Per Politico’s Lauren Dezenski
Boncore 4019
Rizzo 3620
Livingstone 2803
Edwards 2363
Hwang 2092
Progressive women of color are batting 0-3 in special elections, as yours truly predicted.
Rizzo’s campaign allegedly distributed transphobic mailers attacking Livingstone, who had been making inroads in Revere. Boncore’s campaign disavowed similar mailers attributed to them. Either way, a nasty race with transphobic undertones.
Not a good night for the Mass Democratic Party in my opinion. Boncore’s dad is a Winthrop City Councilor and close friend of Speaker Robert DeLeo, who was officially neutral in this race. Congratulations State Senator elect Joe Boncore, seeing as there are no general election opponents in the May 10th general or (as of yet) in November. The job is yours!
progressivemax says
As you alluded to, this election is only temporary. One of the Progressives can run again in the General Primary Election on Thursday (yes Thursday) September 8th. Hopefully only one Progressive will run, preventing a split vote. It still will be a tough race since Rizzo’s votes are more likely to go to Boncore, than a progressive.
jconway says
They could write themselves in the United Independent Party ballot which requires just 150 votes to pass the threshold, and then they can have a one on one shot in the general election which will have far higher turnouts of women, people of color, students, and broader voters under 30. It’s up to them. I would love for both methods to be attempted in this race so we could see which is more successful.
doubleman says
I’m surprised by the result, but probably just a reflection of my bias in my district. In Cambridgeport, Boncore (and Rizzo) had less than zero attention.
It’s a weird district and diverse in not the best way. Instead of needing to win a lot of support from various areas, one needs only to build up margins in a few areas that are unlike much of the rest of the district to win.
I was canvassed the other day by the Hwang campaign and they distributed a sheet attacking Livingstone for “sexist” statements that a woman can’t win the district. It rubbed me the wrong way because it was solely based on a Livingstone campaign email saying that it was a three-way race between Boncore, Rizzo, and Livingstone and that Livingstone is “the one progressive who can win.” Seemed much more like a normal conclusion from internal polling than anything untoward.
jconway says
Though it’s important to note that if you combined their votes, they beat Boncore. And my point is Winthrop and Revere have an older whiter electorate more likely to turn out in large numbers. There just aren’t enough consistent voters who live in the Cambridgeport and Back Bay portions of the district, and East Boston was a bit of a tossup but again, the older whiter contingent probably leaned towards the top two vote getters while most of the immigrant population they appealed to was unable to turn out in large enough numbers.
It would be interesting if the Republicans tried to attract Rizzo. He is definitely a Trump Democrat if there ever were one, and could hypothetically do well on the R side.
paulsimmons says
per East Boston.com.
Lydia Edwards came in first in East Boston (782 votes), with Boncore second (589 votes), and Hwang third (499 votes).
Rather than demographics-is-destiny (and Eastie Latino politics aren’t necessarily progressive), what happened in Ward 1 was a simple case of a chopped-up base.
Christopher says
…and frankly we need to accept that sometimes. DeLeo’s own district that overlaps loves him by all accounts (though I still say he’s more progressive than often given credit for). Even if we had a top-two runoff system based on these results the second round would be between the two who distributed the transphobic literature.
Christopher says
….the top two got more combined votes than the other three combined so a progressive split appears not to be the issue. Not sure how it can be characterized as a bad night for the state party as the party does not get involved in primaries and with no general it will be a Dem seat.
jconway says
These are horrible Democrats, it’s a bad night for a party committed to progress and equality that it is sending another round of retrograde hacks for this seat. And it’s not a conservative district, it’s just that the older and whiter parts of the district show up for specials which is exactly how I predicted.
In a general election with Livingstone, Hwang or Edwards on the ballot against Boncore with presidential turnout levels in Boston and Cambridge he probably lose. This is the kind of outside the box thinking progressives need to adapt to if we want to see real change.
Christopher says
This is what you seem not to understand. Unlike national or even statewide contests, there is pretty much no role for “the party”. A primary election open to all partisans AND independents is the ONLY factor for determining the nominee in this kind of race. Even if the party tried to meddle there’s a decent chance it would backfire because voters don’t like being told how to vote. I’m sure all the candidates did their best to turn out their respective voters.
