Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Legislative Vacancy

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As I was researching more links for my list of candidate web sites, I discovered that Rep. Thomas O’Brien (D-Plymouth 12) has just been named as Plymouth County treasurer.

O’Brien was unopposed in the Democratic primary for re-election, facing Republican Paul Curtis in November in this district:

Twelfth Plymouth. – Consisting of precincts 1 and 6, of the town of Duxbury, precinct 1, of the town of Halifax, the town of Kingston, precincts 1 and 5, of the town of Middleborough, precincts 1, 11 and 13, of the town of Plymouth, and the town of Plympton, all in the county of Plymouth.

A quick look at the process for replacing candidates in the election seems to indicate the following:

  • O’Brien’s name will remain on the primary ballot.

  • Assuming no one runs a write-in campaign and beats him, he has a week to withdraw.

  • A caucus of delegates elected from local Democratic town committees would pick the new nominee within three days.

    So any Democrat who wants to run would either have to generate a write-in campaign to beat O’Brien in the primary or get the votes of the caucus post-primary.

    Is there anyone out there who can verify this process?

    Anyone from the South Shore know anything about potential candidates in this race? This would seem to be a potential Republican pick-up.

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    • Comments

    1. State Rep. Jim Brett lands nice position and is getting out of the house.  Exact same senerio. Marty Walsh runs on stickers, but Brett never gets out of the race! The Speaker of the House later declares the vacancy when Brett informs the Speaker he won’t be serving his term.

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      The Speaker announces the vacancy AND sets the dates for the SPECIAL ELECTION both PRIMARY and GENERAL.

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      Why this process?

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      1) Tighter control.

      2) A Special Election makes it one of few or most likely the ONLY election that day in the state.

      3) If the Speaker has an (undisclosed) preference, he can defer to that individual to the timing.

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      Note: Special Election went to Rep. Marty Walsh

    2. There are many sitting selectmen and county officials also serving on Beacon Hill.  But hey, you wanna knock off a well regarded and popular incumbent, it’s OK by me!

      • In the local newspaper Old Colony Memorial O’Brien is pretty clear about declining the party nomination and serving out the end of his State Rep. term. (That means there would be no special election, since there won’t actually be a vacancy.) 

    3. This late in the game, there wouldn’t have been a special election anyway.

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      So it does look like there are two paths to this seat for a Democratic candidate:

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    4. beat O’Brien as a write-in, or

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    5. work the town committees to get supporters elected to the caucus.

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      From what I can tell, using the “500 votes for governor rule,” the delegate allocation would be Kingston 7, Plymouth 6, Middleborough 3, Duxbury 2, Halifax 1, and Plympton 1. It appears that the entire town committee can vote for delegates, although the delegates have to reside in the precincts actually in Plymouth 12.

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