text: Baffled Bay State Republicans have been left with a short list of little-known contenders for the special Senate election — if they manage to field anyone at all — after a veritable who’s who of local GOP bigs fell over themselves to avoid the race yesterday. 
   
   “It reminds me of the Three Stooges episode where the sergeant says ‘I need volunteers for a dangerous mission. Step forward,’ and they all step back,” said a flabbergasted Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth). ||||| Joel Page/ASSOCIATED PRESS Tagg Romney hasn’t previously run for office himself, but got campaign experience speaking on his father’s behalf during last year’s presidential race. 
   
   Tagg's not it. 
   
   
   
   Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney's eldest son, told the Daily News on Monday that he will not launch a bid for former Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's Senate seat. 
   
   
   
   "I have been humbled by the outreach I received this weekend encouraging me to become a candidate for the US Senate," Romney said in an e-mail. "I love my home state and admit it would be an honor to represent the citizens of our great Commonwealth. However, I am currently committed to my business and to spending as much time as I can with my wife and children." 
   
   
   
   "The timing is not right for me, but I am hopeful that the people of Massachusetts will select someone of great integrity, vision, and compassion as our next US Senator," Romney added. 
   
   
   
   The Boston Herald reported early Monday that Romney was considering a bid for Kerry's seat, after former Republican Sen. Scott Brown's decision to pass on a campaign left Republicans scrambling for an alternative. 
   
   
   
   Tagg Romney, the wealthy founder of a private equity firm like his father, was a visible surrogate for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in the closing days of last year's race. There were also numerous news reports that Tagg Romney, frustrated that his father was being successfully caricatured as a hopelessly unlikeable plutocrat, was taking a more aggressive role in running the campaign. But those reports infuriated Tagg Romney, and he told associates at the time that he'd never run for any public office. 
   
   William “Mo” Cowan, a former aide to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, is filling Kerry’s Senate seat until a special election decides his long-term replacement in June. 
   
   klee@nydailynews.com
target: – Looks like Massachusetts voters won't be getting another chance to elect a Romney after all, unless Ann steps in. Following reports that GOP leaders were interested, Mitt Romney's son, Tagg, has announced that he won't be seeking the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry. "I have been humbled by the outreach I received," the younger Romney tells the New York Daily News. "It would be an honor to represent the citizens of our great Commonwealth. However, I am currently committed to my business and to spending as much time as I can with my wife and children." Scott Brown's decision not to run for the seat has left the state GOP scrambling for a replacement, and Romney isn't the only possible contender to have ruled himself out, the Boston Herald reports. Former Gov. William Weld and former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey have also decided against running, leaving the party with a handful of little-known choices. "It reminds me of the Three Stooges episode where the sergeant says 'I need volunteers for a dangerous mission. Step forward,' and they all step back," says a Republican state senator.