Tolman Joins Race for State Senate Seat Vacated By 8th C.D. Hopeful Bachrach

Boston College law student and Watertown Democratic committee Chairman Warren Tolman officially launched his campaign to succeed departing State Sen. George Bachrach on Sunday.

Tolman, who has been preparing his candidacy for the past year, joins a race already in full swing--following the trend towards early campaigning set by candidates for the Eighth Congressional District seat held by departing Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Bachrach is prominent among more than a dozen candidates for that office, and is one of four state legislators leaving their seats open to competition among a host of local politicians in this rare game of musical chairs.

The Middlesex-Suffolk district seat represents Cambridge north and west of Harvard Square and parts of Belmont and Watertown.

Speaking at the Mount Auburn Steak House in his native Watertown, Tolman, 26, told family members, supporters, and local Democrats who packed the restaurant that "many of my generation have been criticized for their narrow self-interest" and said he hoped to prove himself an exception as "a candidate of compassion, concern, dignity and integrity."

Tolman spoke mainly on community and social service issues, emphasizing housing, education, transportation, environmental protection, and health care. However, he said he hopes to use the state Senate seat as "a platform" to articulate his advocacy for a nuclear freeze and his concerns on national issues and foreign policy.

Tolman also voiced a commitment to work for Senate rules reform if elected. Bachrach's advocacy of such measures, in defiance of Senate President William Bulger, is widely believed to have cost him a committee chairmanship and considerable influence. Tolman said he believed a coalition of liberal senators could successfully pass reform measures without being penalized.

Tolman said environmental protection "cannot be overlooked much longer" and cited one gallon of gasoline's potential ability to contaminate 750,000 gallons of drinking water.

Noting that he had served as "president of every class in every school that I have ever attended, including Boston College Law School, Amherst College, and Watertown High," Tolman also said he was the first in his family to attend high school.

James Spiegel, also of Watertown, who attended the event with fellow Eighth District hopefuls Bachrach, Thomas M. Gallagher, and James Roosevelt, said he was "seriously considering" endorsing Tolman.

The state Senate race seems marked by mutual respect so far, unlike the Eighth District campaigns, which seem to thrive on mutual accusation.

The contenders now include Mark White, son of former Boston Mayor Kevin White, who has said he definitely plans to run and will announce his candidacy in the next few weeks.

David Holway, considered among the moderates in this very liberal race, will be campaigning with the help of Goldman Associates, a political consulting group whose clients also include Congressional