Antonioni not seeking re-election for senate
Many consider competing for the seat, Rice says he will not run
By Jason Lefferts JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT

Sen. Robert Antonioni

Three House members and two other potential candidates say they are looking at running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster), and Rep. Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) said Wednesday she has Antonioni's support in her campaign for the seat.

Antonioni announced Tuesday that he is not going to run for re-election this fall, stepping away from the Senate seat he first won in 1992. The district includes Westminster, Fitchburg, Leominster, Bolton, Lancaster, Lunenburg, Sterling, Ashby, Townsend and part of Clinton.

"I'm going to miss being the senator. It's fun. I enjoyed the opportunity to intervene on behalf of people when they're working with a state agency," Antonioni said. "It was a great opportunity, and I feel priviledged to have had that chance. I'm looking forward to private life."

Antonioni is the chairman of the Education committee, and the vice-chairman of the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Committee. He has a seat on the Senate Ways and Means and the Judiciary committees.

Rep. Robert Rice

Flanagan is in her second term as state representative, and before winning election was an assistant to her predecessor, Mary Jane Simmons. Along with Antonioni's backing, she also is getting support from Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early.

Along with Flanagan, two other House members, Rep. Stephen DiNatale (D-Fitchburg) and Rep. Harold Naughton (D-Clin- ton) told The Community Journal they were considering runs. Also looking at the race are Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, Dan Mylott, the former mayor of Fitchburg, Brian Knuuttila, former Garnder state representative, and Steve Kerrigan, a former Lancaster selectman who ran for Congress last year. Other candidates are also potentially

considering

a run.

All the potential candidates said they would likely make up their minds on whether or not to run soon, except for Flanagan, who adamantly said she is in the race.

"I'm running," Flanagan said this afternoon. "I can tell you right now I'm running for the office of Massachusetts State Senate."

On the western edge of the district Rep. Robert Rice (D-Gardner) told the Journal Wednesday he has no intention of running for the Senate seat, and backs Naughton's potential run.

Naughton said Tuesday night he will take a "very strong look" at running this fall, and DiNatale said he is "keeping my options open" as he looks at a potential run.

Naughton, if he runs, will get backing from the fourth House member in the Senate district, Rice.

"I think Hank will make not only a great candidate, but a great senator," Rice said. "He's a war veteran and still in the Army reserves. He has served 12 years as a legislator. He's a father of four wonderful children and is a smallbusiness man who owns his own law firm."

Winning Antonioni's support would be a coup for any candidate in the race.

"Jen is a bright woman, hard-working, and she's been around in Boston," Antonioni said. "There's no learning curve for her. This is not a slight to the others."

Tim Connolly, spokesman for Early, said Early is supporting Flanagan.

"The DA thinks that she would make a great senator," Connolly said. "He has come to know her very well in his first year in office and they have worked together on several law enforcement issues, and thinks she would really make a good addition to the Senate."

Mylott, the three-term mayor of Fitchburg left office after not running for re-election last fall. He said today he is considering re-entering politics to run for the seat, and will make a decision sooner rather than later.

"It's brand new, and I'm certainly thinking about it," Mylott said. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people looking at this race. I'm going to be one of the few Republicans."

Kerrigan said he has spent much of the last few weeks working on Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign, but will consider a run for Senate. He said he would decide "very soon" whether or not a run is in the cards.

"They're all great public servants and work hard," Kerrigan said of the House members considering a run. "I think I bring a voice to the campaign that will make it a better race, frankly. Having a career in public service, I