MA Special Election: Tagg Romney Mulling U.S. Senate Bid

New Secretary of State John Kerry’s former Senate seat is being occupied temporarily by William Cowan, but not for long, as a special election will be held in the Bay State on June 25. Cowan is only an interim senator, which means the state will have had five different senators this year, with Democrat Elizabeth Warren having defeated Republican incumbent Scott Brown and assuming office in January. While Brown has already declined to run in this election, Tagg Romney, 42, the oldest son of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has expressed interest in filling the vacancy. With the help of his father, Romney may become a viable candidate on the Republican side.

Brown's announcement last week disappointed many Republicans, and no doubt came as a welcome development for Democrats who feared a Brown resurgence. Although Massachusetts has historically been a blue state, Brown was able to appeal to enough independents to win him the 2010 special election for U.S. Senate against Attorney General Martha Coakley. 

“…I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time,” Brown said in a statement.

With his absence from the election, a Democrat will likely seize the seat easily unless a strong GOP contender comes forth. Romney may be the figure the Massachusetts GOP desperately needs to run a strong opponent against the powerful Democratic Party.

Democratic congressmen Stephen Lynch and Ed Markey have already announced their candidacies. The two will begin to challenge each other (and any other as yet undeclared opponents on April 30 in a primary.

Although Tagg has never served in political office, he has an impressive business career similar to that of his father. Romney is a cofounder of Solamere Capital, a venture capital firm in Boston. His father also founded a venture firm — Bain Capital — which became an issue during the presidential campaign, with Romney being accused of engaging in "vulture capitalism."