When a Strength Becomes a Weakness. SEEC to Investigate Mattei.

It’s the one area first-time candidate Christopher Mattei should have found easy to navigate. The former federal prosecutor’s calling card has been his record of putting campaign finance violators in jail. The biggest scalps on his belt are John G. Rowland and members of the 2012 Donovan congressional campaign.

Less than a year into the public arena as a candidate and Mattei has gone from hunter to hunted. Was it worth a puff piece in the Boston Herald? The State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC) voted in executive session on Wednesday to investigate a complaint submitted by sharp-eyed activist Tim Sullivan. The Sullivan complaint raises issues about Mattei’s fundraising practices as a candidate exploring a statewide race and his adoption of that Herald op-ed as a summer declaration of candidacy for governor. Sullivan is the sort of citizen Mattei not long ago would have hailed as a hero.

Mattei opted to abandon the race for governor to run for attorney general soon after incumbent George Jepsen announced he would not seek a third term. Mattei’s troubles will likely act as a spur to more candidates entering what could become a crowded of Democratic hopefuls eager to succeed Jepsen.