I haven’t seen anything official, but am seeing numerous reports that Will Brownsberger has won the Democratic primary for the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex Senate seat. Congratulations!
What seems to have done it for Brownsberger is a big turnout in Belmont, plus doing really well in the handful of Cambridge precincts in the district. Hecht cleaned up in Watertown as Schofield did in Brighton, but Belmont’s turnout was higher.
cossays
Robert Winters’ Cambridge Civic Journal web site has this breakdown currently: BelmontBostonCambridgeWatertownTotalReported TotalsBrownsberger330437010693347764958Hecht47618159739516493849McCarthy87060260217522493436Schofield19620615033427942887
cossays
Well, that’s quite a bug with this site!
In “preview” the HTML table I put in that comment looked just right.
But when I actually post the comment, it looks like it stripped out all the tags.
He stated that Senate President Murray had called to congratulate him for winning the primary. He was definitely emotional as he thanked everyone. I am deeply pleased as I know Will as a man of integrity, a terrifically hard worker, and someone who both believes in access to justice as so many elected Democrats do not seem to do, and sustainability. In addition, he is not only accessible, but was compassionate in her personal and professional life long before being elected to the legislature. I don’t live in his district, which is the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex, but worked for him anyway as much as I could make the time to do so – and would have voted for him if I did live in the district though there were several excellent candidates. I am linking a photo I took as Will came in and described the call from Terry Murray. It is a facebook photo, but hopefully it will post. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=2881079274493&set=a.2881077634452.156814.1485417164&type=1&theater
dunstersays
I’m delighted for Will! Congratulations to him, his new constituents, and the entire state. He’s going to be a great voice in the Senate.
The one sad part about this is that he won’t be representing Arlington any more. I’ve really valued the support he’s provided our town.
realsupergirlsays
Ugh. A suburban white guy now making decisions for Boston. That’s what Boston gets for such shitty voter turnout. Sucks.
How about a suburban brown guy? Black? What shade of not-white should he have been?
Does being brown and from Boston assure that an elected official will be the best possible senator? If so, please explain how.
Pablosays
One from Belmont
Two from Watertown
One from Boston.
Now that we got ethnicity out of the way, a good white guy won. Even though he shares a zip code with Willard.
rickterpsays
I strongly urge you to contact Will and let him know how you feel — he’s an extremely accessible guy would probably be happy to talk to you, even though you’re not a fan. I fully expect you will learn a lot from the encounter.
Ryansays
The others had the offensive “white guy” thing covered, but quite frankly I found the anti-anywhere-else-but-Boston thing offensive. For starters, that position won’t be “making decisions for Boston.” People “making decisions for Boston” serve on the City Council or the Mayor’s seat.
Secondly, only a minority of citizens in the district live in Boston. There’s several other communities represented in it, so I don’t see why it should automatically be a “Boston” seat.
Lastly, the rest of the district isn’t all that different from Brighton, which is fairly suburban in nature. I don’t see the huge difference between Brighton and Watertown or Cambridge, both of which are in the district (well, small parts of it for Cambridge). People from the other communities face similar issues and want similar things as the people in Boston. Now that one of those people *represent* parts of Boston in the Senate, you can be sure that they’ll care a great deal about what the people of Brighton and the city at large think.
bigdsays
But this district will be changing substantially in the upcoming election as a result of redistricting. The new district will be 14.4% Belmont, 18.6% Watertown and 67% Boston, including Fenway/Kenmore and the Back Bay. This was clearly redrawn by the Boston-controlled legislature to be a Boston seat going forward.
I like Will and am impressed with his voter turnout efforts in Belmont yesterday, but, despite the advantages of incumbency, keeping this seat in November could prove difficult. Voter turnout will be much higher across the district for the Presidential election as well as the race for Brown’s senate seat.
rickterpsays
It’s true that there will be a MUCH higher turnout in the general election due to Obama and Warren being on the ballot, but any challenge to Brownsberger by Schofield or someone else would be fought in the Democratic primary, which will likely have a more modest turnout. Also, I expect Brownsberger is already working on getting to know the Boston people who will be his new constituents. Once these people see Will as something other than a zip code, I think they’ll like what they see.
