Doug Jones.
Of course Jones will eventually disappoint us as a Senator. He’s going to be closer to Joe Manchin than Liz Warren. But he won that seat, and he ran for it when it seemed impossible. He told NPR that he just thought there might be a chance. We need more Democrats who think like that.
Runners up —
Imagine what it’s been like to be Leigh Corfman and watch Roy Moore rise to the state Supreme Court, become famous (for doing something that is clearly legally wrong), get kicked off the court, return to the court, run for Senator against a guy endorsed by Trump and McConnell and win, etc. And of course, if she doesn’t speak up, we can barely remember Jones’s name by now. We’re all in this together.
Local nominees:
Lydia Edwards.
Full disclosure, my family supported Lydia’s campaign. I gave her a small donation. But she still belongs here. She fought an uphill battle, because she’s a fighter. She’ll be a great addition to the Boston City Council.
Emily Cherniack.
More to disclose; I first met Emily in (I think) 2000, when she was a City Year corps member and led me and a bunch of other boring corporate people on a service project. Later I worked at City Year for a year, and I got to know her a little better there. She is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet in your life. But that aside, her organization is making a difference.
Disappointments:
Setti Warren.
Do I have to disclose this too? Haven’t we all met Setti? Anyway, I’m disappointed in his campaign so far. Props to him for running (see above), but his shots at Baker are not working at all. He needs to find a positive message.
Marty Walsh.
His flip on charters was his biggest sin. Where was the Globe on that?
People We Shouldn’t Take for Granted:
Ed Markey
Everybody in the Congressional delegation, even Stephen Lynch most of the time.
Let me know who I forgot.
Great post JimC, and I’ll second all your positive choices and constructive critiques.
From the national level I’ll add Danica Roem and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Danica Roem for her inspiring barrier breaking campaign as the first out* transwoman to be elected state legislator and her grace in victory. Her opponent proudly referred to himself as a “complete himophobe” sponsored some of the most bigoted legislation in the VA House and her election night quote epitomizes going high when they go low: “I don’t attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now.”
Kirsten Gillibrand for being almost a decade ahead of the rest of Congress in going after sexual assault in the military and now being a firm leader of bringing #MeToo accountability to all of government. She has been consistent an courageous in taking on problematic figures in her own party as well as directly taking on President Trump for his own shameful sex assault record. She has catapulted to the top of my 2020 list, and is the rare figure who could bridge the ideological and generational fault lines in the emerging Democratic field.
On the local level: Mike Connolly, Jamie Eldridge, Karen Spilka, Tito Jackson, and Mason Dunn.
Mike Connolly spearheaded the first of what I hope to be many successful progressive primary challenges for entrenched incumbents on Beacon Hill. He’s incredibly visible and easy to contact and holds regular office hours in coffee shops and pubs across his East Somerville/East Cambridge district. He’s working closely with DSA and Our Revolution to get local candidates elected up and down the ballot. He was a critical endorser and campaigned for many Somerville and Cambridge OR backed candidates and has already advanced progressive legistion on Beacon Hill.
Jamie Eldridge for being a drum major for criminal justice reform, single payer, overturning Citizens United and protecting undocumented immigrants in the Commonwealth. This is despite the fact that he comes from a fairly affluent, moderate leaning, mostly white district. Jamie votes with his values, not the polls or constituent mail like so many others on Beacon Hill do. Another fine leader.
One of my best friends came out this year as non-binary, and I am grateful Sen. Spilka has been a real leader on getting MA to add a third gender identity to our legal code and reforming the legal gender reassignment process to make it far less onerous and physician dependent. Gender is a spectrum, not a binary, and it’s time the law catches up to changing science and cultural values on that front. I’m glad she’s leading the way.
Mason Dunn is not a politician or someone who is well known. He is one of the most dedicated lobbyists I’ve worked with as the head of the Freedom Massachusetts and Mass Trans Political Coalition. His organization is working to advance the birth certificate legislation I discussed above as well as spearheading the Yes campaign to keep our landmark 2016 anti-discrimination law (derided as the “bathroom bill” by opponents). He is largely a staff of one, and I can’t imagine the grace under pressure he had to exhibit as an out trans man when dealing with the likes of Geoff Diehl and Shauna O’Connell. He took his time to get to a rock solid supermajority for the change, and won’t be satisfied with anything less than an overwhelming Yes vote next fall. Many leaders who don’t get the credit do the hard work behind the scenes and he’s someone I came to admire for his pragmatic grace under pressure.
Good additions, thank you. I’m a big fan of Karen Spilka; I hope she takes over if Rosenberg has to step aside.
I agree on the assessment of Setti Warren. I expected him to have a more polished campaign and message at this point. At this point, I think Jay Gonzalez has had the most effective line of attack on Charlie Baker, and certainly has a better articulated progressive platform.
Only Democrats would be down on their own nominee before he even takes his seat. If you don’t think Setti Warren has a positive message you haven’t met him enough yet.
To pick two nits, he’s not the nominee yet and the seat belongs to Baker until he beats him. I think it’s fair to say this field hasn’t generated the kind of excitement prior fields have. I also think it’s unfair to blame that entirely on the candidates. The media has already coronated Baker as a shoo-in while fighting Trump is dominating all the political oxygen on the center-left. I think a strong political talent like Deval Patrick would be struggling to get noticed in this media climate were he running in this field. So I’ll cut Warren a break, but he has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to win.
Yeah, I thought after I submitted that might be unclear. The down on our nominee line was a reference to Jones. As for Warren, the reason I’m supporting him is because of the vision he has articulated. I wouldn’t be as enthused about a candidate whose only/main selling point was not being the other guy.
Read up on Jones then. He has declined comment on some important issues, notably the tax bill. Being cautious maybe until everything was settled … but I doubt it.
Ah that makes more sense Christopher, and my apologies for misreading you. He’s a pro-choice, pro-black, pro-gay Democrat in the reddest state in the union. He’s either gonna tack to the middle on other issues to be viable, keep a really low controversy free profile, or vote like a liberal since he knows he’s a goner. Either way it’s three years of mostly Democratic votes we normally wouldn’t be entitled too. And who knows? Maybe Bama will come around to liberal government when they finally get a chance to see how it works.
I’ve come around more recently to having faith in the idea that people like progressive populism even in deep red areas if we just offer the option and they give it a chance.
I’ agree with this.
He hasn’t nominated yet.