BTW, how does UIP plan to do this better or differently? There is no authority for parties to veto a candidacy or a nomination. What happens the first time someone decides to declare as a UIP candidate, but goes off the reservation in terms of issues? What if such a candidate wins your primary? You seem to think that Dems can just snap their fingers and keep everyone in line. That is not the case and my greatest frustration with your assumptions.
jconway says
The state party hasn’t done anything to help progressives win primaries and from their standpoint it’s a good thing there is a warm Democrat to occupy this seat without having to face another opponent for another 10-20 years until he becomes a lobbyist, we have another special, and another warm do nothing takes his place and the cycle continues.
I am hoping to break that cycle, and my party is but one mechanism to do that. I am personally hoping one of the progressives who didn’t make it gives it another try on our ballot line, since I am confident they could win in the general when a substantially higher number of voters come out. Seats like this are too important to give up.
There is a decent chance our party primary could nominate an asshole this cycle, the difference is, we won’t be endorsing them, giving them a dime or celebrating them on social media.
Christopher says
…that a party should necessarily support it’s own nominees? I understand triage when it comes a regular election cycle and prioritizing funding, though it’s usually up to the candidates whether they participate in the coordinated campaign rather than the party to say who is in and who is out. Do you have any idea of the political blowback both inside and outside the party we would get if we played favorites in primaries?
centralmassdad says
Precisely this. No. It’s as if Red Sox fans should have cheered for Mariano Rivera as he mowed down Res Sox batters and secured Yankee wins, if only he wore a Red Sox hat, pretending to be a Red Sox, while doing so.
A party that nominates these guys is either (a) right wing conservative; or (b) completely unprincipled. In either event, it is harmful to the Commonwealth for that party to govern.
Is there any other state where the entire Democratic Party is under the control of de facto Republicans, and the worst sort thereof, while the erstwhile liberals shrug, sigh, and have a nap?
Christopher says
…but your baseball analogy doesn’t work, unless you’re suggesting Rivera is a Red Sox trying to throw the game to the Yankees. (I don’t know who that is, BTW.) There certainly have been times that fan favorites for one team have become the devil incarnate to those same fans when traded to a rival team, even though that person’s talents haven’t changed a bit.
jconway says
Don’t go campaigning with Martha Coakley anytime soon.
The idea is if walks like a Republican, quacks like a Republican, but calls itself a Democrat you and too many in Massachusetts vote for it. Because otherwise ‘we would get a Republican, the horror!’.
It’s why I don’t care if your homegirl Colleen Gerry loses her seat. I expect science denying transphobic bigotry from a Republican, I am appalled to routinely see it come from Democrats in this state. If she would lose for voting the right way than what the fuck is the point to being in politics and being in the majority? For the per diem and the perks that’s what. I’d vote for a radical conservative against her since it wouldn’t be very different and it’s one less vote for DeLeo and his cronies. And at least the Republicans of any ideological stripe in the house call for open votes, want the open meeting law to apply, and agree to speaker term limits.
Diehl and O’Connell were the only legislators willing to put no taxpayer funding for the Olympics on the ballot. Chris Dempsey who didn’t organize anything got all the credit, but the Tea Party and United Independent Party got it on the ballot. I’d rather more Republicans like them in conservative districts than the likes of Jim Miceli and Colleen Gerry.
Christopher says
…though in my defense I do know who Curt Schilling is.
centralmassdad says
I’m just saying that you and most of the local pol types are too gullible to even understand that there’s a difference
merrimackguy says
If they’re used to coloring in the D oval, they’ll continue to do so.
marcus-graly says
According to Universal Hub, WInthrop had roughly 5x the turnout of Cambridge and Boston: http://www.universalhub.com/2016/people-winthrop-voted-and-people-boston-didnt-and#comments
doubleman says
That’s rough, and also a shame for Boston and Cambridge.
