Wolf Won't Seek Senate Seat

Veteran State Representative Alice K. Wolf will not run for the state senate seat being vacated by Jarrett T. Barrios '90, according to a statement she faxed to The Crimson Tuesday night.

Wolf, 73, has amassed a record as a devoted progressive, focusing particularly on education and the environment during her five and a half terms as a representative for the 25th Middlesex district, which covers a significant portion of Cambridge. Her decision not to compete in the senate race increases the odds that popular City Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio—who has run for the Senate seat twice before and is the only Cambridge elected official running—will prevail in this fall's special election to fill the seat.

In her statement, Wolf, a 1978 graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, said that among the “many factors that played a part in my decision,” the most important was her desire to remain in the State House, where she serves on the three committees, including the powerful, tax-levying Ways and Means Commitee.

“I love my job serving in the House of Representatives and representing the people of Cambridge and the 25th Middlesex District,” said Wolf, who would not have had to give up her seat to run.

While the state senate seat has been held by the progressive Barrios since 2002, political analyst Glenn S. Koocher '71 said that Wolf, a former Cambridge mayor, might have had a tough time attracting votes in less liberal parts of the district, such as Everett and Revere.

“Alice would have to trade in her turtleneck for a bowling shirt,” said Koocher, a former School committee member, in a phone interview earlier this month.

Because of Wolf's decision to not run, progressives who had been holding back might enter the race to run against Galluccio, 40, who some consider to be more moderate.

Michael J. Albano, the chairman of the Chelsea Planning Board, told The Crimson at the time of Barrios' resignation that he would not challenge a progressive “elder statesman” like Wolf, but might consider throwing his hat into the ring “if there wasn’t another good progressive candidate in the race to stand hard against Anthony Galluccio.”

Neither Wolf nor Barrios, who is leaving his post to lead the Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, has endorsed any candidate for the senate seat, which also includes parts of Everett, Somerville, Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Saugus.

—Staff writer Paras D. Bhayani can be reached pbhayani@fas.harvard.edu.