Boston (AP) -- Former state Senator Andrea Nuciforo has decided to run for Congress in 2012.
The Pittsfield Democrat has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission declaring his candidacy in the state's westernmost 1st House District three years from now. The seat is held by Representative John Olver of Amherst, a fellow Democrat who has given no indication of retiring.
Nuciforo had been among those considered to possibly challenge Olver in 2010.
"We think a campaign like this requires some lead time," Nuciforo told The Associated Press. "And we will be prepared both financially and organizationally in 2012."
Nuciforo says he supports Olver for re-election next year, although he sidestepped a question about whether he would square off against the incumbent should he seek re-election in 2012.
"I support John Olver; I have supported him for years. To my knowledge, he is running for re-election in 2010, and he will have my enthusiastic support," Nuciforo said.
Asked if that fidelity extended to 2012, he said: "What I'm doing is supporting the congressman's bid for re-election."
An Olver staffer did not immediately return a call seeking comment about the congressman's political intentions.
Olver, 72, served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives before serving nine terms in the state Senate. In 1991, he won a special election to replace Rep. Silvio Conte, who died in office. Olver faced his most serious re-election battle in 1996 from then-state Sen. Jane Swift, who went on to become the state's lieutenant governor and acting governor.
The congressman holds a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and has accused the federal government of passivity amid evidence of genocide in Darfur. He was arrested in 2006 after protesting outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington.
While Massachusetts currently has 10 members in its House delegation, the state could lose a seat following the 2010 U.S. Census because of expected population loss. That has prompted speculation about redistricting, as well as questions about whether an incumbent or retiring member might lose his or her territory as congressional lines are redrawn.
Nuciforo, 45, represented the Berkshires in the Legislature from 1997 to 2007. He has since returned from Boston and serves as the Register of Deeds in the Berkshire Middle District.
In a pair of filings made last week, Nuciforo not only declared his congressional candidacy but created a committee to raise and spend money on behalf of his candidacy.
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