In MA SEN, Coakley Confident She'll Hit The $1M Mark

Almost a month ago, MA AG Martha Coakley (D) started her MA SEN bid with an empty campaign spending account. Today, in an interview with On Call, she said she is "confident" that she will exceed her goal of raising $1M.

Coakley is holding a series of events today along with EMILY's List Pres. Ellen Malcolm seeking to draw on the support -- and fundraising dollars -- of MA's women voters. According to Malcolm, Coakley took in $150K+ from 225 supporters at a luncheon today, and the two aim to raise more at another event slated for this p.m.

"Believe me, we are still counting and will be," Coakley told On Call in a phone interview after today's luncheon. "All I can say is that we have a goal of a million dollars by today, which is the end of the reporting period, and I am confident that we will well exceed that. We'll make that known as soon as we know the final figures."

"People believe that I am the best candidate," Coakley added. "Now it's just a question of raising the money."

Rep. Michael Capuano 's (D-08) camp said yesterday that they hope to bring in an extra $250K by tonight's deadline to add to the $1.2M he had in his warchest.

Malcolm: "We'll see when these numbers come out after September 30th, but if she gets anywhere near this $1.2 million that Capuano started with, I think it's like a gong in this race."

Both Coakley and Capuano will have to contend with a multimillionaire in the race -- Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca (D), who, with an estimated worth of $400M, can afford to entirely self-fund his bid.

But if Coakley's daunted by Pagliuca's dollars, she isn't letting on. "He does have plenty of money, but it's a very short race," Coakley said. She added that she expects the race to be waged on issues, and in that respect, "money is necessary, but not sufficient."

Another factor complicating things for Coakley is the question of whether members of the Kennedy family decide to take sides in the Dem primary. So far, the only member to make a public endorsement is Kennedy nephew Stephen Smith, who said he's backing Capuano because he's the candidate "most like my Uncle Ted." Smith also said he was concerned by Coakley's early campaigning for the seat, which Smith said began before his uncle's death. Meanwhile, rumors are floating that Citizens Energy Corp. CEO/ex-Rep. Joe Kennedy (D) wants Capuano to win so one of his sons can then take over his seat.

Coakley brushed aside the possibility of a Kennedy endorsement swinging the vote against her. "I'm not particularly worried about it," she said. "There's not been a prominent role played by the family to date, and I don't suspect there will be."

She said that MA voters will make their decision based on the "tradition" of Sen. Kennedy and "who they think will best carry on the kind of job" he did for MA, rather than who members of the family decide to endorse.

She also dismissed the reports of J. Kennedy favoring Capuano as "rumors." But she noted that such an endorsement could "backfire," because the race is about "who should be the next U.S. senator, not what machinations anybody's making to open up another seat somewhere."

(FELICIA SONMEZ)