The Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee (Back Bay/Beacon Hill/Bay Village) hosted a “Candidates Debate” last Wednesday between incumbent Dianne Wilkerson and her challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, who are both vying to become the next Senator from the Massachusetts Second Suffolk District. State Representative Marty Walz moderated the debate.
The debate took place at Emerson College’s Bill Bordy Auditorium, 216 Tremont Street, Boston, beginning at 7:15 pm and lasted for over an hour, and included questions from the moderator on such issues as affordable housing, casino gambling, charter schools, paying for health care costs, paid police details at construction sites, economic development, and university expansion in Boston. Over sixty persons were in attendance. It was a wonderful debate between two strong and articulate candidates. Everyone was very impressed by the caliber of the discussion of the issues by both candidates.
Immediately after the debate, a vote was taken by the members of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee on whether to endorse either of the two candidates. Senator Wilkerson captured 2/3 of the votes of the committee members, and won the Committee’s endorsement for re-election.
…with the strong vote of confidence for Senator Wilkerson. She is a strong voice for progressive causes in the Senate, and I certainly hope she is returned for another term!
You state that Sen. Wilkerson is “a strong voice for progressive causes in the Senate….” It has been my experience that she is, for the most part, irrelevant. It has been my understanding that she carries little weight, isn’t particularly influential and I am unaware of any major legislation she has succesfully championed.
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p>Can you enlighten me how she has been such a “strong voice”?
The state party’s preference is that ward & town committees don’t endorse candidates in primaries. Is that a guideline honored more in the breach or is this very common?
we always wait until after the primary. I’ve belonged to a few DTCs and this never happened.
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p>I bolded the relative sections for clarity.
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p>To the best of my recollection, this wording went into effect in 1999. I believe that there was already language that allowed pre-primary endorsements. I’ve been told that the effort to allow this was initiated by a woman from a Boston Ward to allow local ward committees to play a role in areas where getting the nomination is tantamount to election. Some committees regularly make pre-primary endorsements. The committee in my town does not make endorsements in contested primaries.
Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee.
…thus, they have no credibility?
in this case lends them little credibility
In fairness to my friends in Ward 5, they have always followed up their endorsements with poll workers on election day, press releases etc.
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p>That said, Ms. Chang-Diaz carried the ward two years ago.
and I’m sure they back up their endorsement with both smarts and sweat.
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p>It just seems to me that not endorsing a candidate when there are two good candidates is the savvy thing to do. It’s not as if one of the two candidates is a DINO or runs around making fun of the district. Since a good case can be made for both, methinks that Ward 5 should have offered general support for both candidates and not meddle.
Yes. It is completely appalling that the Ward 5 Democratic Committee endorsed her.
Hey everyone–
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p>I am a rookie member of the Ward 5 Committee and posted my thoughts on my personal blog….
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p>http://rosslevanto.blogspot.co…
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p>I welcome your comments.
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p>Ross Levanto
Boston Ward 5 Dem Committee
You’re a rep: you should vote. That’s what I think, with respect.
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p>Plus, in this instance, as you can see, I think it was absurd/hilarious that the Committee voted as it did.
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p>Excellent blog post, however, top points for that IMHO. And thanks for your comment here.
if you’re a rookie and don’t yet know what’s going on, or feel both candidates are equally qualified, and abstention makes sense.
You shouldn’t run for the seat. Being on the Democratic Committee carries responsibilities. It’s not a game.
for every elected position. Besides, depending on how the votes are counted, abstaining might be a way to vote against endorsing either of the candidates [if it counts in the denominator].
deciding to learn more before committing yourself. Good post on your website. Thanks for the factual briefing and personal analysis of the debate.
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p>As you can see from this thread there are a lot of strong opinions here about the candidates themselves and about the propriety of ward committees endorsing in a primary.
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p>My Ward committee has had loooong debates about this — whether to do it, and if we do it, who to endorse, and after an hour or two or three, we quit talking to each other and went out individually to work like hell for the candidate of our choice.
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p>And that’s what I think you should do. Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can, and then work as hard as you can for the candidate of your choice for the next 9 weeks or so.
I appreciate the feedback. I am trying my best to make my decision an educated choice. The forum held by Ward 5 was an excellent start, and I am still researching both candidates.
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p>Lately I have also been thinking more about the role of a State Senator in each Ward. The Chang-Diaz campaign called me yesterday and I asked them about this, and they stressed that Sonia would be very visible in the Ward should she be elected. I might be naive to take them at their word (and I am sure visitors here will correct me if I am), but those commitments mean a lot (Not to mention I was impressed they called me based on my blog post).
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p>I am interested in any thoughts here about how active, realistically, we should expect our State Senator to be within individual Wards…
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p>By the way, the Chang-Diaz campaign also noted the candidate’s accurate position regarding the BU BIO Lab, and I have made a correction to my blog post to clarify that.
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p>Talk soon!
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p>Ross Levanto
Boston Ward 5 Dem. Committee Member
http://rosslevanto.blogspot.com