My name is Jim Henderson, and I have this week begun my independent campaign for Secretary of the Commonwealth. Even though I have had the good fortunate to cross paths with some of you over the years, I would like to more formally introduce myself to the BMG community, seek your questions and comments, and hopefully earn your consideration and support.
I hope to bring a fresh, and truly independent perspective to this campaign. I am not a career politician, nor do I seek to be one. I am an attorney with my own practice based in Stow, focusing primarily on business and transactional law, as well as tax and estate planning. At the risk of patting myself on the back, my clients and friends consider fairness to all and integrity to be a couple of my noteworthy characteristics.
By why run for Secretary of the Commonwealth? First, it’s a job I’d actually like to do. Second, well, that’s what follows…
As has been noted elsewhere, the Secretary is the chief information officer of Massachusetts. I believe it is the Secretary’s job to make sure the people of Massachusetts have easy access to public information, so they can conduct business, evaluate candidates for office, learn who’s lobbying and influencing legislation. The Secretary also oversees elections throughout the Commonwealth, and is in the best position to promote greater access to the ballot box and to the electoral process in general. In short, the Secretary can help us all participate in our democracy.
Yet, we are in a time when more and more people feel frustrated with their government. Too often we feel out of touch with our representatives and cannot understand why they are not more responsive to the concerns and challenges of the people. And too often when election time comes, voters encounter hurdles to casting their ballot, or find themselves with few options to make any changes.
And after almost two decades in office, the current Secretary is too entrenched and unresponsive to deal with these problems. A fresh perspective, and a willingness to try new ideas and approaches, is what the Commonwealth needs today. I am the person who will bring that perspective and willingness to Beacon Hill.
As Secretary of the Commonwealth, I will work to make public information truly public by:
Making all state public databases accessible through a single website, so a simple Google-like search would bring corporation, real estate, lobbyist and legislative information to a single portal
Encouraging cities and towns to standardize their websites and public databases, so that local information is also readily available
Opening offices in cities such as Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence and/or Pittsfield, to expand the reach of the Secretary’s services already provided in Boston, Fall River and Springfield
Establishing “substations” in communities where there are lower rates of computer and/or internet access, to make sure public information is, in reality, available to all
As Secretary of the Commonwealth, I will work to enhance the electoral process by:
Advocating for greater access to the ballot box, through election day registration, extended (multi-day) balloting and/or mail-in voting
Working to improve ballot machine technology statewide to take advantage of the advanced systems developed in recent years, while at the same time protecting the integrity and confidence in elections
Using the bully pulpit of the office to fight against corporate influence in our elections, particularly in light of the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision
Simplifying the process of getting on the ballot, and in turn encouraging more people to run for office, to make sure our representative government is truly representative of the people of Massachusetts
In an age when heated partisanship, insider deals and well-funded “special interests” threaten to destroy what faith we have in our democratic processes, I believe having a true independent voice in the office of Secretary, a voice that will treat all persons, and all parties, equally and honestly, can only help restore that faith. I will work over the next 7+ months to earn your confidence, and hopefully the same support afforded to the incumbent’s challengers four year ago, as we move toward November.
Please feel free to contact the campaign at 508-802-JIM-1, campaign@JimForSOC.com, or by going here (which, until our website can get finalized, will forward to the campaign’s Facebook page).
Discuss
9 Comments . Comments are closed.You have a clear, comprehensive set of ideas for this office
I'm looking forward to a great campaign, because I, too, agree there's much more that could be done with this office.
Not to be construed as an endorsement...
...but I've thought for a long time that as the chief elections officer the Secretary should be elected in a non-partisan fashion.
Non-partisan sure as heck isn't apolitical
I'd just assume have some sense of the leanings of the politician out in the open, instead of pretending like the Secretary is apolitical.
good point
Stomv, you're right. No one who is interested in this office can truly be apolitical, so why pretend?
Also, note on ballot access: the requirements are pretty easy to meet for any candidate with enough support to have a chance of winning. Lowering the ballot access requirements would allow too much monkeying with the political process by making it easy for real candidates to recruit illegitimate candidates into the race just to take votes away from their opponents.
I may be running as an independent, but that doesn't mean I'm apolitical
I don't believe that one has to be a party partisan to be "political". I certainly have my political opinions, and have never been shy about sharing them. With that said, I am not running for Governor, or the legislature. My focus is on the issues addressed by and the responsibilities of the Secretary, and I believe the Secretary's role in most, if not all, circumstances would be best handled by someone who is fair to all parties and respectful of all viewpoints.
As for the point on ballot access, I am not proposing a reduction in the number of signatures required to get on the ballot. I do believe we should use current technology, though, to get rid of some of the silly logistical barriers, such as having to go to Boston to get nomination papers, or requiring specific paper colors for signatures to be valid. If a candidate can show they have the requisite support, they should be able to get on the ballot, and not be rejected on a technicality. Beyond that, it is a far more common event in Massachusetts that we have too few candidates running for a particular office, and therefore too little competition, rather than too many "illegitimate" candidates making it onto the ballot.
Your political opinions ARE important
While you are not running for governor, you are running for an office that is second in the line of succession for Governor. Bill Galvin was acting governor at one point during the Cellucci administration and managed to sign a bill into law. Additionally, if I understand it correctly, you're also in charge of redistricting to some extent. Although you're not running for governor, you're running for an important Constitutional office. I'd be interested in learning more about your political opinions, because it's easy to call yourself an "Independent" when you side with (many of) the ideas of the Democratic or Republican parties. Just ask Tim Cahill...
Just my opinion.
If they have to go through a partisan nominating process...
...they have greater risk of being influenced by and being chummy with that party. I'm not accusing Galvin of anything in this regard, but I'd like to prevent more Katherine Harrises.
In many countries...
..the chief elections officer is not even permitted to vote. Not sure if that accentuates or stills a desire to influence the process in other ways, though.
Secretary of the Commonwealth does much more than handle elections
I strongly support handing over control of elections to an apolitical body, however we can still elect a Secretary of the Commonwealth in the usual fashion. Redistricting should also be done in an apolitical fashion.
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