Well, we’ve got a while to mull this one over: from Dick Howe, the Eagle-Tribune is reporting the state has decided on September 4 for the primary and October 1 DOH! October 16 for the general. (Sorry — careless cut & paste job.)
September 4 … the day after Labor Day. Not the greatest.
Please share widely!
I agree that 9/4 is the not best day for a primary, but I think turnout will be ok. Remember last summer Bill Galvin was all gloom and doom about turnout for the primary and we ended up with over 900,000? Turnout is tough to predict, but I think that because the race has several strong candidates, turnout will surprise some people.
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Certainly, 40,000 or less voters would be disconcerting.
Sept. 19, 2006 was a better day for a primary than Sept. 4 will be. By the 19th, people are back from summer vacations, they’ve gotten at least a week or two of more regular school-year/work year routine. Also, forget turnout, that’s gonna be an annoying time to ask people to volunteer. Yeah, I know a lot of people have the day off so they could volunteer, but a good portion of the pool might be away or have family events etc.
I live in Pat Jehlen’s Senate district. The primary for her special election had over 18,000 people vote (far beyond “expected” turnout), but it was a pretty hotly contested race. I think the interest in the race and strength of the candidates’ campaigns will influence turnout more than the date.
and as I said, I wasn’t gonna make a prediction about turnout. This is a major race so it’ll definitely attract a lot of attention. Just gonna be annoying, is all.
and say I think turnout will be between 60 and 70,000. I think interest in the race will be high, but I don’t think turnout can top last year’s primary which had about 80,000 votes in the Fifth. 80 K is probably the absolute ceiling, since that race was really intense with a lot of money spent.
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As you correctly note, September 19 is a lot better than the 4th, which is the first day of school in a lot of places, I believe. Also great point on getting volunteers. That is a problem the campaigns are going to have to consider.
fwiw, here is Wiki’s historical list of the elections in MA-5. That might help if you want to make a prediction.
official. July 1st is his final day.
I would like to be the first to congratulate Marty Meehan on extending his resignation to the last possible date so he can maximize his Congressional service time for his federal pension.
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Now, that we know Marty’s day of departure from Congress, does anyone in the 5th District or in the blogosphere know Marty’s true intentions concerning disgorging the $5 million campaign kitty he has been accumulating and hoarding while praying Sen. Kerry would a) be elected President b) retire from Congress to spend more time with Teresa c) join the professional windsurfing circuit.
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Inquiring minds want to know, Marty! Which organizations or politicans will be the appreciated recipients of your financial windfall?
I know this has been a sore spot with a lot of people, particularly last year, and I think Marty is going to hold onto the money. I could be wildly off-base here, but I bet he figures no one can force him to give it to the DCCC and elsewhere, and perhaps in 10 years a Senate seat will open up and he can jump right in with a big bankroll.
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Personally, I’d like to see him give a big piece to the DCCC and DSCC because we have some many key races next year.
October 1st is a Monday. That’d be an unusual choice.
Sorry, fixed it.
We’ve known for a while the primary would be on 9/4 but I’m surprised Marty didn’t hold off a little longer so the genreal could be in November.
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The Boston.com article is ridiculous outdated for them to be submitting today. I’ll redact what’s not true:
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