Lt. Governor Race - Tim Murray is in

I've heard talk for months that Worcester Mayor, Tim Murray was going to toss his hat into the Lt. Governor race, but I haven't see any official announcement anywhere and there's no notice on his website.

There's more speculation in this month's Worcester Magazine, but this speculation has more to do with Chris Gabrieli than Tim Murray.

GABRIELI PLAYS THE WAITING GAME: Most of the declared candidates for lieutenant governor are obscure long shots. But one possible entrant to the race has the Tim Murray camp awfully worried. Chris Gabrieli got the nomination four years ago; he’s wealthy, and he’s well-respected among both party insiders and the Beacon Hill wonk world. Last week a Springfield paper ran an item saying Gabrieli hadn’t ruled out a run. Via e-mail, spokesman Joe Ganley says the reporter “called me to ask me if Chris was running for governor. I told him that Chris had considered running for governor, but had decided not to. He then asked me if he was planning on running for lieutenant governor. I told him that he was not planning on running for lieutenant governor, but he then asked me if he would rule it out, and I said no he would not rule it out. He doesn’t rule anything out.” Sounds like a mayor we know.

Well, that sounds sufficiently coy, but in today's DDemDispatch there it is all in black and white: (I'm summarizing here) Confirmed or hoping to appear at the Westborough DTC Holiday party, none other than Tim Murray, candidate for Lt. Governor.

The DDemDispatch don't lie folks. Murray's in.

Tim Murray is a well liked, well known mayor and is very well connected in the state party. He will be a very formidible candidate. The Lt. Governor race just got more interesting.