The hour is very late, but in case someone is just now researching the races, maybe this will be helpful.
I’ll start with the State House. With the House of Representatives, we’re trying to untie a very difficult knot: How to actually exercise influence in a body that is run completely from the top down, seemingly with active disdain for the need of the rank-and-file to bring back real progress to their constituents, eg.: A functioning public transit system; protection for immigrants; a climate/energy policy commensurate with the immense challenges we face; fair and equitable funding for public schools; and so forth. And the saddest thing of all is that the Senate had real progress on all of these issues absolutely teed up for Bob DeLeo’s House. And the Speaker whiffed, again and again.
DeLeo, of course, faces no primary challenge within his own district, and his near-total power ensures that he faces no internal challenge within the body. So the mechanisms of leverage are by nature indirect, and if used, will generate collateral damage even to the interests of advocates for particular causes. DeLeo has essentially taken Ways and Means Chair Jeffrey Sanchez as a human shield, requiring him to repeatedly say “no” to his very progressive district, engendering a fierce challenge from Nika Elugardo. Do we know what happens if we take out Sanchez? Will DeLeo replace him with someone less progressive? How can we know? All we do know is that Sanchez did not deliver the goods. His loyalty, like that of many other progressive reps from Ehrlich to Decker to Garballey to Garlick, has only led to disappointment. And so, in a situation where the goods are not being equitably distributed, people start to use the blunt instruments they have to start breaking things, in the form of primary challenges. Maybe if a number of his lieutenants go down, DeLeo will get the message. And then we try to surround the Speaker with a critical mass of enlightened reps who have a specific mandate from their voters to ask for more. There is no good solution; there is no obvious or precise overall strategy. But we’re at a breaking point, and things are gonna break.
(As noted elsewhere, do look at ProgressiveMass’s endorsements, as well as the Sierra Club.)
So here are my choices, for the races I’ve been paying attention to:
- Nika Elugardo over incumbent Jeffrey Sanchez, 15th Suffolk/Norfolk (JP, Mission Hill, Roslindale). See above for the case vs. Sanchez; Elugardo is a very impressive candidate — another “overqualified” person with excellent command of the issues; a former aide to one of our best, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz. She has made a pointed and specific attack against Sanchez and can be expected to follow through. This is the big one.
- Ted Steinberg over incumbent Denise Garlick, 13th Norfolk (Needham). He’s super-young (24), but already has a considerable amount of experience in legislatures; he’s very well-versed and quite bold on the issues; and is running specifically on major investment in transit, schools, and housing. Garlick’s heart is in the right place, but I’m all done with rationalizing legislative failure in the face of our challenges.
- Tommy Vitolo, 15th Norfolk (Brookline). You know this. Our own stomv for many years here, Tommy’s a great guy; a national expert on energy markets; a clean energy champion and climate hawk; a sharp mind that can wonk any policy; and a gentle soul. His expertise will be a critical counter-balance to the utility and fossil fuel lobbyists on Beacon Hill.
- Maria Robinson, 6th Middlesex (Framingham) (NOTE: WRITE-IN CANDIDATE). In the same vein, why not another energy expert? Robinson has an chemical engineering degree from MIT and a law degree. The utilities and legacy energy companies are trying to beat back progress on renewable energy, greening the grid and transportation sectors. Better information means better pressure on leadership.
- Gerly Adrien, 28th Middlesex (Everett). She’s up against two colorful characters, and represents a clean break from the recent past of shady characters representing the district — full treatment of the race here at BMG.
- Sabrina Heisey, 36th Middlesex (Dracut/Tyngsborough), over incumbent Colleen Garry. Garry is one of the most conservative members of the Democratic caucus. Heisey is a school committee mom who easily checks all the progressive boxes: Single-payer, school funding equity, choice, and so forth. This is a strong candidacy that could be a real progressive breakthrough.
- Matt Rusteika, 4th Suffolk (incumbent Nick Collins, running for Senate). Again, I’m going to go for another clean energy expert to ramp up our commitments. He’s endorsed by the Sierra Club. Rusteika is also concerned with the crushing cost of housing.
Oh, there are so many more that I should know more about, like Segun Idowu taking on Angelo Scaccia … add them in the comments. But right now that’s what I got.
