The Associated Press reports that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) "appears to be the first candidate" in the special election to fill Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat.

A woman who said she was representing Coakley picked up nomination papers from the Secretary of State on Tuesday. Coakley aides did not immediately return calls or e-mails seeking confirmation of her candidacy.

Massachusetts has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate, and only four women have ever been elected to Congress from the Bay State. Coakley is one of only five women ever elected to statewide office in the state; none has been elected governor (though Jane Swift served the remainder of Paul Cellucci's term). But in what will likely be a male-dominated Democratic primary field, her gender may actually be to her advantage.

Coakley was one of the few prominent Massachusetts Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries. Clinton actually won that Democratic primary, despite Sens. Kennedy and Kerry and Gov. Patrick backing Barack Obama.