bigdsays
Good point (duh – not sure what I was thinking). I still think it could be quite the challenge for the Belmont candidate to hold onto a seat that will be fully 2/3 Boston and only about 1/7 Belmont.
rickterpsays
I looked at the maps and it looks like the district lost a chunk of Cambridge and added the Back Bay. I’m not sure this is as much of a significant shift in the electorate as you think, but I guess we will find out pretty soon.
hesterprynnesays
to run in this special election. So they’re going to need to do some quick grooming to get a candidate ready for November 2012.
marcus-gralysays
Brownsberger is ripe for a primary challenge in September, perhaps by Schofield. 7 months is not a lot of time to introduce yourself to new constituents and many people who show up to vote for Warren in September, assuming anyone else clears 15% at the convention, will just vote by home address.
Pablosays
I wouldn’t think a Boston candidate would be able to beat Will Brownsberger in a 2012 primary. If a Boston candidate decides to challenge Brownsberger, the dynamics will be very different.
The Hecht vote will solidly fall behind Brownsberger. Hecht and Brownsberger are both friends, and that message was heard throughout the campaign. Will Brownsberger said on several occasions that if he wasn’t in the race, he would be happy to support Hecht, and I think the Hecht folks heard the same message.
Brownsberger may be from Belmont, but he grew up in Watertown. Absent the home town guy, Brownsberger should be able to do very well in his hometown.
Brownsberger is incredibly hard-working, incredibly thoughtful. People in the Boston portion of the district will like and respect him as an incumbent.
I also think that the politically-active folks in Boston won’t want to go after a sitting senator, so the solid support Schofield found in an uncontested seat would fade as a challenger.
marcus-gralysays
No more Cambridge, just Belmont + Watertown and a larger part of Boston. It’s about 65% Boston by population in the new map. Between higher turnout in the suburbs and incumbency, Brownsberger could certainly win and from what I hear, he sounds like a pretty good guy, so I’m not trying to disparage him. I’m just saying that a lot of Massachusetts voters just look at the address when they vote and if they see “Boston” on the ballot, they might pick that dude of the guy whose address says “Belmont”.
Ryansays
This is the way the district is drawn now, and that’s how the race turned out. Brownsberger will obviously have to work hard to ensure he wins over his Boston constituents, but the fact that it may become a “Boston” seat in the future doesn’t mean it should somehow automatically go to a Boston candidate now. In fact, there’s no reason why Brownsberger couldn’t hold onto it in the next election, so long as he does a good job.
bigdsays
You are right on all counts. Of course it shouldn’t automatically go to a Boston person, and of course there’s no reason why Brownsberger COULDN’T hold onto the seat in November.
HOWEVER, the seat is built in a way where a credible challenger from Boston wold have a real shot, especially if there were only 2 candidates running. Tim Scofield is clearly not that candidate, and there is not a solid “bench” in that part of the city. Ross wants to run for Congress. Curious to see whether Walz will consider taking a shot against a colleague.
One other path for a Boston person would be to run as a “progressive independent.” Kind of a disingenuous strategy and one that has not been shown to work in other instances, but a “progressive independent” from Boston would benefit from the huge turnout in the Nov elections.
All that being said, I hope Will is able to hold the seat. He deserves a massive amount of credit for resigning form his vice chairmanship because he didn’t like the power structure and leadership style in the House.
seascrapersays
He got as many votes as a winning city council candidate usually gets, but it’s not enough. He will never establish a base as a gay candidate from Brighton, it’s just too conservative Catholic.
and with students and a generally low turnout, I think plenty of different kinds of candidates — including gay candidates — could get elected out of Brighton.
Catholics for Equality, a national organization of Catholics who put their faith into ethical and effective political action on behalf of the LGBT community and their families, applauds two new national polls showing that 63 to 71% of American Catholics believe it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in civil ceremonies, like those conducted by the justice of the peace. This is 10% higher than each poll’s national sample and shows a more rapid rate of acceptance by Catholics than most Americans.
A March 18, 2011 poll, released by ABC News and the Washington Post showed that 63% of American Catholics support same-gender civil marriage. A second March 22, 2011 poll, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute showed 71% of Americans support same-gender civil marriage, and 73% support legislation to end LGBT-related workplace discrimination.
