We have yet to have a discussion here about the upcoming Democratic and Republican state primaries happening on Tuesday Sept. 4. (The last day to register to vote is next Weds. Aug. 15).
Depending on your political affiliation, your Sept. 4 ballot may include contested races for governor, U.S. Senator, Congressman, D.A., Governors Council and others.
Are there any contests that you’re particularly interested in? Make your pitch for your preferred candidate(s) in the comments below.
Governor? There’s a contest for governor? Couldn’t prove it by looking at the news. I haven’t seen anyone trying to get votes to be a Democratic candidate. No signs, no nothing.
Jay Gonzalez has certainly been out canvassing and phone banking. In fact, driving this morning, I saw a Jay Gonzalez lawn sign! And Jimmy Tingle, candidate for Lt. Gov. had an event last night.
Nick Carter will have my vote for Governor’s Council.
Quentin Palfrey is running for Lieutenant Governor and I’m really excited about his campaign. I met him when he was running the election protection program for Hillary Clinton statewide in 2016, and he did a phenomenal job. Before that, he worked in the Obama administration.
When I think of LG, I think this is the person who needs to step in if there’s a crisis. Nobody is better prepared to do that than Quentin Palfrey.
My comment was aimed more at the Boston Globe. It’s shameful that there has been almost no coverage of any primary races except Capuano vs. Pressley.
The Globe is going to endorse Baker for reelection. I have no problem with them endorsing whoever they want, but it is a travesty how little coverage they have given to two very talented and honorable candidates running on the Democratic side. The primary is almost certain to have a very low turnout and at least one Globe writer will play the good citizen role by wringing their hands and wondering why more people didn’t vote. most won’t vote because they don’t even know this contest is going on.
I also can’t forget how the Globe writers and editorials continually jabbed at Bernie Sanders during the 2016 primary contest. They gave very little coverage to his campaign and only grudging coverage when he drew 20,000 people to a mass rally in Boston in February, 2016. Still, he almost won that primary.
The Republicans have successfully painted Baker as unbeatable. It’s a myth. Any Governor of Massachusetts who loses 2000 people a year to heroin addiction is unfit to hold that office and deserves to be beaten. Every 18 months that Baker has been Governor, this small state has suffered as many lives lost from heroin as NYC lost on 9-11. It’s an intolerable situation, which Baker has proven himself incapable of effectively dealing with.
To me, a lifelong Democrat, it’s really disheartening for the party to put forward candidates in this race for Governor who lack solutions and the charisma needed to win. This may be the year that I finally leave the Democratic party. Can you register to vote as an anarchist?
Nick Carter for Governor’s Council. Josh Zakim for Secretary of State. Jimmy Tingle’s convention speech was the best of all the candidates, but Quentin Palfrey’s experience is impressive so he has my vote.
Once again, the Globe has been beholden to the 1%. In June, I gave it another try after an 8 year hiatus, but the lack of coverage of the Democratic gubernatorial race is a disgrace and I’ll be cancelling after my $.99/week special is over.
@Meredith – Bob Massie’s people have been canvassing their butts off, and I’ve actually seen a couple Bob Massie lawn signs as well as signature-collecting volunteers. I assume that once the primaries are done, they’ll try to amp up the amount of publicity they get.
I’m specifically interested in the race for Secretary of the Commonwealth, which has longtime incumbent Bill Galvin facing off against challenger Josh Zakim. Zakim is accusing Galvin of stalling progress, and supports automatic voter registration, ranked choice voting, and weekend election days. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.
I’m actually focused more on the national races than local and state ones. Sign of the times, I know.
We can sort of predict what will happen locally. In the governors race, Bob Massie and Jay Gonzalez will essentially out limousine-liberal each other for the privilege of being boxed in and ultimately creamed by Charlie Baker, himself a limousine liberal. Most, if not all other Dems will win. Locally, the most interesting part of the election will end on primary day.
I’ve been partial to keeping Bill Galvin as Secretary of State and this was only reinforced when I saw him debate Josh Zakim at last Tuesday’s candidate’s night in Newton Highlands. A plant was present in the audience and attacked Galvin for a case this guy lost before the Secretary of State’s office. It was a most unequal contest. He charged that he had to “pay” Galvin $1,000,000 as a settlement. Galvin shot back “I just want to be clear that you did not pay me personally $1,000,000. It was paid to the Commonwealth.” Galvin clocked him. He went on to identify the plant, counter the charges and innuendos and otherwise dispatch him and his charges. Galvin’s responses to other charges were clear, concise and made with obvious conviction. He then went on to defend his record and accomplishments with genuine facts, insight and conviction.
