, voting records, and in many cases backgrounds, find themselves competing for cash and constituencies -- a band of brothers breaking apart.<snip>

Meehan, who describes the race as ''the imaginary campaign," leads all 1,126 congressional candidates across the country with nearly $3.5 million in cash on hand, a stunning distinction for a lawmaker who is neither in a leadership position or in a tightly contested race for reelection. Markey, a Malden Democrat, ranks 10th nationwide, with more than $2 million in the bank, or nearly 100 times the cash held by his House race opponent, Republican Kenneth G. Chase.

While most of the other Democrats in Boston were paying attention to Kerry's official nomination as presidential candidate, several Massachusetts congressmen worked the crowd for their own political futures.

Frank and Representative William D. Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, held fund-raisers during convention week, and Frank said he plans more money-raising events in Boston, New York, Washington, and Los Angeles. Representative Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Boston, was spotted working the labor leader crowd at a small party for Representative Richard A. Gephardt, Democrat of Missouri, on the first day of the convention. Both Lynch and Meehan headlined swanky evening parties.<snip>