Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The race for the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat took shape today as Democratic U.S. Representative Michael Capuano said he has taken out papers to run and former Representative Martin Meehan declined a bid.

Capuano is the third Democrat to move to enter the Jan. 19 special election for Kennedy’s seat. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley declared her candidacy on Sept. 3, and Representative Stephen Lynch of Boston also has taken out papers.

Senator Kennedy’s death on Aug. 25 set the stage for a battle to fill a seat that has been claimed by a Kennedy for almost 55 of the past 57 years. Meehan said conversations with his “close friend,” former U.S. Representative Joseph Kennedy II, the senator’s nephew, helped him decide to stay on as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

“Probably talking to Joe over the last week had as much influence over my decision as anything else,” Meehan, 52, said in an interview at his office today. “Frankly, we came to similar conclusions.”

Kennedy, 56, said in a statement yesterday that he decided against running and would continue his work at Citizens Energy Corp., his nonprofit company that helps low-income residents. Kennedy had topped the field of possible candidates in a March favorability poll, and Meehan said in an interview last week that he wouldn’t run if Kennedy entered the race.

Democratic Representative Edward Markey is another potential contender.

‘Form of Fratricide’

Fred Bayles, director of Boston University’s statehouse program, said he would be surprised if additional members of Congress enter the race.

“If you had all these guys running it would be a form of fratricide, and they don’t want to do that,” he said. The three current competitors have similar backgrounds, having risen from humble beginnings, making the race wide open, said Bayles.

“You’ll see Coakley be the one who wants to fill Kennedy’s shoes, and Lynch is going to play a little more to the center of the party,” he said. “That leaves Capuano trying to out- liberal the two of them, and I don’t know if that’s going to work.”

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a registered independent who supported Republican John McCain’s presidential bid last year, said he is also considering a run. State Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, also may make the race.

Meehan would probably have given Coakley the biggest challenge because he has a $5 million campaign treasury, which he amassed in 2004 when he was considering a Senate run as Senator John Kerry ran for president. Coakley, 56, said last week that she starts “with zero” money because her state campaign kitty can’t be used in a federal race.

“I would have won had I run this race,” Meehan said today.

-- Editors: Robin Meszoly, Bill Schmick

To contact the reporters on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net; Tom Moroney in Boston at tmorrone@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 8, 2009 16:19 EDT