The district definitely has huge progressive populations, but they just didn’t turn out. These specials are a tough game, and Boncore played it perfectly (he didn’t even try for votes in Cambridge or much of Boston). Let’s hope he’s more progressive than family history and connections may indicate and also that he engages with the entire district. In this district, however, he can ignore most of it and it won’t hurt his reelection chances in the slightest.
hesterprynne says
As was pointed out on Greater Boston last night, this Senate district has been represented by just two people since 1992. Robert Travaglini left in 2007 to become a lobbyist. Anthony Petruccelli won the special election to succeed him, served for 9 years, then left to become a lobbyist. Now another special.
Christopher says
Sometimes it seems specials are the only way any seats turn over. Most incumbents have the privilege of leaving on their own terms.
centralmassdad says
Leave the seat open until November. Grumpy constituents might consider voting for someone who will serve their term.
merrimackguy says
Many of these people are leveraging their public careers. You’d think they could tolerate making their legislative salary for a few months more.
I would be in favor of no specials in the second year of a term. Let them feel bad about shortchanging their beloved constituents for the period while the office is open.
ryepower12 says
That should be a core goal of the progressive movement in this state.
If we could create an infrastructure that could recruit/train/fundraise/organize for compelling candidates for at least 3-4 seats across the state, targeted at the most regressive candidates representing seats where liberals could win, it would create shockwaves within the Democratic caucus in the House and Senate.
Even just 3-4 every very competitive primary challenges of conservative incumbents every election year would make a huge difference, and force leadership to be far more responsive to the progressive wing of the party.
And the 3-4 people wouldn’t even all have to win. If 50% of them won, and were tied to a progressive brand, it would probably be enough.
We would just have to show that we could consistently pull it off, and repeat the effort every cycle — and send the message, loud and clear, that [insert conservadem here] could be next.
judy-meredith says
We desperately need more honest, kind and principled people to run for local and state office, and of course I prefer persons who self identify as tax and spend liberals…so there.
jconway says
“If only”
Someone has already built it. Even though his business connections give you some of you cooties you didn’t get when Deval did it within the Dems, but we exist. We are already running 3-4 candidates statewide. We are already doing what people have been begging progressives to do for decades. Please join us, fighting us while we are in our infancy and rooting for us to fail and waiting for this to emerge within the Democratic primary is a waste of time as yesterday’s results should demonstrate. You’re batting 0-3, we will have 3-4 maybe even 7 in the general. I live in Salem let’s get coffee sometime Rye so I can give you more details.
As of yesterday we have three confirmed, 2 against regressive Democrats and one running for an open seat. I am meeting with three more next week, two hopefully ready to finalize and publicize. We also need to fundraise and enroll simultaneously so I will need all the help I can get from volunteers here. Donate to these candidates even if you hate Falchuk or the party. They are you’re best hope to send a mess has this year.
Christopher says
n/t
jconway says
It’s not like you or ryepower have done anything to move that along. You actually defended Colleen Gerry as a good fit for the district and said that for Joe Boncore. His representative is against guns on planes so it’s ok her voting record is identical to the Speakers.
Then do the primaries! Piss or get off the pot as ma would say. All I’ve seen on this site is talk for the past ten years. I moved back to Massachusetts and had the opportunity to actually do something about it and very few of you are willing to break out of our partisan boxes and stand by my side. It’s quite frustrating.
We aren’t running against any good progressives or worthy Democrats. Doorknock for our candidates, give them money, and be part of the change this way. You don’t have to join, though since the Democrats can afford to lose 20,000 without batting an eye, they really could care less if you do. And do it your way, but I haven’t seen a lot of action. Bob Croce and Mike Connolly are friends and the UIP isn’t running anyone in their district. Those are the only two in the whole state.
We are at the upper limit for “more Democrats” in Massachusetts and we still haven’t seen better ones. Give the UIP a try, and give a primary a try. But we are trying a whole lot harder than anyone pushing a primary.
