The Boston Herald got the jump on the latest candidate to consider jumping into the U.S. Senate race to replace clearly departed John Kerry (D-Empty Seat).

Joe Battenfeld’s column today:

Leone could be spoiler in race

Three’s a crowd for Lynch, Markey

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey and the Democratic establishment did not see this surprise coming.

Their plans to intimidate other Democrats from joining the special U.S. Senate election didn’t work, and now Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone’s possible entry into the race threatens to make it a three-way fight they wanted to avoid.

Leone’s disclosure, first reported on bostonherald.com, that he is seriously considering jumping into the race, could damage Markey’s campaign and leave the door open for either Leone or U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch to win the primary . . .

Read the rest at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.