By which I mean the end of the election cycle, and thank Cthulhu for that, because the onslaught of negative TV ads was honestly grating on my last nerve. Sad to say, I’m actually looking forward to the non-stop ads for Christmas shopping sales.

With Election Day tomorrow, I’m going to offer some thoughts on various races. I wouldn’t call them endorsements per se, since I think endorsements are worthless, but I will opine about who I think should win.

I’ll start at the top and say that I want Obama to get a second term. I say this as someone who voted for Obama and has often been disappointed in his performance over the past four years — but not so much as to give him the boot and put Romney in the Oval Office.

I find Romney to be as disingenuous and insincere a politician as you could get, but that’s not why I oppose him. Nor do I oppose him on his rather vague financial policies, which I believe are ultimately no better or worse than Obama’s (though I definitely do not subscribe to trickle-down/supply-side economics as a viable and sustainable economic model).

What is driving me away from Romney in a huge way: I believe he would champion a social agenda that sets back civil rights for women and homosexuals. If you’ve read the GOP’s official policy paper for the 2012 election (I have), you’ll see that it codifies repressing rights for same-sex couples and, specifically, women in the military. Our President is supposed to champion equal rights for all citizens, and anyone who would repress rights in the name of some ill-defined greater social good doesn’t deserve the nation’s top seat.

If Obama is re-elected, my hope is that the GOP ceases its efforts to stop Obama’s major economic initiatives cold in the name of political gamesmanship and works with him to craft policies that are in everyone’s best interests — not just the uber-rich, not just the very poor, everyone.

US Senate

I’m one step away from flipping a coin at the voting booth, because I really don’t care for either Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren. Neither of them has impressed me so much that I’m falling over myself to vote for them.

Congress

Let me first say that Dan Botelho is probably the best third-party/non-party candidate this area has seen in years. He’s not a righteously indignant one-issue ideologue, which is largely what has emerged to run against the party candidates,  but a thoughtful and well-informed candidate with some good ideas.

Christopher Sheldon, while a decent candidate, never struck me as a great candidate, and definitely not a superior choice to Congressman William Keating. His critics like to say “Keating hasn’t done anything for this district!” but that is a patently false statement. His record of achievement is fairly good for a first-term Congressman, and he has treated the Cape as well as his predecessor Bill Delahunt ever did.

State Senate

I think Cape voters would be nuts to let Senate President Therese Murray (D – Plymouth) go, in good part because of that title in front of her name; as Senate President, she has the mojo to get things done for her district in a big way. She’s also spearheaded some significant reform efforts over the past two or three terms, so she’s not sitting on her hands doing nothing.

Tom Keyes has run a much better campaign than in 2010, and I fully expect another close race between him and Sen. Murray, but so much of his campaign has been based in reactionary statements that try to paint Sen. Murray as a corrupt, ineffective do-nothing. If Murray were to state, “I like cats,” Keyes would issue a press release accusing her of being in the pocket of Big Dog. He hasn’t really distinguished himself as a superior alternative to the incumbent, and if he does come out on top, I would say Murray lost the race rather than Keyes won it.

Barnstable County Commissioners

Mary Pat Flynn and Sheila Lyons should be returned to the board, because Eric Steinhilber has not proven himself worthy of ousting either of the incumbents.

Mr. Steinhilber chose the wrong tentpole issue in the “MWRA on Cape Cod” to-do, stuck to his guns far longer than he should have once that topic’s shelf-life expired back in the summer, and has failed to show voters why his opposition to a taxpayer-funded wastewater authority is somehow better, more reliable, or just plain different than Ms. Flynn’s or Ms. Lyons’.

I directly asked Mr. Steinhilber why voters should believe him when he says “I oppose a wastewater authority” but doubt the incumbents when they say it, and he did not provide a good answer; his argument was, basically, he was dead-set against it and Flynn and Lyons were not — and he did not elaborate whether he thought they were lying or were simply easily manipulated dupes who could be bullied into changing their minds.

That, coupled with his lackluster ideas on other issues and failure to recognize OpenCape as a potential economic engine for the region, make him ill-suited for the job compared to Flynn and Lyons — and that’s a shame because I had high hopes for the guy. I maintain he would have made a better challenger for State Senator Dan Wolf (D – Harwich) in 2010 than Jim Crocker, but the man needs to be better about doing his homework and distinguishing good issues from bad (or non-) issues.

Question One

The Right to Repair question is a tricky one, but let’s be clear about one thing: voting “no” on Question One does NOT negate the Right to Repair Law passed earlier this year; a “no” vote is against the ballot question only.

What a “yes” vote would do is set the stage for a mess in the Legislature. By approving a RtR Law via the ballot, voters would be overriding the existing law, which lawmakers approved after several failed efforts in the face of staunch opposition by the auto industry. The existing law may have flaws, but it would be better to address those flaws through the legislative process than by forcing lawmakers to either entirely scrap the law they crafted — or create a compromise law, or ignore the will of the voters completely and keeping the current version.

This week Sen. Wolf issued a second endorsement for Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth, who, like Ms. Lyons, is running for re-election to the county board.

“Commissioner Flynn has a distinguished record and she has been a driving force in moving the County forward on a number of key issues.” Sen. Wolf said in a press release.  “Mary Pat is not afraid to take on difficult issues and bring people together to solve challenges…Mary Pat has served us well.”

Kind words, but really, it’s not surprising that Sen. Wolf would support two fellow Democrats.

***

The proposed debate between Falmouth’s Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates candidates Julia C. Taylor and Andrew V. Putnam is officially on.