GOVERNOR:
I’m going with Bob Massie. This is a fellow who has been working for justice his entire life, has been through a lot, and has created change in a variety of creative and effective ways. He created CERES, a terrific organization that works with corporations to become more climate-responsible. He understands and properly prioritizes and contextualizes the climate crisis. He understands the unique challenges faced by Millenials, the cohort that came to adulthood as the financial crisis was grinding down their future prospects. He’s a visionary, a guy who sees what things should be like, who like RFK asks “why not?” Jay Gonzalez is a nice guy and is a bit more organized in his campaign; but Massie would be an amazing governor, and I’d like to give his ideas plenty of oxygen.
LG:
Well, I think you need a messenger for LG. Quentin Palfrey is well-qualified, but honestly I wonder if he’d be wasted in the job. Jimmy Tingle is a talker; a working class guy; a comedian with a real sense of heart, who has gone through some challenges in his own life; who speaks of universal values, like helping each other out when we can. I’d like to see where this goes. Keep talking, Jimmy. Give this guy a platform.
Secretary of the Commonwealth:
I’ll go with Josh Zakim here. The race has gotten a little bit chippy; I don’t really go for the appeal to the “true progressive”, over substantive arguments. But I appreciate Zakim’s commitment to the urgency of extending the voting franchise in various ways. Galvin hasn’t done a terrible job; he makes a decent case for himself in terms of fighting off Russian or other nefarious attacks on voting integrity. That matters. I think the “Prince of Darkness” image is a bit over-played. But it’s probably time for some new blood, new passion, and new ideas in this position.
TheBestDefense says
I think you asked a very important question that has been ignored through the campaign by opponents of Sanchez: “Do we know what happens if we take out Sanchez? Will DeLeo replace him with someone less progressive?” Anybody who has worked even peripherally with/againstDeLeo knows that Sanchez was the outlier liberal. Count on getting worse but I would be happy to be proven wrong with a Linsky appointment. If Sanchez loses, the next HW&M chair is likely to be the next Speaker.
jconway says
Thanks for the write up. I am curious why you are mum on Garballey’s primary since you’ve criticized his tightness to the speaker. His challenger seems credible too.
Also any thoughts on Sam Hammar’s race against Jason Lewis?
Charley on the MTA says
No, I wouldn’t describe Garballey’s challenger as credible, and I’d say he has a better case to make as someone who is trying his best to move things his direction. But he’s susceptible to the same criticism that there’s not much to show on the marquee issues.
jconway says
I was just judging from her website, but I trust you and Pablo have a prior relationship. It sounds like between losing the Senate race and drawing a challenger, this is an opportune time for him to listen to you both and the many Arlington progressives I am sure are souring on Mistah Speakah.
Charley on the MTA says
I don’t have a prior relationship. Her website is pretty good (better than her mailer lit). I’m glad she’s running. All things being equal, I’d be delighted to vote for an Arlington school mom. I just don’t detect a lot of policy depth, or life experience suggesting her as a legit alternative.
Sean leads on all the right stuff — that’s his 100% renewable energy bill, eg. But this is the quandary: DeLeo’s leadership makes the progressives look powerless. One has no idea if a replacement *for anyone but DeLeo* would make any difference at all. So that leads to breaking stuff. I want to support Garballey without reservation, but the Speaker doesn’t let me.
Pablo says
My standard line for Garballey is that he pushes the envelope as much as he can without ending up buried in irrelevance in the basement of the statehouse. Make no mistake about it, I hate the lack of democratic process in the MA House, and I have advocated for the defeat of every Baker-DeLeo Democrat with a challenger in today’s primary. I don’t want to take out the progressives who are trapped in this environment, and who would lead us in a more progressive direction in a more democratic institution.
I like Sean, and he is very responsive and hard working on all the local issues. My wife was in an accident where the cause was the state’s absolute failure to replace a traffic signal taken down in another accident nine months earlier. My first call was to Garballey, and he took on the fight and got MassDOT to both apologize and install a temporary fix within the week. The fact that my first instinct was to call Garballey told me just how much I value his work as a representative.
I think Sean’s opponent, Lori Lennon, is misreading the political climate in the district. Cindy Friedman won the senate primary in Lexington; she lost in Arlington and lost by a bigger margin in the portion of Arlington in Sean’s district. She hasn’t put out a policy agenda, or provided an argument as to how she would be a better representative. I like her, and hope she gets involved in Town Meeting or another local office, but she needs a more compelling story to run for state rep.