Roman Catholics have long since learned when to listen to the hierarchy, and when to ignore them.
seascrapersays
I like the guy, but he’s run here 5 times. He should move to JP and run there.
jconwaysays
Not to mention as I’ve stated elsewhere, that civil marriage and sacramental marriage have nothing to do with one another,according to the encyclicals and rubrics of the Church. If the polity can allow civil divorce and the church can continue to refuse to recognize its sacramental validity, the sacramental validity of any marriage outside of the Church is also null, then I do not see why the same logic does not hold for gay marriage. I have no idea why the Bishops can’t see the inherent fallacy in their current positions on the basis of internal canon law. Gay marriage is no different from divorce in the eyes of the church, the state can do as it will and the Church will do as it must. If only more bishops saw it the same way as the flock does on this one, even the conservative ones.
Will is a thoughtful, creative and respectful colleague who constantly explores new ways to solve old problems. Hence his backbencher status in the House. I wish Will all the luck in the world, but his presence in the House will be missed.
jconwaysays
Apparently my congratulations post was lost but Ill repeat it here. Will is one of the smartest and most ethical men I have met in politics and I think he will do an amazing job. He took no vote for granted and doorknocked and shook hands and ran a civil campaign. Hect also ran a great campaign and I suspect he also has a bright future to build on as the future districts take shape. Unfortunately Will won’t be my State Senator for long, but I was happy my parents took time off from celebrating my dads birthday to vote, ad did my sister in law and brother, and I voted from Chicago. Glad to see a good guy made it. Sad that he is leaving the house though and that the leadership is so poor there. And in spite of the racially charged comments above, I suspect he will be great at getting votes wherever he represents. He was a new face to North Cambridge too and could have taken our concerns for granted since we were a small part of his district, but he held meetings, knocked on doors, forged great partnerships with our city councilors, and was instrumental in cleaning up the Alewife annex and working to promote smart growth along the Mass Ave corridor. I suspect he will fight for all his constituents, in the current district and the new one, with the same vigor and will not take a single vote for granted.
rickterp says
http://belmont.patch.com/articles/belmont-s-brownsberger-wins-primary-for-state-senate
Brownsberger 4,958
Hecht 3,849
McCarthy 3,436
Schofield 2,887
What seems to have done it for Brownsberger is a big turnout in Belmont, plus doing really well in the handful of Cambridge precincts in the district. Hecht cleaned up in Watertown as Schofield did in Brighton, but Belmont’s turnout was higher.
cos says
Robert Winters’ Cambridge Civic Journal web site has this breakdown currently:
BelmontBostonCambridgeWatertownTotalReported TotalsBrownsberger330437010693347764958Hecht47618159739516493849McCarthy87060260217522493436Schofield19620615033427942887
cos says
Well, that’s quite a bug with this site!
In “preview” the HTML table I put in that comment looked just right.
But when I actually post the comment, it looks like it stripped out all the tags.
Oh well, here’s the best I can do:
Belmont Boston Cambridge Watertown Total Reported Totals
Brownsberger 3304 370 1069 33 4776 4958
Hecht 476 181 597 395 1649 3849
McCarthy 870 602 602 175 2249 3436
Schofield 196 2061 503 34 2794 2887
BMG admins, wanna fix this bug?
AmberPaw says
He stated that Senate President Murray had called to congratulate him for winning the primary. He was definitely emotional as he thanked everyone. I am deeply pleased as I know Will as a man of integrity, a terrifically hard worker, and someone who both believes in access to justice as so many elected Democrats do not seem to do, and sustainability. In addition, he is not only accessible, but was compassionate in her personal and professional life long before being elected to the legislature. I don’t live in his district, which is the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex, but worked for him anyway as much as I could make the time to do so – and would have voted for him if I did live in the district though there were several excellent candidates. I am linking a photo I took as Will came in and described the call from Terry Murray. It is a facebook photo, but hopefully it will post. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=2881079274493&set=a.2881077634452.156814.1485417164&type=1&theater
dunster says
I’m delighted for Will! Congratulations to him, his new constituents, and the entire state. He’s going to be a great voice in the Senate.
