Can’t say I’m totally surprised by this: progressive fave Senator Jamie Eldridge endorsed Senate colleague Barbara L’Italien. This from his press release:
In thinking about the qualities I’d like to see in my next congresswoman, in the age of Donald Trump, a few priorities come to mind. We need a representative who has dedicated her life to fighting for the underdog, the people who are under the most attack by the Trump administration, and Republicans in Congress. This is Barbara’s entire life. Since her eldest son was diagnosed with autism, she has been a fierce advocate for Rudy, including passing landmark autism and special education laws at the State House. In our first term as state representatives, when same-sex marriage was made legal, she fought to protect marriage equality, even when her priest tried to remove her from her church. She has stood side by side with me in protecting our immigrant communities, and has dedicated her legislative career to helping seniors, even when she had to go up against corporate special interests. I want a congressperson who is always thinking of how protect this district’s most vulnerable constituents – Barbara has been doing that her entire public service career. Her endorsement from Mass-Care, the statewide single-payer organization, shows her commitment to guaranteeing basic rights to all Americans, including healthcare, including to those struggling in life.
Because of the flood of ostensibly qualified candidates, it’s been hard for anyone to get traction in this race. But this seems like an endorsement that may actually matter. I don’t have a good sense of sentiment within the district, but as someone who’s already been elected as State Rep and Senator, L’Italien comes to the primary with a base.
Granted too, she lost her Rep seat to the Tea Partying Jim Lyons in 2010, and was defeated again in 2012, before winning her Senate seat in 2014. But I’m going to guess that this year, the particular swing-y character of that Rep district, and the relatively moderate cast of the Third district in history, is not going to affect the results in November. (Incidentally, Lyons has an intriguing challenger in young lawyer Tram Nguyen.)
What do you think?
I supported Jamie in the 2007 special and support Barbara now, so this works for me!
Love it. Barbara L’Italien has done the hard work of a state representative, state senator, and has a true progressive record going into the election.
I don’t live in the district, but she is the most qualified candidate in the field, and I think she has earned this endorsement and deserves widespread support.
I think many of these candidates are great and only lament that the Democrats of this district are being deprived of the opportunity to have their nominee selected by the majority of Democrats in the district as would be the case under Ranked Choice Voting. I like multiple candidates and would prefer to have my vote really count by ranking between them rather than being uncertain about whether my vote would ultimately really count toward selecting a winner.
Similar dynamics were at play in several recent special elections. The majority minority and majority progressibe First Suffolk and Middlesex District was deprived of a minority candidate due to vote splitting between progressives. It is also likely the recent Republican gain in the First Middlesex and Worcester seat would not have occurred if the non-Republicans on the ballot had not split the vote. We also have a special election in Brockton where a white candidate with 40% of the vote beat two woman of color who has 60% of the vote between them to represent a majority minority district.