Casey Ross reports that only two candidates filed papers to run for Robert Travaglini’s now-vacant Senate seat: Rep. Anthony Petruccelli, and Revere city councillor Dan Rizzo, both Democrats. In an impressive display of its still-declining relevance (one might not have thought that possible), the GOP apparently could not field a candidate for this open Senate seat. Yikes. The primary election, now the only one that matters, will be on May 29.
We confess to knowing nothing at all about Mr. Rizzo. Anyone?
Update (by Charley): HLPeary points us to Dan Rizzo’s website. Well, that’s a good place to start.
Please share widely!
The Mass GOP has managed to field a legislative candidate in just one of them.
David, There was a posting on BMG about this Special Election the week Trav resigned but it did not get Front paged. My bias: I am supporting Rizzo in this one.
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FYI:
Rizzo was an early supporter of Deval Patrick as was the Mayor of Revere Tom Ambrosino. Sen. Barrios and Cambridge Councilor Galluccio are supporting Rizzo, as well.
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Menino and the Boston crowd have annointed Anthony Petruccelli to fill Trav’s seat and be a vote they can count on for Boston…but not necessarily for Deval.
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If Deval’s “grassroots” want to help Deval Patrick pass his legilative agenda, they could start by electing a few more legislators who are committed to help do that…to pass the Municipal partnership, to close corporate tax loopholes and pay attention to cities and towns.
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Anthony is a nice guy, but in the end, he’s just one of the good ol’ boys on the Hill.
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FROM DAN RIZZO POSTCARD SENT TO VOTERS: http://www.danrizzo.org
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“A Special Election is an opportunity
to do more than rearrange the
insiders’ deck chairs on Beacon Hill…
we can elect a new State Senator
who will speak up for the rest of us.
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On Tuesday, May 29, there will be a
SPECIAL ELECTION to fill the State Senate seat in your district. I am a candidate for that office because I believe there is a lot that can be done that isn’t being done to solve the problems our communities face.
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As a local official, small businessman, homeowner and parent, I know first hand how state policies and lack of support have hurt our cities’ and town’s ability to provide for schools, public safety and senior services. Taking the pressure off property taxes is job one. I support the Governor’s Municipal Partnership to make that happen.
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I was proud to serve in the U.S. Navy for 6 years, and I strongly believe our state can do more to help our Veterans. They did their duty and our state now has a duty to them. As State Senator, I would make that a priority.
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As a small business owner, I know what it takes to meet a payroll, pay taxes, and control expenses. When large corporations are given tax loopholes, small business and every local taxpayer makes up the difference. It’s not right and we need more legislators who will do something about it.
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The insiders on Beacon Hill are looking to fill YOUR Senate seat with someone whose vote they can control. That’s just not me. If elected, I will answer only to the voters of our district. To that end, I need your support to win.
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To learn more about my candidacy or to get involved in the campaign, please visit my website at http://www.danrizzo.org. Were putting together a great winning team and hope you will be part of it!. Sincerely, Dan”
If Petruccelli is indeed a Menino person, wouldn’t he be supportive of the Municipal Partnership Act (much of which is similar to prior and current City of Boston initiatives) and closing tax loopholes? In fact, isn’t he the sponsor of the bill to eliminate the telecom tax break?
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the telecom tax change, since he posted here about it. Don’t know his position on the other tax changes. Do you?
I don’t know where he is on the other pieces, perhaps he or someone from his office or campaign could post further information.
No one said Anthony would be against Deval on every issue…it’s just that when push comes to shove as it will on many issues, Anthony will answer to the folks that annointed him…if you want to know where someone stands (or sits) check out the bills they actually file, not the ones they simply sign onto with the rest of the crowd.
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Menino of course wants the Municipal Partnership, Boston benefits the most…so he is fine with Anthony voting for it…Menino wants the telecom legislation, it benefits Boston, so no problem with Anthony supporting it. No political courage required there.
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But, for example, when it comes to labor issues, like reclassifying positions to prevent school personnel from being represented in collective bargaining…or indexing the minimum wage…Anthony does what he is told.
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For Trav it’s a two-fer…if he can install Anthony in the Senate AND call the shot on who replaces Anthony in the House, he will have 2 votes he can count on for his new lobbying clients. Money talks unfortunately and when Trav gets the money boys to pony up for Anthony at Tecce’s, he’s not doing it out of the goodness of his heart.
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And howardjp…with all due respect, if you are contributor to Anthony Petruccelli, there is nothing wrong with that, but you could declare that bias so folks here will know where you are coming from.
I would not equate a contribution with “bias”.
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Using the well-established ‘Cos Standard’, disclosure has been considered appropriate when you are a formal volunteer, and necessary when you are on staff or paid by a campaign.
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However, I would expect that many casual enthusiasts give donations. If somebody is motivated enough to post here, I would expect that they would have given at least an equity donation, if not cash.
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Also, you have the advantage over most of us in knowing exactly who Howardjp actually IS; we could have donors on the scale of george soros posting, with nobody the wiser.
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This is an honor based system, which we would all like to see continue, but your comment seems like a needless slap at a fellow poster.
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Full Disclosure – I’ve given money to Mitt Romney – big surprise there!
no need to disclose contributions, or even the occasional envelope-stuffing. We do expect that folks will disclose paid work for a campaign, and disclosure of extensive volunteering is welcome too. The “Cos standard” is about right.
David, I am not familiar with the Cos standard but whatever standard you adopt for BMG is fine with me.
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But, I do equate financial support with a bias toward a candidate…I do not think “occasional envelope stuffing” as you put it is a good excuse for not taking responsibility for the people you help elect with your dollars.
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That’s what’s wrong with the system. Mindless envelope stuffing by lobbyists and corporate interests who want access pure and simple and know they have to pay for it.
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Recently, a partner in a major Boston law firm was bemoaning to me the fact that he had written so many checks to legislators that he barely respected. I told him to stop whining and stop writing the checks. He said he couldn’t do that, it was “part of doing business.” His clients needed access and that’s how you get it.
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Isn’t it sad…they all start out running for office because they want to help “the people”…it only takes one term before they are running for re-election to help themselves. I am always struck by how little someone will sell out for…outsiders become insiders in the wink of an eye.
Peter…
I do not know EXACTLY who howardjp is…but given his posts on this and past threads I have a good idea…an educated guess…perhaps he never donated to Petruccelli, I do not know that either…maybe he is just a big Menino supporter… whatever…but if he was a big supporter in this race I thought it fair to say so rather than just pretending to be observing from the curb.
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I like howardjp’s contributions to this blog but I am not naive enough to think they do not reflect a personal bias or an agenda.
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I was not taking a swipe at him directly or indirectly. I enjoy the debate and what he brings to it.
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I am happy to be a contributor to Anthony’s campaign, and I believe I said in a previous post that I worked with him in the Menino Administration. I do not live in that district, I am not on staff, I do not work or lobby for the City but I am proud to call him a friend and am proud to support him. I don’t know Mr. Rizzo, but Sheriff Cabral says good things about him, which is fine also. There are lots of important issues to the people of this district and we should hear about them directly from the candidates whenever possible.
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Hopefully, I can continue to post without filling out a BMG Ethics Disclosure Form! đŸ™‚ Anyway, people I run into tell me they like my posts, so I’m not hiding much, except for my baseball message board handle, which is definitely off limits!