source: The Herald News
Setti Warren
Setti Warren, Newton's mayor, will challenge Senator Scott Brown
BOSTON —
Democratic Newton Mayor Setti Warren announced Monday that he would jump into the U.S. Senate race against Scott Brown to try to deny the popular Republican a full six-year term in office.
Warren, who's in the second year of his first term as the state's first popularly elected black mayor, is an Iraq War veteran who served a yearlong tour of duty as a naval intelligence specialist.
He conceded that while many people don't know him, he's about as familiar to voters as Brown was two years ago, when the Republican ran for the seat vacated by the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.
In a five-minute video posted on his new Senate campaign website, Warren said he was grateful for the opportunities he'd been given in his life and faulted Brown for turning his back on some of the same programs that helped him escape a troubled past.
"I will be forever grateful for the support I was offered, the education I received and the opportunities I was given," the 40-year-old Warren said.
"Scott Brown would rather forget. Scott Brown admits he would rather not think about his own life when he votes against the very same programs that helped lift him as a troubled teen out of poverty," Warren said.
In a memoir released earlier this year, Brown recounted a difficult childhood, including his parent's divorce, frequent moves, his rocky relationship with multiple stepfathers, one of whom he said physically abused him, and his own shoplifting arrest. Brown also detailed how he was sexually abused at a summer camp.
Warren said Brown has let down Massachusetts voters by supporting the GOP leadership in Congress on issues such as extending the Bush-era tax cuts and opposing an extension of unemployment benefits.
Brown won the seat last year in a special election to fill the office left vacant by Kennedy, who died in August 2009.
"I believe Scott Brown is an honorable man. But he has not been the independent voice in the Senate that so many people expected him to be," Warren said in the video.
Since taking office, Brown has tried to walk a fine political line as a self-styled moderate Republican, including supporting repealing the federal ban on gays serving openly in the military.
Eric Fehrnstrom, Brown's campaign spokesman, said the senator is focused on his day job.
"It looks like there will be a very crowded Democratic primary, but the election is still 18 months away and Scott Brown's focus in the near term will continue to be on creating jobs and reducing spending," he said.
Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, who won his own re-election battle last year, had talked up Warren as a possible challenger to Brown even before the mayor had publicly expressed any interest in the race.
"Good for him," Patrick said Monday when asked about Warren's announcement.
"He's a good man and I wish him well. I think it's going to be a full and rich field and the Democratic nominee will be strong," the governor said.
Warren and the other challengers to Brown face a number of hurdles. Brown is still popular among voters, according to recent polls, and is sitting on a campaign chest of more than $8 million.
In his video Warren is seated on the lawn outside his home in Newton, an upscale suburb west of Boston. Warren highlights several points of his career, including serving in the White House under former President Bill Clinton as special assistant in the Office of Cabinet Affairs. In March 2008, he was appointed New England director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He also worked as a staffer for Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry.
Warren said he enlisted in the Navy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Warren joins a growing Democratic field against Brown, including City Year co-founder Alan Khazei and former lieutenant governor candidate Robert Massie.
Warren lives in Newton with his wife and daughter. He planned to give more details about his campaign during a public announcement Tuesday.
Democratic Newton Mayor Setti Warren announced Monday that he would jump into the U.S. Senate race against Scott Brown to try to deny the popular Republican a full six-year term in office.
Warren, who's in the second year of his first term as the state's first popularly elected black mayor, is an Iraq War veteran who served a yearlong tour of duty as a naval intelligence specialist.
He conceded that while many people don't know him, he's about as familiar to voters as Brown was two years ago, when the Republican ran for the seat vacated by the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.
In a five-minute video posted on his new Senate campaign website, Warren said he was grateful for the opportunities he'd been given in his life and faulted Brown for turning his back on some of the same programs that helped him escape a troubled past.
"I will be forever grateful for the support I was offered, the education I received and the opportunities I was given," the 40-year-old Warren said.
"Scott Brown would rather forget. Scott Brown admits he would rather not think about his own life when he votes against the very same programs that helped lift him as a troubled teen out of poverty," Warren said.
In a memoir released earlier this year, Brown recounted a difficult childhood, including his parent's divorce, frequent moves, his rocky relationship with multiple stepfathers, one of whom he said physically abused him, and his own shoplifting arrest. Brown also detailed how he was sexually abused at a summer camp.
Warren said Brown has let down Massachusetts voters by supporting the GOP leadership in Congress on issues such as extending the Bush-era tax cuts and opposing an extension of unemployment benefits.
Brown won the seat last year in a special election to fill the office left vacant by Kennedy, who died in August 2009.
"I believe Scott Brown is an honorable man. But he has not been the independent voice in the Senate that so many people expected him to be," Warren said in the video.
Since taking office, Brown has tried to walk a fine political line as a self-styled moderate Republican, including supporting repealing the federal ban on gays serving openly in the military.
Eric Fehrnstrom, Brown's campaign spokesman, said the senator is focused on his day job.
"It looks like there will be a very crowded Democratic primary, but the election is still 18 months away and Scott Brown's focus in the near term will continue to be on creating jobs and reducing spending," he said.
Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, who won his own re-election battle last year, had talked up Warren as a possible challenger to Brown even before the mayor had publicly expressed any interest in the race.
"Good for him," Patrick said Monday when asked about Warren's announcement.
"He's a good man and I wish him well. I think it's going to be a full and rich field and the Democratic nominee will be strong," the governor said.
Warren and the other challengers to Brown face a number of hurdles. Brown is still popular among voters, according to recent polls, and is sitting on a campaign chest of more than $8 million.
In his video Warren is seated on the lawn outside his home in Newton, an upscale suburb west of Boston. Warren highlights several points of his career, including serving in the White House under former President Bill Clinton as special assistant in the Office of Cabinet Affairs. In March 2008, he was appointed New England director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He also worked as a staffer for Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry.
Warren said he enlisted in the Navy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Warren joins a growing Democratic field against Brown, including City Year co-founder Alan Khazei and former lieutenant governor candidate Robert Massie.
Warren lives in Newton with his wife and daughter. He planned to give more details about his campaign during a public announcement Tuesday.
but, to my knowledge, they're after Brown's seat. John Kerry has the other and he's not going anywhere until he's ready.
