Massachusetts Republican State Sen. Scott Brown (LA '81) announced on Saturday his intention to run for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat in the Senate.
Brown represents a district that begins about 10 miles east of Cambridge and includes the towns of Wellesley, Needham and Franklin.
Brown will face an uphill battle as he vies for a seat in a heavily Democratic state. Massachusetts has not elected a Republican senator since 1972. Several Democrats have already thrown their hats into the ring in the battle for the seat Kennedy held for 47 years.
But Brown said that the state's blue tint would not deter him.
"This Senate seat doesn't belong to any one person or political party," Brown said in a statement. "It belongs to you, the people, and the people deserve a U.S. senator who will always put your interests first."
Brown stressed the need for a balanced representation, especially in a markedly liberal state.
"Does Massachusetts need another elected official to merely rubber stamp the policies of one party or administration?" Brown said. "Massachusetts needs someone who is an independent thinker."
The Tufts alum is running on a platform that stresses the necessity of a strong military, condemns "out-of-control" government spending and tax increases and believes in the dispersal of power between political parties.
On health care, an issue that Kennedy deemed the cause of his life and that has taken on an especially controversial flavor in recent months, Brown stopped short of backing a government-sponsored "public option."
"I believe that all Americans deserve health care, but we shouldn't have to create a new government option to provide it," he said.
The main Democratic contenders include Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and U.S. Congressmen Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano, whose district includes Somerville.
