Well, the rumors were fun while they lasted. Council President Mark Clear has informed me that he will not be running for the 77th district Assembly seat and that he will likely support Brett Hulsey, who it appears will be declaring his candidacy in the next couple days.
In light of some of the environmental criticism of Hulsey that I linked to earlier, it will be interesting to see who Spencer Black ends up endorsing. Does he hold Hulsey's advocacy for Alliant against him as much as Lukas Diaz does?
Other important Madison-area personalities to watch for endorsements: Reps. Mark Pocan, Kelda Helen-Roys and Terese Berceau. All three are leading progressive voices on a variety of legislative issues, and all three of them have constituencies who will take heed of their support for a candidate.