All Quiet For State Senate '08

Published Jan 02 2008, 03:24 PM by David S. Bernstein

Contributions to candidates in Massachusetts are limited to $500 per calendar year, so for anyone hoping to run against an incumbent state senator in November 2008, it's a huge advantage to start fundraising prior to the end of 2007. That doesn't seem to have happened -- there's been no rush of Republicans opening state senate campaign accounts in the last couple of months.

As the year-end reports come in, we'll see whether some GOP House members have been raising money with a possible eye toward a senate run, but there aren't many who would seem likely to be thinking of that.

There are always potential self-funding candidates -- as several of the 2004 GOP senate candidates were. But the lack of early starters isn't good news for the new, post-Romney, post-Crate Mass GOP.