Blue Mass Group

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Jim O’Day wins HUGE in special election primary for 14th Worcester!

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Leary resigned the seat to become chief of staff to Lt. Governor Tim Murray.

Paul Shea finished second and current Worcester City Councilor Phil Palmieri finished a distant third.

I just got back from the celebration in West Boylston where there were well over 100 ecstatic people! 

Chris Condon of SEIU and Erin O’Leary and her gang from Neighbor to Neighbor were both instrumental in this win by O’Day and both showed up with BIG SMILES! 

Also there after having put in time helping O’Day was Sam Rosario who’s running for a District City Council seat in Worcester.

The race is not over yet. The general election is next month when O’Day goes up against Joe Cariglia who was formerly a Democrat but re-registered as an Independent to avoid this primary fight.

There is some talk that Cariglia may end up not meeting the residency requirements to even be in this race. I’m sure someone will sort that out in the next couple weeks….

There was also a lot of talk tonight that Phil Palmieri may not  even be able to hold his own City Council seat in the upcoming fall election after this loss, due in part to the backlash City voters feel about the recent 84% pay raise City Councilors handed themselves three months ago. City residents only last week were told there’s now a $21 million dollar city deficit….

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Comments

  1. I just came back from the celebration as well.  I must say that although I don’t live in the 14th, I have worked with Jim for the past 6+ years and he’s definitely someone you would want to have your back during crunch time.  As for Shea and Palmieri, I think people are just tired of “politics” as usual.  To all the volunteers on Jim’s campaign….we still have the general coming up…So let’s keep it moving!!

  3. Unbelievable.  Jim was a dark horse, by any analysis.  Palmieri was a multi-term City Councilor with a ready war chest and name recognition.  Shea was the recently successful campaign manager for the surprising run of Governor’s Councilor Tom Foley and a member of a politically connected family.  It was a textbook grass roots campaign by an underdog.  Jim O’Day is a good and decent man, with a big heart.  He will make a great State Rep.

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    ps:  This is not his first victory.  He beat me 55/45 in the race for 8th grade class president at Forest Grove Jr. High.  But I’m over it.

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    pps:  Kudos to Paul Shea, who made a very classy appearance at Jim’s victory party to congratulate him.  Say what you will, the Worcester Irish get some things right.

  4. …presuming that O’Day wins the general (probable) will he be replacing someone who was anti-same-sex marriage rights, or holding the status quo.  In other words, was his predecessor also pro-same-sex marriage rights. (I’ll abbreviate “same sex marriage rights” to “ssm”).  If so, it’s just a wash–a pro-ssm for a pro-ssm.

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    Another question is, what were the positions of the other candidates in the primary, pro-ssm or anti-ssm?

    • was the VoteOnMarriage.com endorsed candidate.  She was the worst of the worst.  I’m not sure if the other two all supported equality AND would go as far as to vote procedurally  to keep the amendment off the ballot (although I do remember reading something that said the other two did at least oppose the amendment), but she definitely would do everything in her power to turn back the clock.

    • so this is a wash – still – two of the other candidates were anti- ssm (Shea, Vescera) and Palmieri was wafling at the end according to some….

  5. A big win.

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    There’s a nice article in the Wista Telegram today. Somehow (unbelievably!) sco’s interview was not mentioned, and I got a chuckle out of their mention of O’Day’s “healthy campaign war chest…” — the truth is he started from scratch against an opponent (Palmieri) who had (as I recall) something like $20K in the bank.

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    In any case, it was a great grassroots effort, and I’m proud to say that PDM endorsed O’Day and many of our members worked on his campaign.

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    Since Jim Leary was (and is) a progressive voice, this can’t be considered a pick-up in that regard, but it sure is nice we didn’t backslide. I think O’Day will be a terrific addition to the House, supporting the Governor’s initiatives (I hope), and I look forward to working with him.

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    Oh yeah, technically, he has to win the General in April, but I hope that’s pro forma.

  6. …is there a Republican opponent in the general election? 

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    The Republican party fielded candidates in only 1/3 of the legislative races last time.  Apparently they don’t realize that you can’t beat somebody with nobody.

    • O’Day’s only opponent in the general is a Democrat turned unenrolled (Specifically so he could avoid the primary).

      • Palmieri & O’Day are pro marriage and to keep it off the ballot.  Shea & Vescera are anti gay marriage. Vescera was also pro-life as is Shea I believe.  This was clearly a race thsat N2N played a huge role in.  I expect Shea, who finished second to make another try.  He could catch Jim O’Day head to head.  This is a traditional Worcester seat.

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