The baseball star who would be senator

Curt Schilling is considering a run for Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat, but there's a big obstacle in his way

Published September 3, 2009 3:55PM (EDT)

It's not easy for a Republican to win a statewide race in Massachusetts, especially not when the race is to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Just about the only way to make it easier for the GOP would be for them to run, say, a former star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox who helped the team to its first championship in almost 90 years.

And so it is that rumors are flying that Curt Schilling will make a run, as a Republican, in the special election being held early next year to replace Kennedy. He says he has been contacted about the idea, but has been sending mixed signals about it; asked during a television interview on Wednesday whether he would run, he replied, "As of today, probably not." But then, on his blog, he said, "I do have some interest in the possibility."

There's one big problem, though: According to Politico's Josh Kraushaar, Schilling couldn't run as a Republican. That's because he's currently registered as an independent, and anyone who wants to run with a given party has to be a registered voter with that party as of 90 days before the filing deadline. Schilling doesn't have enough time to get past that hurdle, so he'd have to run as an independent.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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