Q&A #7: LG '14

 "MAPoliSpeculator" asks:

I would love to see your speculation on LG - as well as Treasurer and other open seats. For LG - I have a few thoughts: Kim Driscoll (looked at the Senate in 2010, successful mayor), Thatcher Keyzer (seems ambitious) and Rick Sullivan (successful multi term mayor, agency head and cabinet secretary)....reactions to those?

First of all, Thatcher Keyzer sounds like the name of a bad guy on some TV cop drama -- and I'm not entirely sure I believe Amesbury is a real city. But that aside....

Steve Kerrigan, Gopher To The Gods -- he ran the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the recent Presidential Inauguration -- is running for lieutenant governor and, one would assume, will be a potent candidate with many strong backers and allies. A lot of pols who might have been thinking about the race might be reluctant to go up against the Presidential go-to guy.

But that doesn't mean he's a lock to win it. For one thing, he might not bring to the table the things the leading gubernatorial candidates want for the ticket. So, for instance, given the current field I could see Steve Grossman getting a lot of pressure to recruit a woman as an unofficial running-mate. If Dan Wolf runs and becomes a major player, he might want a Bostonian on the ticket more than someone like Kerrigan from central Mass. Maybe Martha Coakley would want a labor guy like Dorchester's Marty Walsh if she's expecting to face Scott Brown in the general. And so on.

Not that it always works out when a gubernatorial frontrunner tries to recruit a running-mate into the LG race -- as Kerrigan knows as well as anyone. (Kerrigan ran Tom Reilly's 2006 campaign -- and yes, that's two gratuitous shots at Reilly from me today!)