Former 10th district Republican nominee Jeff Beatty on Tuesday announced his bid for Sen. John Kerry’s (D) seat. Beatty joins former 5th district nominee Jim Ogonowski (R) in the uphill battle to beat the longtime Senator and former presidential candidate.

“I am proud to be part of the middle class and I understand the difficulty and hardships we face to pay a mortgage, heat our homes and put food on the table,” Beatty said in a statement. “We can do better.”

A former FBI agent and Army officer, Beatty had an official announcement scheduled for Tuesday evening during the Berkshire County Republican Lincoln Day dinner at a country club in Pittsfield.

Bay Staters have not voted a Republican to Congress for more than a decade, though they voted statewide for a Republican governor as recently as 2002.

“Bottom line, there are two jobs where you never have a winning argument — being Britney Spears’ publicist or being a Massachusetts GOP Senate candidate,” said David Wade, a Kerry spokesman. “There are a few things that happen every six years without fail — plans are discussed for a new ‘Rambo’ movie, Mitt Romney switches his political philosophy, and the Massachusetts Republican Party loses a U.S. Senate race. History is repeating itself in 2008.”
— Shira Toeplitz