It’s happening! State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) is running for US Representative of the 10th District!
Should Rep. Perry make it through the primaries, he would pose the strongest challenge to Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) since the latter gent took office in 1996. Rep. Delahunt’s opponents read like a Who’s Who of Who’s That?: Eric V. Bleiken in 1998 and 2000 (Delahunt took about 70 percent of the vote both times), Luiz Gonzaga in 2002 (70 percent of the vote, again, to the incumbent), Michael J. Jones in 2004 (60 percent of the vote), Jeffrey K. Beatty and Peter White in 2006 (65 percent). In 2008 no one bothered to challenge him at all.
What are the chances Rep. Perry will make it to the Big Show? Well, let’s look at the other prospects: Ray Kasperowicz has very limited government experience (nine years on the Cohasset Sewer Commission). Joseph D. Malone did two terms as a state treasurer, but dropped off the political radar for 12 years after losing a gubernatorial primary in 1998. Donald A. Hussey is a former (unsuccessful) candidate for governor’s councilor.
Rep. Perry’s greatest hurdle in the primaries could be a State House colleague: State Senator Robert L. Hedlund (R – Weymouth), who has more experience in the Legislature (he served in the Senate from 1991 to 1992, got bumped, then came back in 1994 and has remained there since). However, Sen. Hedlund has not formally announced he would run, so he may not be an issue.
The only other complication would be the aforementioned Mr. White, a Mashpee resident who announced this week he planned to take another shot at the office. In an e-mail sent to a handful of friends Mr. White said he planned to run on “a platform to end the wars for oil, develop jobs and clean up the environment through a ‘Green’ economy, Medicare for all who need it, and federal support for community-based solutions to renewable energy development, affordable housing, recycling, and wastewater management.”
“We shall overcome the corruption of the two-party system if enough people try!!” he wrote in conclusion.
Yeah, this is gonna be fun…
Rep. Perry’s new campaign website is at www.jeffperryforcongress.com. His official campaign kick-off event is on Friday, March 5 at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis.
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On a related note, Republican F. Randal Hunt, a Sandwich selectman, announced last week he planned to run to succeed Rep. Perry should the latter gent launch his Congressional bid, so I guess that’s all official-like.
The question now is: how long will he be alone? Whenever incumbents step down there is usually surge in candidates, so I think Mr. Hunt will soon have LOTS of company.
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Wow, barely a month into the 2010 election cycle and already it’s getting a bit ugly in the race for governor.
Last week the media was abuzz about alleged issues with Christy P. Mihos, Republican gubernatorial candidate, after three former campaign consultants filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance claiming they were back-owed about a total of $43,500 in pay.
The complainants are web designer Geoff Fudge, communications director Kevin Sowyrda, and media strategist Rick Wilson. Mr. Mihos said all three had been paid in full.
Things got even worse when a subsequent story reported that a judge had placed liens on three of Mr. Mihos’ business properties as leverage against an outstanding $634,000 fuel delivery bill. His lawyer nevertheless called this ruling good news for the candidate, since no liens were placed on any personal property – indicative, the lawyer said, that Mr. Mihos himself was not personally liable for the back-owed money.
The first story also illuminated where the four active gubernatorial candidates’ respective war chests are, and things don’t look good for Smilin’ Christy M., who largely self-financed his 2006 run for the Corner Office.
As of mid-January Mihos had all of $2,000 in his account (which would be great if he were a Green-Rainbow Party candidate, but for a Republican? Eesh). Republican rival Charles D. Baker Jr. is leading the pack, with more than $1.6 million to burn, followed by independent Timothy P. Cahill at about $800,000 and then the incumbent, Deval L. Patrick, at a shade under $650,000.
I said it before and I’ll say it again: if he doesn’t pull a Coakley on the campaign trial, Charlie Baker could be the man to beat.
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I’ll mention Mr. Baker again since his campaign is now officially underway. Yeah, I know the guy’s been running since last year, but he held a kick-off event in Boston Saturday, so now it’s really really super-duper official.
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One last note of the governor’s race: why is Tim Cahill holding a fundraiser in New York City? Yes, he has a fundraiser scheduled for next Thursday in NYC. Shouldn’t be trying to drum up support in – oh, I don’t know – the state in which he’s actually running?
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Did you catch State Representative Timothy R. Madden’s (D – Nantucket) appearance in the Boston Herald this week? It was under the headline “Mass. Hacks Rack Up Per Diems” (always a class act, the Herald). Rep. Madden got lambasted for collecting in 2009 $13,900 in per diem payments, the most of any member of the Legislature.
The payments are made available to State House lawmakers to cover travel, lodging, and meal expenses in connection with their jaunts up to Boston, and are based on where they live. Nantucket has the highest per diem rate at $100 per day.
The Herald took a “how dare you” attitude, blasting Rep. Madden and other legislators for collecting the payments A) when the state budget is so tight and B) when they all make at least $61,439 a year (not counting stipends for chairman duties and leadership positions).
What they never mentioned is that the cost to bring a car over on a Steamship Authority ferry costs $260 a pop for a round trip. A round-trip Nantucket-to-Boston ticket on Cape Air runs $122 – half the cost of the ferry but still more than the per diem (and that’s not counting whatever it costs to take a cab or the T to the State House).
I’m personally not in favor of the per diem program – my taxes already pay for their salaries, which I think are too high – but the Herald’s slant on this was not terribly fair toward Rep. Madden.
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Earle Stroll, Republican candidate for state auditor, has launched his official campaign website. Sort of. Go to http://stroll2010.com/ to see the placeholder image and sign up for his mailing list.
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Finally: We have some video of US Senator-elect Scott P. Brown’s (R) reception in Falmouth last week on the website, so go to www.capenews.net and check it out.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Tags: 2010 election, Bill Delahunt, Charlie Baker, Christy Mihos, Governor Deval Patrick, Jeff Perry, Massachusetts Legislature, Scott Brown, Tim Cahill
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
“A round-trip Nantucket-to-Boston ticket on Cape Air runs $122 – half the cost of the ferry but still more than the per diem”
Where are you getting such a great deal? Its about $122.00 –each way– if you get the bargian off-peak fare, so at least $260 r/t.
I stand corrected. Shows you how much I fly, if I can’t read a schedule of rates properly.