The one sad part about this is that he won’t be representing Arlington any more. I’ve really valued the support he’s provided our town.
realsupergirl says
Ugh. A suburban white guy now making decisions for Boston. That’s what Boston gets for such shitty voter turnout. Sucks.
Laurel says
How about a suburban brown guy? Black? What shade of not-white should he have been?
Does being brown and from Boston assure that an elected official will be the best possible senator? If so, please explain how.
Pablo says
One from Belmont
Two from Watertown
One from Boston.
Now that we got ethnicity out of the way, a good white guy won. Even though he shares a zip code with Willard.
rickterp says
I strongly urge you to contact Will and let him know how you feel — he’s an extremely accessible guy would probably be happy to talk to you, even though you’re not a fan. I fully expect you will learn a lot from the encounter.
Ryan says
The others had the offensive “white guy” thing covered, but quite frankly I found the anti-anywhere-else-but-Boston thing offensive. For starters, that position won’t be “making decisions for Boston.” People “making decisions for Boston” serve on the City Council or the Mayor’s seat.
Secondly, only a minority of citizens in the district live in Boston. There’s several other communities represented in it, so I don’t see why it should automatically be a “Boston” seat.
Lastly, the rest of the district isn’t all that different from Brighton, which is fairly suburban in nature. I don’t see the huge difference between Brighton and Watertown or Cambridge, both of which are in the district (well, small parts of it for Cambridge). People from the other communities face similar issues and want similar things as the people in Boston. Now that one of those people *represent* parts of Boston in the Senate, you can be sure that they’ll care a great deal about what the people of Brighton and the city at large think.
bigd says
But this district will be changing substantially in the upcoming election as a result of redistricting. The new district will be 14.4% Belmont, 18.6% Watertown and 67% Boston, including Fenway/Kenmore and the Back Bay. This was clearly redrawn by the Boston-controlled legislature to be a Boston seat going forward.
I like Will and am impressed with his voter turnout efforts in Belmont yesterday, but, despite the advantages of incumbency, keeping this seat in November could prove difficult. Voter turnout will be much higher across the district for the Presidential election as well as the race for Brown’s senate seat.
rickterp says
It’s true that there will be a MUCH higher turnout in the general election due to Obama and Warren being on the ballot, but any challenge to Brownsberger by Schofield or someone else would be fought in the Democratic primary, which will likely have a more modest turnout. Also, I expect Brownsberger is already working on getting to know the Boston people who will be his new constituents. Once these people see Will as something other than a zip code, I think they’ll like what they see.
bigd says
Good point (duh – not sure what I was thinking). I still think it could be quite the challenge for the Belmont candidate to hold onto a seat that will be fully 2/3 Boston and only about 1/7 Belmont.
rickterp says
I looked at the maps and it looks like the district lost a chunk of Cambridge and added the Back Bay. I’m not sure this is as much of a significant shift in the electorate as you think, but I guess we will find out pretty soon.
hesterprynne says
to run in this special election. So they’re going to need to do some quick grooming to get a candidate ready for November 2012.
marcus-graly says
Brownsberger is ripe for a primary challenge in September, perhaps by Schofield. 7 months is not a lot of time to introduce yourself to new constituents and many people who show up to vote for Warren in September, assuming anyone else clears 15% at the convention, will just vote by home address.
Pablo says
I wouldn’t think a Boston candidate would be able to beat Will Brownsberger in a 2012 primary. If a Boston candidate decides to challenge Brownsberger, the dynamics will be very different.
The Hecht vote will solidly fall behind Brownsberger. Hecht and Brownsberger are both friends, and that message was heard throughout the campaign. Will Brownsberger said on several occasions that if he wasn’t in the race, he would be happy to support Hecht, and I think the Hecht folks heard the same message.
Brownsberger may be from Belmont, but he grew up in Watertown. Absent the home town guy, Brownsberger should be able to do very well in his hometown.
Brownsberger is incredibly hard-working, incredibly thoughtful. People in the Boston portion of the district will like and respect him as an incumbent.
