| Newton MA News and Politics Blog

Joe Kennedy, Steve Grossman, Tim Snyder and Martina Jackson

Let’s start by acknowledging that Elizabeth Warren and Joe Kennedy III are the overwhelming favorites to win the Democratic primaries this fall for U.S. Senate and Congress respectively. But just because they are the overwhelming favorites, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have to go through the process of collecting signatures and actually winning more votes than their competitors on Sept. 6.

In other words they have to play by the rules.

By the same token, it seems to me that we should expect Democratic party leaders to also play by the rules, including the rule stating that the Newton Democratic City Committee  should be neutral in Democratic primaries (article X section 1)

The City Committee may endorse and support only Democratic candidates and may not make endorsements in Democratic Party primaries, nor in non-partisan elections.

If that’s the case, then is it really appropriate for Newton Democratic City Committee co-chairman Martina Jackson to also be serving as Newton’s coordinator for both the Warren and Kennedy  campaigns? (see links)

Appearing on NewTV’s Newton Newsmakers, a somewhat-defensive sounding Jackson said (go to 18:25) she is coordinating both campaigns but “not as chair.”

Technically, that feels like a technicality to me.

Even if it was “technically” kosher, given all the activists in Newton and all the Democrats in Newton, couldn’t someone else here perform these roles while Jackson sticks to being the leader of a committee that forbids this very activity?