Charley on the MTA says
Agree with this read of Lennon. I was thinking that a candidate can have “depth” in various ways:
1. Policy depth: Specific expertise, background, demonstrated intellectual chops in a relevant area..
2. Commitment depth: Passion and demonstrated persistence for a particular cause or causes.
3. Relational depth: Roots in the community, being known and trusted and liked.
… and then there’s on-point messaging, channeling the political mood. Lennon’s not bad at this last part, but I couldn’t perceive much of 1, 2, or 3; not that they’re not there, but I couldn’t find them easily.
SomervilleTom says
I’m thankful that I don’t have choose between Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Elugardo. I appreciate the importance of taking down Mr. DeLeo. I don’t think I could cast a vote for Mr. Sanchez, and we’ve already explored my concerns about Ms. Elugardo elsewhere. This is one race I’m happy to duck.
Another candidate that I wish I COULD vote for is Sabrina Heisey, I sincerely hope she is able to unseat Ms. Garry.
I’m still very much on the fence between Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Massie. I lean towards Mr. Massie, and yet I value the experience that Mr. Gonzalez brings to the table. Call me a toss-up on that one.
I truly bemoan the hostility that separates this community during primary season. I understand the importance of these contests. Still, it troubles my soul that while our nation and its government is rushing headlong into historic abuses of virtually every standard of democracy, law, and civilization, we Democrats are fighting among ourselves with such passion.
We hear today that Donald Trump has today attacked Mr. Sessions because he brought indictments against two congressmen for flagrantly criminal behavior. The tragedy is that nobody even cares any more. A sitting president attacks a sitting attorney general for doing the job the AG exists to do, attacks that are flagrantly and exclusively partisan, and our national GOP is silent. It’s barely even news any more.
These are historic times. These are historic abuses. If we screw this up, historians will point to this week as the moment when the appalling reality of how deeply corruption has eaten into the entire GOP became crystal clear.
I wish we here at BMG were talking about that, and talking about how save the America we love, rather than calling each other names and attacking each other. The next representative from CD-7 will have to fight a long and difficult battle to bring to justice the criminal organization that now runs our government. I want my warrior in that battle to be skilled, battle-tested, and experienced. I am terrified at the prospect of sending out a rookie, no matter how passionate.
I’d like us to remember that we ARE a community. We face the greatest existential threat to American democracy of my 66 year lifetime. I hope that we can quickly move past the immediate hysteria of this primary and face the genuine and urgent hazards that stretch as far ahead as I’m able to see.
jconway says
I share that hope and that message Tom. We are on opposite sides of the fence for a few of these local races, on the same side for many more, but I do hope you assist in my effort to help FlipCongress nationally. That site is worthy of your time and the candidates listed are all worthy of your support. We desperately need to restore some checks and balances to Washington.
Charley on the MTA says
Hey Tom (& Co), I have a thing for you to do:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/songofresistance
SomervilleTom says
Done.
Charley on the MTA says
Haha, good man, thank you!
jwarren says
At 7AM, Stoneham had an active steady voter turnout. All precincts vote at one location. Voters were pulling Republican ballots, too. Not sure why.
Sign holders were there for Palfrey & Patalano.
What’s going on today in other areas of the state??
SomervilleTom says
The only GOP race that I’m aware of is to select a challenger to run against Elizabeth Warren in November.
Perhaps that race is top-of-mind for Stoneham voters.
Christopher says
The GOP also has contested primaries for Governor and AG.
SomervilleTom says
Indeed, but does anyone think that Mr. Lively has even a tiny chance of prevailing against Mr. Baker? Similarly, is there any serious likelihood that either Mr. McMahon or Mr. Shores will unseat Maura Healy?
I have a hard time believing that either of those races will bring Stoneham voters to the GOP primary, at least in comparison to a chance to choose a competitor to run against Ms. Warren.
jconway says
It will be fascinating to see how Lively does. A good preview for the 2022 post-Baker primary. He really could be the last Republican governor we have around here for awhile.
Trickle up says
I am baffled by your lukewarm endorsement of Zakim. He strikes me as the Leland Cheung of this election season.
Granted, Galvin is no Pat Jehlan (whom Cheung sought to unseat because youthy change), But he kept ballot-less voting out of Mass. and knows what the job is about. And Charlie, it’s a very important job, very close to the fulcrum of our national crisis. today.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough who won.