Lt. Governor Healey Considering Run against Tierney

by David Tamasi

WASHINGTON - Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey is weighing a run for Congress next year against Rep. John Tierney, a Salem Democrat who will be seeking a 5th term, according to a Republican with close political ties to Healey.

"It is something that has definitely been discussed," said the longtime GOP operative, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The potential drawback would be traveling to Washington and being away from her kids."

Healey could run for the 6th congressional district seat while serving as lieutenant governor. If she were to lose to Tierney, she would remain lieutenant governor.

A spokeswoman for Healey denied she was considering a congressional campaign.

"A number of people have approached lieutenant governor Healey about running for John Tierney's congressional seat," said spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman. "She is very flattered by the encouragement she has received, but is focused on the job of lieutenant governor."

Tierney's office would not comment on a prospective challenge by Healey. "His policy is to not respond to speculation, but [he] fully appreciates the right to run and that he may have an opponent in any given race," said Tierney's spokeswoman, Leslie Knapp.

Healey, who lives in Beverly, was elected lieutenant governor in 2002 on a ticket with Gov. Mitt Romney. They beat Democrats Shannon O'Brien and Christopher Gabrieli. Healey weathered a challenge in the Republican primary from Concord businessman James Rappaport, but rallied and soundly defeated him, 64 percent to 36 percent.

Healey's strength in that primary is one of the reasons her name has come up as a potential challenger to Tierney.

"Her primary win in that congressional district was impressive enough among independent voters to look at whether she could do this," the Republican operative said. "That is a well-known fact."

The 6th district encompasses Essex County and the towns of North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Bedford, Wilmington and Burlington.

Romney and Healey received 141, 932 votes in Essex County last year. That same year, Tierney received 162,900 votes, or 68 percent of the total, in his race against Republican Mark Smith. Healey would likely be a stronger candidate than Smith because she has considerably higher name recognition and a greater ability to raise money .

Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, would not comment on whether Healey was looking at the race.

"A reason they want to keep this quiet is to limit Tierney's ability to raise money through direct mail," the Republican said. "If it is out there now, then Tierney can write letters saying he has to be well-financed against a tough opponent."

Healey's most recent filing with the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance indicated she raised $61,350 in September and has $224,511 in her war chest. Her campaign spent $16,532 in September.

Healey's campaign has kept a number of people on the payroll and continues to pay Gray Media $2,000 a month in consulting fees. Gray Media is owned by Rob Gray, a Republican political consultant who previously served in the administrations of former Govs. William Weld and Paul Cellucci.

With the advantage of incumbency, Tierney has amassed nearly three times as much campaign money as Healey. According to his most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, Tierney had $688,444 in his campaign account. From July 1 through Sept. 30, Tierney raised $72,408 and spent $33,135.

A lawyer by profession, Tierney has received a 100 percent rating from the AFL-CIO in past years and could rely on support from unions and other traditional Democratic constituencies. He sits on the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the House Government Reform Committee.

Tierney was first elected to Congress in 1996, defeating Republican incumbent Peter Torkildsen, in a bitter rematch of their 1994 race. Tierney faced Torkildsen again in 1998 and beat him by 12 percentage points. Since then, Tierney has faced only token opposition.

Gene Hartigan, a veteran Massachusetts Republican political consultant who managed Torkildsen's 1992 and 1998 campaigns, said that if Healey "ran she would offer a strong alternative" to Tierney.

"I think she would be an appropriate candidate for that district," Hartigan said. "She has a definition of what she wants and is a woman, which does not hurt."

Hartigan attributed Tierney's electoral successes to two things: being a Democrat in a Democratic state and playing to his union base, which helps get voters to the polls on Election Day. By the same token, he said, "There are a lot of Democrats on the North Shore that I have talked to who do not like Tierney and find him arrogant."

Congressional Quarterly wrote in April that a Republican candidate might be able to take the district by wooing independents. "Republicans can do well in upscale towns such as Boxford, Lynnfield, Topsfield and Wenham, which gave 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Mitt Romney more than two-thirds of the vote," the magazine reported. "While the district has a Democratic tilt, it is not overwhelming, and the GOP can win by attracting independent-minded 'unenrolled' voters."

But Louis DiNatale, director of the Center for State and Local Government at the University of Massachusetts' McCormack Institute of Public Affairs, said Healey would be hard-pressed to beat Tierney.

"Her chances are not good," DiNatale said. "That is a swing district, and there are a lot of unenrolled [independent] voters who are going to vote Democratic in a presidential year, so the timing is not the best."

DiNatale said Healey's lack of experience would be fodder for Tierney.

Before Romney picked her as his running mate, Healey ran for the state legislature against Rep. Michael Cahill in 1998 and 2000 and lost both times. In the fall of 2001, she ran for the unpaid position of chairman of the Republican State Committee and won.

The following April, Acting Governor Jane M. Swift announced she would not run for governor to clear the way for fellow Republican Romney, the former Olympics chairman, who announced his candidacy days later. Swift's choice for lieutenant governor, Patrick Guerriero, then stepped aside and Romney moved quickly to pick Healey.

"Tierney is a tough congressman who has been through close races," DiNatale said. "He would have a lot of resources available."