Bill Lynch and David Cicilline, for now at least, remain the only declared Democrats in the race to succeed US Representative Patrick Kennedy -- and they each face particular challenges as this race moves to November.

Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee says he hopes to make his decision on whether to run for the congressional seat being vacated by Patrick Kennedy in the next few days.

The decision is particularly important for Bill Lynch, one of the two Democrats in the hunt, since McKee would cut into Lynch's base in the Blackstone Valley towns north of Providence, thereby aiding David Cicilline.

House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, is the featured guest on WRNI's Political Roundtable, which runs at 5:40 and 7:40 a.m. during Friday's Morning Edition. Fox talks with Ian Donnis and Scott MacKay of WRNI and URI political science Prof. Maureen Moakley about the Assembly, taxes, the state budget, the Central Falls teacher firings and what the House plans to do to help move the state out of the recession.

Rhode Island's recession-wracked voters have scant confidence that the state's elected leaders can bring the state out of the current economic mess, according to Brown University's latest public opinion survey.

The survey was sent after poll supervisor, Brown Political Science Prof. Marian Orr, rechecked numbers for U.S. Sen. Jack Reed. In the first version of the poll sent earlier today, Reed's numbers added up to more than 100.

It's not surprising that candidates in this season of anti-incumbent anger are trying to wrap themselves in the concerns of average voters. So expect to see a lot more of this type of thing as Bill Lynch and David Cicilline duke it out in the Democratic fight to succeed Patrick Kennedy:

Linc Chafee in the Sunday New York Times with an op-ed piece criticizing both major parties for a lack of leadership, while touting the need for centrist pols running as independents. Chafee writes about the gridlock in the Senate and the problems in getting anything done in Washington.

In case you thought that former Providence mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr., is just in the public mulling process, he has decided to put his money where his ambitions may lie. Paolino tells WRNI that he has put $500,000 in his Paolino for Mayor account, which means he is quite serious about making a race for the  City Hall office he held from 1984 to 1991.

UPDATE: 5:20 pm. York comments.

York says she'll decide whether to run for mayor within the next few weeks. Here's the gist of her message:

I love the city and I think we’re at a crucial moment. I think that Mayor Cicilline’s done a great job moving us forward in a healthy, good direction, and I want to see the city continue in that direction.

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Frank Caprio's gubernatorial campaign is claiming what it calls first Democratic endorsement of the 2010 election season. It sent along the following, via e-mail:

The race for 1st District Congress ramped up Saturday morning as veteran Democratic State Chairman William Lynch and Providence Mayor David Cicilline formally announced they would be candidates. Both candidates sent news releases announcing their candidacy and Cicilline did his first interview as a candidate with WRNI.

The seat is open due to incumbent Patrick Kennedy's decision to leave the House after 8 terms.