Massachusetts: State Senate

--John Tobin tells me that he will not run for the state senate seat being vacated by Marian Walsh. He also ruled out a stab at an at-large seat. "I am running for re-election in my district," he says emphatically. So far, it looks like rep. Michael Rush has the way cleared to graduate to the upper chamber, but there are still potential candidates in the suburban parts of the district making up their minds. An intriguing rumor making the rounds is that former Allston-Brighton district councilorJerry McDermot, who now lives in Westwood, might be giving it a look.

--Interesting gender gap in that Suffolk U/Ch.

First off, let's throw some credit to James Pindell, who to my knowledge was the first to suggest, a few days ago, that NH Gov. Lynch would select a Republican successor, thus clearing the way for Senator Judd Gregg to accept an appointment as Obama's Commerce Secretary.

Now that Gregg has been named, reports say that Lynch will nominate Lawrence's own J. Bonnie Newman, a Republican with a distinguished career primarily in higher education.

She's over 60, and my guess is that she's told Lynch she's not interested in running in 2010 and will just serve the two-year interim.

Unsurprisingly, NH Congressman Paul Hodes is

Facing charges that she accepted $23,500 in bribes, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson said Wednesday that she will resign from office as soon as she can.

"I am committed to resigning my office as soon as I can do so consistent with my need to effectuate an orderly transition," Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat, said in a statement.

Wilkerson said that she will resign after finishing "hundreds of active constituent matters," clearing out her files and helping her staff find new jobs.

State Sen. Scott Brown leads Democratic challenger Sara Orozco by more than 14,000 votes with all precincts reporting, according to the Boston Globe.