10th Middlesex Early Cattle Call

As Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham) prepares to run for the Middlesex County DA, two recent articles list his potential replacements in the 10th Middlesex as including the following people:

• Newton Ward One Alderman Scott Lennon
• Waltham Ward Six City Councilor Ken Doucette
• Waltham Ward Five City Councilor Gary Marchese
• Waltham resident and National Alliance for the Mentally Ill director Toby Fisher
• Waltham resident and psychiatric social worker Rhonda Bourne

At this insanely early date, knowing nothing about the candidates, I would have to say that Lennon has a slight advantage just given the size of his current constituency versus the rest of the potential field (though many of his constituents are not actually in the 10th Middlesex) and the chance that Marchese and Doucette could split the Waltham vote. Marchese, however, would be the candidate with the most recent contested election -- in 2003 he beat his opponent 73% to 26%. I also have to imagine that the Waltham-based Article 8 Alliance will be a factor in this race, especially given the presence of Bourne, who is one-half of one of the first same-sex couples married last year in Massachusetts.

No one yet from Precinct 10 of Watertown, also in the 10th Middlesex, has shown interest and I don't believe that any of the town councilors actually live in Precinct 10, though I may be mistaken. In any event, anyone running from Watertown would face an uphill battle given that Watertown accounts for only a small proportion of the district.