with four similarly smooth-scalped souls, and proclaims, "You don't have to be bald to be on board."

In another ad, Tolman's wife, Carolyn, calls her husband "hot," and a smiling Tolman pats his bald bean. "Bald is beautiful," he says.

A campaign Web site featured photos of Tolman and close-cropped movie star Vin Diesel over the caption, "Separated at Birth."

"He's one of the few candidates who's making any headway," joked John Capps, founder of the Morehead, N.C.-based Bald Headed Men of America, who checked out Tolman's Web site. "He'll be one of the few who won't cover anything up."

Though the four Democrats and one Republican running for governor have been airing television ads for weeks ahead of the Sept. 17 primary, Tolman's offbeat ads -- following two aggressive ones attacking House Speaker Tom Finneran by name -- have created a stir.

Still, his bid for the governorship remains a longshot. He lags behind Democratic opponents Shannon O'Brien, the state treasurer, and Robert Reich, the former U.S. labor secretary.

The winner faces Republican Mitt Romney in the general election.

Among them, only Tolman is bald and flaunting it.

Tolman, 42, a former state senator and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1998, began losing his hair 20 years ago. Now, the job is all but completed.

He devised the idea for the television ads after a half-dozen seniors came up and rubbed his head for luck at a picnic in Worcester, Mass.

People on the campaign trail recognize Tolman as the "Bald is Beautiful" guy, and reporters and columnists have picked up on the theme.

"I've already won. I'm cutting through," Tolman said. "People like to smile. It makes it memorable."

Susan Michelman, a University of Kentucky professor and expert on the social meanings of appearance, said Tolman's proudly polished pate could attract voters who appreciate his forthrightness, unlike, say, a candidate who uses a "comb-over" to hide what they don't have.

"There's a kind of honesty about doing that," she said.

Tolman is the only gubernatorial candidate running under the state's new Clean Elections law, which gives public money to candidates who limit their spending and fund raising. So far, Tolman has received $3.6 million in public money, with most of it spent on television ads.

Tolman says more ads are planned, but more bald jokes are unlikely. He seems to realize "Bald is Beautiful" risks getting old, like Reich's jokes about his 4-foot-10 height at the start of the campaign.

In downtown Boston, Robert Comeau, a teacher, smiled as he offered his version of the bald truth: Tolman is the only candidate standing up for a powerful yet overlooked constituency.

"It's not just about being bald, but it helps," said Comeau, 34, as a misty rain collected on his shiny scalp. "Bald men vote."