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This is somewhat surprising given all the signals Brown had been sending over the last few weeks. But his reasoning appears sound. From Boston Herald: ________________________ Scott Brown will not run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry, the former senator told the Herald first today. "U r the first to know I am not running," Brown texted the Herald. Brown's decision follows yesterday's announcement by fellow Republican Charlie Baker that he won't run for the seat either. Baker did urge former Gov. William Weld, who just moved back to Massachusetts, to run if Brown doesn't. [...] Brown...

Former Sen. Scott Brown said Friday he would not run in a special Senate election in Massachusetts, dealing a setback to Republican hopes of winning the seat being vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry. Brown, who electrified his party with an upset win in a 2010 special election but lost his re-election bid in November, ended weeks of intense speculation about his future with a written statement announcing his decision. … GOP officials in Washington and Massachusetts widely considered Brown the strongest possible Republican candidate in a state that traditionally favors Democrats. With Brown out of the running, potential...

Details to follow..Scott Brown not running for Kerry seat

Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Mayor Thomas M. Menino on Friday to press for stricter gun control and throw her support behind three Senate bills that are expected to be filed next week in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn. “We owe it to our children to start,” Warren said at a news conference at the Parkman House, the city-owned Beacon Hill residence where Menino is convalescing after a lengthy illness. On Dec. 14, a gunman with an assault rifle and two pistols killed 20 first-graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Warren said she will...

It’s not often an ex-senator gets a shot at his old job just months after losing. So Scott Brown is widely expected to jump at the chance, running in a special election for John Kerry’s seat that presumably will become vacant within weeks. But there are compelling reasons for Brown to pass on what would be his third Senate campaign in four years — and he’s thinking long and hard about them. Topping the list: In 2014, he could run instead for Massachusetts governor, a job that Republicans have had much more success winning and keeping, as Mitt Romney can...

While Democrats frantically try to block Scott Brown from going back to the U.S. Senate, there are also increasing fears he could pose an even bigger threat as the next Massachusetts governor. Republicans close to the departing U.S. senator said he’s itching to go back to Washington to replace John Kerry, but Democrats are buzzing more about a potential Brown gubernatorial campaign in 2014. It may be tempting for Brown to run in a special election against a vulnerable Rep. Edward J. Markey, but he should reject the easy play and go for the job that really matters — running...

If there is such a thing as being too liberal for Massachusetts, Rep. Edward Markey may fill that requirement. The 18-term congressman has embraced every far left cause since he entered the House in 1977 and has a voting record among the most liberal in congress. If, as expected, former Senator Scott Brown runs in the special election to replace Secretary of State nominee John Kerry, the contrast between the two candidates would be striking. Boston Herald: A mad scramble by bigwig Democrats to avoid a bloody primary and clear the field for U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey in a...

With President Obama inflicting the painfully pompous U.S. Sen. John Kerry upon our unsuspecting allies, are Massachusetts Republicans ready for another Scott Brown for Senate race? Let’s check the polls: Some 54 percent of Massachusetts voters have a favorable view of Brown, and he’s leading in head-to-head match-ups with his likely opponent. So Scott’s a shoo-in! Oh, wait — those are the polls from the end of October. Right before Brown got crushed by Liz Warren 53 percent to 46 percent. And that’s the GOP dilemma: What do you do when you have the most popular, most likeable, most moderate...

Massachusetts voters weary from one of the nation’s costliest and most divisive U.S. Senate races are all but certain to find themselves thrown back into another tumultuous election now that President Barack Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state. If confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Democrat Kerry would have to resign the seat he’s held for nearly three decades, meaning a special election that will be the state’s third Senate contest since 2010. Jockeying already is well under way. The big question is whether Republican Sen. Scott Brown will go for the seat after losing his...

Maybe Scott Brown will become the Manny Mota of politics — the guy who excels at pinch-hitting. After having just lost a statewide election to hold onto the seat he won in a January 2010 special election, Republicans want him back as their nominee if John Kerry gets his expected Secretary of State appointment. And according to a new poll from Boston’s NPR affiliate WBUR, Brown leads all of the expected Democratic candidates, too (via Sarah Rumpf): WBUR poll of 500 registered voters finds U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is in a strong position should there be a special election to...

Scott Brown of Massachusetts on Wednesday became the first sitting Republican senator to voice support for a federal assault weapons ban after the Newtown, Conn., shootings. Brown failed to win re-election in November, however, and won’t be in Congress to vote on gun legislation. “As a state legislator in Massachusetts, I supported an assault weapons ban thinking other states would follow suit. But unfortunately they have not and innocent people are being killed,” Brown told Massachusetts paper the Republican on Wednesday. “As a result, I support a federal assault weapons ban, perhaps like the legislation we have in Massachusetts."

Although he once said banning so-called assault weapons fell under the category of issues best left to the states, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told The Republican / MassLive.com in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he now supports federal action. Brown cited the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 children, as the turning point in his stance on the issue. "What happened in Newtown where those children were subject to that level of violence is beyond my comprehension. As a state legislator in Massachusetts I supported an assault weapons ban thinking other states would follow suit....

Howie Carr thread for the final 2 weeks of the year starting with his Sunday Boston Herald columnm

The Elizabeth Warren campaign sent out an email to contributors on Tuesday announcing that it's broke after spending all the $42 million it raised in its successful effort to unseat Republican Senator Scott Brown. In her email, Senator-elect Warren placed the blame on her campaign's failure to properly budget for the massive amounts of coffee and pizza consumed by her get-out-the-vote volunteers. She also added that her campaign had underestimated the number of vans needed on election day:

Even on the heels of November’s epic losses, the often-beleaguered Massachusetts GOP is heading into anticipated high-profile races with two power players — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and former gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker — setting up a potential GOP standoff over who will lead the embattled party in upcoming election showdowns. “I think that Republicans are depressed with the outcome of the last election, but the good news is we have really strong candidates,” said Richard Tisei, a Wakefield Republican who shared the ticket with Baker in the last gubernatorial election and narrowly lost against U.S. Rep. John Tierney this...

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

Believe me: This isn’t the first time our vaunted Senate Majority Leader has made baseless accusations with little or no evidence (via The Daily Caller): Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday he was “very comfortable” with the prospect of defending an open seat in his chamber should Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry be tapped for a Cabinet position, and slammed outgoing Republican Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who would likely run to replace Kerry. “I saw during the campaign his plea for bipartisanship,” Reid said of Brown, who ran as a moderate and independent Republican willing to work across the aisle...

Most Americans will focus on election results in Ohio and Florida to see who rides those states’ Electoral College votes into the White House. But the winner of the presidential race will not automatically control the 2013 legislative agenda. Congress still matters. The battle for control of the U.S. Senate is vitally important and just as hard-fought as the top-of-the-ticket contest. Currently, a caucus of 51 Democrats and two liberal Independents rule the upper chamber. Since the Vice President can cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate, Republicans would have to pick up three seats to gain a working majority...

The bruising Massachusetts Senate battle between Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren is deadlocked just hours before Election Day, with both the candidates and the voters suffering from a barrage of attack ads, a new UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll reveals. The poll shows Brown holding a 49-48 percent advantage over Warren among likely voters, dispelling earlier polls and Democratic claims of a small Warren lead. The one-point lead is well within the poll’s 4.1 percent margin of error.

Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has now moved to a five-point lead over Republican incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Massachusetts Voters finds Warren with 52% support to Brown’s 47%. [Snip] This race now moves from a Toss-Up to Leans Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Senate Balance of Power rankings.