Adam G. Chaprales, Republican candidate for US Representative of the Ninth Congressional District, this week picked up a new endorsement from Jeffrey D. Perry, current Barnstable County special sheriff and former state representative and candidate for Congress.
In addition to praising Mr. Chaprales’ positions on the economy and various traditional conservative social issues, Mr. Perry highlighted the fact the candidate is a true local and not a fake local (my term, not his) like Congressman William R. Keating and Christopher Sheldon. Rep. Keating relocated from Quincy to Monument Beach so he could run for the Ninth District (Quincy is in the soon-to-be-eliminated 10th District and will become part of the revised Eighth), and Mr. Sheldon moved to Plymouth in November.
“As you know, there has been a disturbing trend of politicians relocating their residence for the sole purpose of running for office,” Mr. Perry wrote in his endorsement. “Unlike Adam’s primary opponent and the sitting Congressman, Adam did not have to move into the District to run for this office.”
I’m not a fan of carpetbaggers, but residency is sort of a tricky issue when your territory consists of dozens of towns. Mr. Chaprales’ opponents could argue he’s not fit to serve the district because he’s a lifelong Sandwich resident and has never lived in Middleborough or Nantucket or New Bedford.
For good or ill, our laws allow quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to candidates meeting residency requirements, so my advice is to worry less about who lived where and for how long and more about important issues.
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Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) has responded to Republican challenger Thomas F. Keyes’ challenge to a series of eight hour-long debates.
An official statement from the Murray campaign stated that they are holding dates for two debates, one to be held on the Cape and the other in Plymouth, but otherwise will not commit to anything until after the primary election is done and out of the way.
There’s been no response from the Keyes campaign so far, and I’m hoping he doesn’t try to spin Sen. Murray’s answer of “We’ll get back to you on that” as an attempt to “dodge” debates. It’s only a refusal when someone actually says “no.”
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Bob King and Tobin Wirt, proprietors of Cafe Chew on Merchant’s Road in Sandwich, tonight welcome R. Patrick Ellis, Democratic candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District.
The fundraiser for Mr. Ellis runs from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, and the candidate is scheduled to speak at 6:30 PM. The requested donation for the event is $75 per person and made be made at the door.
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Final reminder: State Representative Randy Hunt’s (R – Sandwich) Texas BBQ and trap shoot fundraiser is tomorrow from 4 to 8 PM at the Monument Beach Sportsman’s Club in Bourne. It’s $35 per person for admission and dinner, plus $10 to shoot ($5 if you bring your own shells). Go to www.electrandyhunt.com/events.html for details on this and other campaign events.
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Tags: Adam Chaprales, Christopher Sheldon, Jeff Perry, Ninth Congressional District, Patrick Ellis, Randy Hunt, Senate President Therese Murray, State Representative - 5th Barnstable, Tom Keyes, William Keating
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