Christopher says
And yes, sometimes good fits are more conservative than we would like. You do still believe in being reality-based, right? Well, that IS reality. Does UIP have a candidate for the 36th Middlesex House district (Dracut, Tyngsborough, and no, I don’t live there anymore)?
jconway says
Nobody is interested in taking on Miceli, I checked. But a conservative Republican could beat him, just as a conservative Republican nearly beat her last time and frankly I’d vote for them as the lesser of two evils if I lived there.
Just as lousy on the issues but at least they aren’t voting for DeLeo, aren’t voting against term limits, and they’d call the roll on every vote. Losing a few of these DINOs to the right will move the supermajority to the left without threatening it. It’s not the Republicans in the legislature standing in the way of a vote but people like her. Either she believes in that gender identity bill or she is too scared of losing her seat that she filed it. Either way, it’s proof she has no business of being there.
Christopher says
…my guess is that she believes it, unfortunately. If it were just political she could have contented herself with simply voting against the transgender rights bill. In fact voting FOR the rights bill probably would not jeopardize her seat that much, though she’s been known to use her constituency as an excuse. Keep in mind even the DTCs are very conservative too and I don’t see a way forward for a progressive in that district. I would have to see who another choice is before I declare who is the lesser of the evils. BTW, I’m not sure Garry is super pro-DeLeo; he’s noticiably to her left.
jconway says
Feel free to join me. Let’s get coffee sometime, I’m over the line in Salem.
Christopher says
…if the progressives didn’t turn out then they really can’t complain, and progressives not residing in the district may want to refrain from Monday-morning quarterbacking.
David says
As you’ll recall, the Globe endorsed Lydia Edwards. She finished fourth, well behind Boncore and Rizzo. You’d think that in a low turnout special election, something like a newspaper endorsement might make a difference. And you’d be wrong. We’ve known that for a while now, of course; yesterday was another demonstration.
ryepower12 says
When Democrats are using transphobic attacks to win elections in a state with wide super majorities, we don’t need “more” — just “better.”
If the Democratic caucus shrank in the House by the most conservative 5-10 votes, our state would be far better off, even if those 5-10 people became Republicans.
As a very, very loyal Democrat… I want a stronger Republican party in this state, so very conservative, regressive candidates don’t feel compelled to run as “dems” just to win elections. While of course I’d prefer they not be elected at all, I could live with it if they were elected as Republicans (or any other party).
SomervilleTom says
I agree with you. Exhibit A is Colleen Garry. I’d much prefer to see her replaced by a Republican.
jconway says
We have tried to make this party better form the inside for decades and have little to show for it. Evan Falchuk just called on Facebook for DeLeo to send the bill to Bakers desk and for Baker to sign it. We don’t care who gets the credit, just get it done. It’s long overdue.
We already have the infrastructure in place to run challengers in the higher turnout election. What we need is money, volunteers, and registered voters. Join us, the movement you want already exists and it’s called the UIP.
Trans rights-in the platform
progressive income tax-in the platform
Common sense drug laws-in the platform
Funding transit-in the platform
Fund public schools equitably-in the platform
Our priorities are the priorities of many of the people here. Hate that Evan built something new or outside the system all you want, it’s the only way this is going to happen. We need you’re help, not your scorn.
JimC says
Has anyone seen this? Are we sure they’re not just hearsay?
jconway says
Couldn’t Embed then or link to them on this page. Granted the friend worked for Jay, but he was pretty pissed it was on his door. Also on that same walk the Boncore campaign manager insisted he wasn’t behind it or responsible for it, and whomever linked him to it lied.
jconway says
Let me know if you have issues with my edits or hear disavowals from the Rizzo camp. It’s critical with this issue we know who our friends and enemies are and not mislabel anyone.
That said, somebody thought this line of attack would be effective against Jay and it apparently was in the parts of the district the top two vote getters carried. That doesn’t speak well of the process or of progressive chances in a low turnout primary.
JimC says
I’m just always skeptical of localI’ campaign rumors. There are always stories. “My signs were taken down!” “My tires were slashed!”
A rogue flyer, I can believe. I’d be more concerned about an official one though.
ryepower12 says
I’d love to be able to forward it to people who I think should see it.
jconway says
Along with a formal invite for that coffee đŸ™‚