I also think that the politically-active folks in Boston won’t want to go after a sitting senator, so the solid support Schofield found in an uncontested seat would fade as a challenger.
marcus-graly says
No more Cambridge, just Belmont + Watertown and a larger part of Boston. It’s about 65% Boston by population in the new map. Between higher turnout in the suburbs and incumbency, Brownsberger could certainly win and from what I hear, he sounds like a pretty good guy, so I’m not trying to disparage him. I’m just saying that a lot of Massachusetts voters just look at the address when they vote and if they see “Boston” on the ballot, they might pick that dude of the guy whose address says “Belmont”.
Ryan says
This is the way the district is drawn now, and that’s how the race turned out. Brownsberger will obviously have to work hard to ensure he wins over his Boston constituents, but the fact that it may become a “Boston” seat in the future doesn’t mean it should somehow automatically go to a Boston candidate now. In fact, there’s no reason why Brownsberger couldn’t hold onto it in the next election, so long as he does a good job.
bigd says
You are right on all counts. Of course it shouldn’t automatically go to a Boston person, and of course there’s no reason why Brownsberger COULDN’T hold onto the seat in November.
HOWEVER, the seat is built in a way where a credible challenger from Boston wold have a real shot, especially if there were only 2 candidates running. Tim Scofield is clearly not that candidate, and there is not a solid “bench” in that part of the city. Ross wants to run for Congress. Curious to see whether Walz will consider taking a shot against a colleague.
One other path for a Boston person would be to run as a “progressive independent.” Kind of a disingenuous strategy and one that has not been shown to work in other instances, but a “progressive independent” from Boston would benefit from the huge turnout in the Nov elections.
All that being said, I hope Will is able to hold the seat. He deserves a massive amount of credit for resigning form his vice chairmanship because he didn’t like the power structure and leadership style in the House.
seascraper says
He got as many votes as a winning city council candidate usually gets, but it’s not enough. He will never establish a base as a gay candidate from Brighton, it’s just too conservative Catholic.
stomv says
and with students and a generally low turnout, I think plenty of different kinds of candidates — including gay candidates — could get elected out of Brighton.
Laurel says
No doubt there can still be pockets of highly anti-gay Catholics, but two recent polls show that on average, a solid majority of Catholics support civil equality for gays.
Roman Catholics have long since learned when to listen to the hierarchy, and when to ignore them.
seascraper says
I like the guy, but he’s run here 5 times. He should move to JP and run there.
jconway says
Not to mention as I’ve stated elsewhere, that civil marriage and sacramental marriage have nothing to do with one another,according to the encyclicals and rubrics of the Church. If the polity can allow civil divorce and the church can continue to refuse to recognize its sacramental validity, the sacramental validity of any marriage outside of the Church is also null, then I do not see why the same logic does not hold for gay marriage. I have no idea why the Bishops can’t see the inherent fallacy in their current positions on the basis of internal canon law. Gay marriage is no different from divorce in the eyes of the church, the state can do as it will and the Church will do as it must. If only more bishops saw it the same way as the flock does on this one, even the conservative ones.
dan-winslow says
Will is a thoughtful, creative and respectful colleague who constantly explores new ways to solve old problems. Hence his backbencher status in the House. I wish Will all the luck in the world, but his presence in the House will be missed.
jconway says
Apparently my congratulations post was lost but Ill repeat it here. Will is one of the smartest and most ethical men I have met in politics and I think he will do an amazing job. He took no vote for granted and doorknocked and shook hands and ran a civil campaign. Hect also ran a great campaign and I suspect he also has a bright future to build on as the future districts take shape. Unfortunately Will won’t be my State Senator for long, but I was happy my parents took time off from celebrating my dads birthday to vote, ad did my sister in law and brother, and I voted from Chicago. Glad to see a good guy made it. Sad that he is leaving the house though and that the leadership is so poor there. And in spite of the racially charged comments above, I suspect he will be great at getting votes wherever he represents. He was a new face to North Cambridge too and could have taken our concerns for granted since we were a small part of his district, but he held meetings, knocked on doors, forged great partnerships with our city councilors, and was instrumental in cleaning up the Alewife annex and working to promote smart growth along the Mass Ave corridor. I suspect he will fight for all his constituents, in the current district and the new one, with the same vigor and will not take a single vote for granted.