Report: Stephen Lynch will launch bid for Kerry's Senate seat

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) is planning to challenge Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) for the Democratic nomination in the special Senate election slated to fill Sen. John Kerry's seat (D-Mass.).

According to the Boston Globe, "people with direct knowledge of his decision" say he will announce his run soon after Kerry is confirmed as secretary of State, a timeline he has previously said he had hoped to follow. Kerry is expected to be easily confirmed in the coming days.

His decision comes even as Markey has racked up numerous big-name endorsements from prominent Massachusetts and national Democrats, notably Kerry himself and the National Democratic Senatorial Committee.

The Globe reports that a poll conducted by the National Association of Government Employees helped convince Lynch he should run, as it showed the likely Republican contender, former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), posting a 9-percentage-point lead on Lynch, a slightly better showing than Markey, who lagged Brown by 10 percent in the same poll.

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