Galvin may have been a bit slow in advancing certain certain election reform procedures. I just don’t know because I don’t know all the logistical considerations involved with 200 or so local election commissions in the mix; but he easily countered most of Zakim’s charges and presented himself as a genuine and dedicated public servant who knows every detail of how his office operates and how the pieces fit together.
I’ve worked closely with the Massachusetts Historical Commission which operates within Galvin’s office and with the Office of Political and Campaign Finance which also is part of his overall operation. These two have some of the finest public servants I’ve ever worked with.
One thing that baffles me is the charge that he has broad support and trust among city and town election officials throughout the state as though this is something nefarious. It seems to me that he has this support because he’s provided them with the kinds of support and guidance they need to act effectively and because he understands the strengths and constraints they labor under when determining how they should operate. It would bother me far more if these local election officials were clamoring for his removal, or if they were charging that Galvin is aloof from what they do. It’s clear that neither is true.
No person or public official is flawless and Galvin is no exception to that rule; but the positives far outweigh any negatives. Zakim has made the charge that Galvin is increasingly ineffective and out of touch, but one of his supporters argued just the opposite to me — that he’s too aggressive and hands on in how he operates. It’s hard to fathom how both can be true, but aggressive and hands on seems more to fit the guy. In my book, that’s a concise definition of an honest and effective public servant. Bill Galvin deserves reelection
Bob Massie has my vote for Governor. He is a movement leader and I’m tired of politicians who think that political change only happens at high levels of technocracy and not with large movements of people. Bob has an understanding of how movements can make change. I also trust that he believes what he says about single payer and climate change because he has been saying those things his whole life. I really just don’t think we need another CEO as our governor.
It’s a shame that the media isn’t covering the governor’s race at all, because, if they were, more people would see that Jay Gonzalez is a fraud. He’s trying to copy Bob’s platform practically word for word, even though he has no record of fighting for any of those issues, and in some cases his record even contradicts his platform. Bob has been fighting for all of these issues for his entire career. Massie has the ministerial background to know how to move people and get them on his side and the business background to understand and know how to implement the policies that he puts forward. There’s only one candidate in this race who will move MA forward and that’s Massie. It’s a shame the media is so deep in the pockets of corporations that they refuse to cover this once in a lifetime candidate.
I am dismayed by the lack of coverage of the MA primary. Bob Massie has a story to tell.
• As the candidate who did not receive the endorsement of the Democratic Party at the MA Convention in June, he can discuss how he inspires grass roots support among the broader electorate.
• He has a vision that most label progressive but is rational and has broad appeal when explained.
• He has real world experience bringing many stakeholders to the table to achieve responsible results.
• He can offer an alternative narrative to Governor Baker’s popularity
Bob Massie represents a stark contrast to Charlie Baker. We’ve set the bar too low, if we believe that Baker’s popularity is unbeatable because he works with Democrats.
Our current politics lack empathy. We need leaders like Bob Massie, Quentin Palfrey, and 4th Essex State Rep Allison Gustavson, who have the intelligence, compassion, and ability to articulate their goals coherently and passionately.
I’m really excited to support Josh Zakim for Secretary of State. Massachusetts needs a bold, proactive Secretary of State who will focus on making our elections more accessible and inclusive. Josh has dedicated himself to this cause for years as a Boston City Councilor, sponsoring a policy that makes it easier for Bostonians to register to vote when they interact with their municipal government. He’ll prioritize enacting Election Day registration, no-excuse absentee balloting, and early and weekend voting opportunities. As a recent Newton South graduate, I’ve seen first hand how reducing barriers to voting could improve turnout and increase civic engagement, especially among my generation.
Although Galvin has recently indicated support for many of these reforms, his record unfortunately suggests otherwise. He has continually blocked efforts for same day registration, weekend voting and has now picked the day after Labor Day as the Election Day, only making it harder for everyone to get to the polls. Under his leadership, Massachusetts has fallen behind other progressive states in reducing barriers to voting.
