Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) will not run for Senate in the special election to succeed John Kerry, dramatically increasing the odds that Democrats will hold the seat and setting the stage for Brown to run for governor next year.

It’s a serious, early recruiting failure for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and it makes the already uphill climb to a majority that much steeper for the GOP. They need six seats, and many party strategists privately counted on Massachusetts as one of them. Read More.