More Special Election News

This morning, I posted my interview with Susan Passoni, candidate in the special election to replace Boston City Councilor Jimmy Kelly, but that is not the only special election ocurring in the near future. Here's a quick rundown of the ones I've been following.

Today Marty Meehan (D-Lowell) officially announces that he's resigning from the House of Representatives. The special election has been set for October 16th, as expected, with the primary coming on September 4th, the day after Labor Day. Now that things have been set in motion, the candidates have to garner 2000 signatures to appear on the ballot. It will be interesting to me to see who gets the most from which region. That may give us some indication of where they're best organized.

In other special election news, the race to replace Rep. Robert Coughlin (D-Dedham) ends with the election on Tuesday, May 15th. The Daily News Transcript has a rundown of the candidates' finances. It looks like Democrat Stephen Bilafer is continuing to outpace his Republican and Unenrolled rivals in raising money. Hopefully that will be enough to put him over the top in the three-way race.

Also, the Boston Globe this weekend had a profile on the special election in the First Middlesex and Suffolk senatorial district, to replace former Senate President Robert Travaglini. The article notes that the race has been "low-key" and I'm inclined to agree. I've seen very little about this race in the news, and though the candidates did have a debate last night, I've found nothing online -- either in blogs or news accounts -- describing the event.

Update: Susan Ryan-Vollmar writes in to report that Bay Windows has coverage of the Middlesex and Suffolk debate in Cambridge (second-to-last item). It contains the hilarious description of the two candidates trying to come up with wildlife species living in their urban districts.