@Bob – there are logistical complications to implementing any policy, especially those involving state-local coordination, but 15 states + DC have successfully implemented Election Day registration. The nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures finds “Multiple studies place the effect [of same day registration] between an increase of 3 to 7 percent [in voter turnout], with an average of a 5 percent increase.” Galvin’s failure to lead has prevented Massachusetts from embracing a crucial way to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx#EffectonTurnout
Hello Michael: Even though we are backing different candidates for Secretary of State, I’m pleased and actually relieved that so many younger citizens like you are jumping feet first into the political arena. We’re dumping you with a lot of very serious problems and gross inequities that we have failed to adequately address.
Galvin explained that he pretty much had to set September 4th for the primary because of the several Jewish holy days that occurred during this coming month. He said he’s open to holding these primaries in May or June to give the eventual nominees more time to build their campaigns and interact with voters. He stated that the real stumbling blocks to this involve incumbents who favor a September primary date. Galvin also stated that the legislature and governor would have to approve legislation to that effect. I’d put money that we will have same day registration in the not too distant future, but moving the state primary to spring or early summer would be a much harder sell.
If I had my druthers, we’d see same day registration, weekend voting and ranked (proportional) voting. I have dual citizenship in Ireland and have been there for two general election campaigns for the Irish parliament. Ranked voting literally forces voters to know who the candidates are and the various positions of the 6 or 7 major political parties that run candidates for 4 to 6 legislative positions in each district. This is not a winner take all system, so every voter gets counted in some manner. The turnout in the last parliamentary election was close to 70 percent where we barely reached 54 percent in 2016 and only 34 percent in 2014.
I would also get big money out of elections if it was possible to do so under the 1st Amendment. I’d bring back some form of the Fairness Doctrine and public financing. I would also bring back a wonderful part of an earlier voting law from the 70s that gave taxpayers a $50.00 rebate (not a write off, but an actual monetary rebate) for a $100.00 or more donation to a political candidate. The only change; I would up the rebate to $100.00 for a donation of $200.00 to an individual candidate.
Finally, I’d be reluctant to move away from the city and town voting system we have now. Galvin’s got a point that he’s helped put in place a decentralized system of voting machines that can’t be hacked and have a clear paper trail. Not every state has done so and I worry about states like Ohio that still have touchscreen voting with no paper trail.
I think it should be illegal to have computerized voting with no paper trail.
In my opinion, I think our voting system of paper ballots read electronically gives us the best of both worlds. Totals can be tallied quickly but there’s an easily readable paper trail for recounts.
Hi Bob, thanks for your kind words about my involvement in politics. Thank you for your engagement as well!
I agree the primary shouldn’t have been held on September 11 or 18 (Jewish holidays), but there were other options for the date. For example, the League of Women Voters suggested September 13 or September 20 to boost turnout, stating “We would prefer that the date be set as late as possible in the month to allow plenty of time for voters to learn about the candidates and issues after the summer vacation season has ended.” “Voting on the day after Labor Day will prove challenging for voters in the Commonwealth, especially for families preparing children for the start of school, and for candidates who are eager to get their message out to voters.”
As for your support for a spring primary, same day registration, weekend voting, ranked choice voting, and the need to get big money out of elections, both Josh Zakim and I agree with you 🙂
@Meredith and Bob – Zakim recently rolled out an election security plan, including maintaining paper ballots. He would also create a 24/7 Cybersecurity Operations Center within the Election’s Division of the Secretary of State Office, institute a data redundancy policy to protect voter rolls, and use regular penetration testing to identify areas of weakness. He would also require local governments to purchase voting machine software from a list of approved contractors to ensure machines’ security. Unfortunately, Galvin has only used 45% of Massachusetts’ allocated Help America Vote Act Sec. 251 funding, a lower percentage than every other state.
Massachusetts may not have been hacked in 2016, but that wasn’t because of Galvin’s leadership — it was despite his inaction.
https://lwvma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Letter-to-Michelle-Tassinari-re-Primary.pdf
https://lwvma.org/lwvma-responds-to-announcement-of-september-primary-date-by-secretary-galvin/
https://www.joshzakim.com/modernizing-election-security-in-massachusetts
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/what-has-galvin-been-doing-on-election-security/
https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/08/16/fy-2016-hava-grant-expenditure-report-payments-state-expenditures-report/