6th Middlesex Update: Preparing for the Candidate-less Ballot

* Sixth Middlesex voters will not be given the courtesy of knowing the party affiliation of some of our candidates. Nick Sanchez sent out a mailing that didn’t even mention he was endorsed by the Republican party and would likely be serving as a Republican in this largely Democratic district.

* Many candidate mailings have not been complete in terms of how to properly cast a vote for a write-in candidate. While we did receive a mailing from the secretary of state’s office with a complete explanation, there have been several candidate mailings that in my opinion did not adequately stress the need to include a candidate’s address or to completely fill in the oval next to the name after using a sticker. I expect there will be many ballots without candidate addresses and/or without the filled-in oval, and I fear many voters will not have their votes counted.

* Unlike voters in every other district, 6th Middlesex voters have no way of checking campaign finance reports before the election to find out who might be suddenly pouring money into these last-minute write-in campaigns. The pre-election reports only cover the period through Oct. 20, which doesn’t include most of our campaign period. While Pam Richardson had a district-wide mailing that was pretty clearly from the state Democratic committee, other efforts are less obvious. Who if anyone is funding these other last-minute candidates? We won’t be allowed to know until long after our votes are cast.

I believe the Democratic caucus was well run and as fair as possible under the circumstances in deciding which candidate to endorse (I’m not a registered Democrat, but I was an observer when the caucus backed Pam Richardson on the 3rd ballot). I don’t know first-hand the process Republicans used to select their endorsed candidate, Nicholas Sanchez.

Since then, though, 6th Middlesex voters have been poorly served by what’s unfolded, and I remain unhappy with the ruling that did not allow town political candidates to put replacement names on the ballot. The election is turning into a free-for-all, with one person even putting forth his name on a town e-mail list pledging to refuse the office so a special election would be called, in hopes of a more reasonable process that could allow adequate informing of voters.

Several are mounting serious write-in campaign efforts. Pam has had several mailings, and Democratic volunteers have been making calls on her behalf. She’s also been doing some sign-holding visibility. She is backed by the Blumer family as well as the local Democratic party, and has won townwide election to the School Committee.

Dawn Harkness is an independent who calls herself liberal on social issues but fiscally conservative, and says she’d serve as a Democrat if elected. I don’t recall getting any mailings from her campaign but have received several phone calls. She’s been endorsed by the MetroWest Daily News. I’m a bit irked at supporters who claim she’d best carry on Debby Blumer’s legacy, since a) the Blumer family has backed Pam Richardson, and they should know something about what Debby might have wanted, and b) I doubt Debby would have supported an independent bid that undercut an endorsed Democrat, something that raises the prospect of progressive and moderate votes being split and a right-wing conservative winning the seat. Finally, Dawn Harkness voted again funding a new library branch in Saxonville, a project that received enthusiastic backing from many in town, including 60% of Town Meeting, but fell just short of the needed 2/3. I recall Debby Blumer speaking at Town Meeting for that project. Thus Framingham lost 25% state funding for what would have been a great project. The branch is sorely needed to replace an extremely inadequate, small structure, and the new one would have been a huge asset to the neighborhood. I was a big supporter of that project, and Dawn’s no vote is reason enough for me not to back her candidacy.

Nick Sanchez, a legal immigrant from Cuba, wants a crackdown on illiegal immigrants, opposes bilingual education, and has called for cutting taxes. He lost when running against Blumer two years ago. He has served on the town’s School Committee in the past. I’ve seen one mailing from his campaign.

Jim Rizoli, stridently anti-illegal immigrant, lost to “blank” by more than 3 to 1 in this year’s Republican primary, and didn’t garner enough votes to get on the ballot. He has lost several bids for town-wide office, and serves as an elected Town Meeting member in a precinct that rarely has contested elections (and often has vacancies). Sanchez and Rizoli have supported each other in the past, and they threaten to split the conservative, anti-immigrant vote as Richardson and Harkness could split the more centrist and progressive vote.

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