All Politics is Local but Some is More Local Than Others

Bluedroplet
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

September 4 — the day after Labor Day — is the Massachusetts primary. I’m guessing it’s not a deliberate attempt to have maximal confusion for returning college students, but it may do that anyway. In celebration of the impending event I’m going to turn from Texas and Arizona to think about a couple of local races.

Here’s the sample ballot from my town website. As you can see, a bunch of uncontested races and some local things that we don’t think about at all often.

Starting at the statewide races, I have a moment to observe myself starting to make my voting decisions starting from scratch. From the “hmm have I ever heard of them” and “do I feel vaguely positive to at least meh about them” and “I think my friends are voting for them” logic. Follow along with me for a little more examination.

The Massachusetts governor’s election is getting less than no attention because the common wisdom is that Charlie Baker is beloved and has this in the bag. As the Boston Globe points out, their campaign pitches are hard to tell apart and can be summed up as “we can do better”. However, Jay Gonzalez has the executive branch experience to potentially make some of his campaign promises come true; Bob Massie has no government experience. Of these two candidates, Gonzalez has significantly more backing and organization, and if the November election is going to be meaningful at all, he’s the one to pick.

The lieutenant governor race has the relatively staid Quentin Palfrey, who has the party endorsement from the Democratic convention, running against local comic and small businessman Jimmy Tingle. Palfrey appears to be ready to focus on the nuts and bolts of getting local governments working along with the state, which is, believe me, harder than it sounds. But Jimmy Tingle has his finger on the pulse of a bigger problem, a loss of belief that government can effectively solve problems. He would like to reach out to people and inspire that confidence again.

In this incumbent unfriendly year, the simple fact that William Galvin has been Secretary of State for as long as we can remember might be a reason to go for his loudly more progressive opponent, Josh Zakim. But I’m supporting Galvin because Galvin’s experience, and Zakim’s lack of relevant experience are really important this year. Both the 2020 elections and the 2020 census are going to have major challenges and this isn’t a good time to be learning on the job.

That’s all the statewide races but there are two more contested races on the ballot. I don’t know much about the District Attorney race, but for victims of sexual violence, the person in that seat will make a difference. BARCC has asked the questions about their practices and positions in this area; Donna Patalano gave supportive and helpful answers while her opponent, Marian Ryan, did not even answer the question. So on this race where I usually don’t have a ghost of an opinion, it’s Donna Patalano. By the way, there is no Republican challenger for this race, so the primary will be decisive. If you’re not in Middlesex County, BARCC also has a guide for Suffolk County DA.

That brings me to the last contested race here, for my district’s Senate seat, Jason Lewis versus Samantha Hammar. I’m really torn on this. On the one hand, Sam Hammar has a lot of vision and an impressive resume. The Massachusetts Senate is 23% female, and representation matters. On the other hand, Jason Lewis is someone who has had my thanks on numerous occasions. He has consistently voted progressively on a wide range of issues; I’m particularly thinking of the Safe Communities Act which is an important issue to me. He’s doing good work where he is. I really wish we could somehow have both these fine candidates serving the district, and well, there are worse problems to have as we lead into a fine Labor Day weekend.

Bluedroplet

Where I am writing about the candidates I'm supporting, the mid term elections, and my hope for a sea change aka the "blue wave".

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