Rep. Stephen Lynch Poised To Run For Kennedy's Senate Seat

Congressman Stephen Lynch is getting ready to run for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat.

Standing in front of his house in South Boston, the Democratic Congressman said he would stay in the race even if Vicki Kennedy, the senator's widow, or Joe, his nephew, jump into the race.

"Oh, sure," Lynch said. "You know, I have enormous respect for the Kennedy family, for both Vicki and Joe. Ted was an icon and I certainly miss him, and we miss him as a commonwealth."

But, Lynch says, the Kennedys' decisions are separate and apart from his own calculations.

Some Democratic fund raisers, as well as Congressmen Marty Meehan, Michael Capuano and Ed Markey, are waiting to see if former Congressman Joe Kennedy gets into the race.

Attorney General Martha Coakley is the only candidate to have formally annouced that she is running.