The two candidates will participate in a debate that will be taped at the FCTV studio, with questions provided by yours truly. Jay Zavala, president of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, will moderate.

I mention this is part in the hope that it inspires other assembly candidates to follow suit. Delegates often bemoan the assembly’s lack of visibility, and events like these would be a nice step toward fixing that long-standing problem.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

In 2010, Eric R. Steinhilber tried his hand at state politics, running for the open State Senator of the Cape and Islands seat. This year he’s focusing his efforts more locally as he runs for one of two spots on the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners.

“Bottom line is, I just want to serve the community and be involved, do what I can to help and bring about better solutions,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “I just care a lot about the Cape. I’ve got two little kids now, and I want to make sure the Cape’s just as special for them as it was for me growing up.”

He added that he opted against running again for state senate because the incumbent, State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich), “is a millionaire. I got to work for a living, and sometimes you’re going to have a tough time raising more money than what a millionaire can put into a race.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he would be a proactive commissioner who would “see each side of the issue and come to a solution that I feel is grounded in the principle of doing the most good in the most effective manner with the smallest amount of governor.”

“I think that type of leadership is really needed at the county level right now. I think it’s lacking,” he said.

That lack of leadership is most evident in the county’s handling of the wastewater issue, Mr. Steinhilber said, and he has made that the focus of his campaign.

Although the sitting commissioners, including his two opponents Mary L. (Pat) Flynn and Sheila R. Lyons, have voiced their opposition to a proposed “wastewater authority” with taxation powers, Mr. Steinhilber insisted he was “the only candidate in the race that can be counted 100 percent to be opposed to a taxing authority being created and imposed on the people of Cape Cod.”

“I think the proposal is alive and well. I think it’s still being pushed by a number of individuals,” he said, “and I think it is more likely to come to pass if the incumbent county commissioners remain.”

He said evidence of the sitting commissioners’ openness to the concept can be found in their February vote to charge Andrew Gottlieb and Paul J. Niedzwiecki, respectively the executive directors of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and the Cape Cod Commission, with exploring the concept, which had been pitched to the commissioners by the Special Commission on County Governance.

“I would have voted not to move the ball even further toward a taxing authority,” Mr. Steinhilber said, adding that by voting on the topic before the special commission had formally filed its final report with the commissioners was proof that “the county commissioners, I felt, couldn’t wait to get their hands on it to vote on it…they were excited to vote for it.”

He said the commissioners, despite their prior opposition, would be likely to accept a new recommendation he expects to emerge from a new task force assembled by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce — as task force that, like the special commission, is fronted by Robert A. O’Leary.

A task force memo obtained by Mr. Steinhilber noted that the group wants to emphasize “positive messaging during the county commissioners’ election,” and the candidate believed the task force “feels they have a much better chance of getting a taxing authority in place with the two incumbents remaining.”

“I’ve been told by others in county government that this group was formed in direct response to my campaign,” Mr. Steinhilber said, but he declined to name his sources.

Better Communication Needed

Mr. Steinhilber also objected to another proposal by the special commission, to combine the county commissioners and the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates into a single seven-member board with legislative functions. Executive functions now possessed by the county commissioners would be transferred to an appointed county executive.

“You can’t get better government with less representation,” he said, and he expressed admiration for the assembly’s performance, but acknowledged that the delegates — as well as the county commissioners — are not as visible in the community as they should be.

“It’s a communication problem,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and if elected he planned to hold public office hours to create a stronger connection with individual towns.

The candidate did support, conditionally, a proposal by the assembly to create a finance director to keep better control of county finances. Mr. Steinhilber said such an entity was necessary for enhanced transparency, but he thought such a position could be established using existing county personnel and resources.

“I don’t think we should create a brand new position out of whole cloth,” he said. “You can’t keep adding to county government. You need to come up with solutions inside of county government.”

Opposes New County Dispatch

Mr. Steinhilber also wanted to tackle what he regarded as a financial time bomb, the county government’s growing unfunded pension liability. “No one seems to be talking about it,” he said, quoting figures stating that the county’s liability between 2002 and 2010 jumped from $190 million to $475 million.

A report prepared by the Segal Group showed that the unfunded liability was expected to grow by another $25 million between 2010 and 2012, but actually increased by $47 million.

“That’s all on the backs of Cape taxpayers,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and he vowed to take action on that.

He identified another brewing taxpayer expense in the effort to establish a regional 911 emergency dispatch center that served all of the Cape’s police and fire departments. Mr. Steinhilber strongly endorsed the basic concept, but said there was a better way to make the concept reality than creating an all-new regional dispatch center.

“My main concern is that the county doesn’t get into a position where they build a center from the ground up” rather than take advantage of the existing emergency dispatch center run by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department — where, notably, Mr. Steinhilber has worked as a reserve deputy.

“We already have a top-notch center that’s run by the county sheriff,” he said, and he noted the sheriff’s department is in the middle of a hardware upgrade and is exploring options for expanding the facility in order to serve more towns.

Local law enforcement department heads have expressed concern over this approach due to the fact the sheriff’s department, and by extension its dispatch center, are state agencies, and they fear losing any local control over the center.

Other Massachusetts counties have established governance boards to keep control of regional dispatch centers at the local level, Mr. Steinhilber said, and Cape Cod could emulate such models.

Mr. Steinhilber said he wanted to address the regulations that deter new businesses from setting up shop on Cape Cod. In speaking with business owners, he said he heard a great deal of frustration due to the sometimes convoluted and multi-layered process of establishing a new business, which included dealing with multiple town boards and, in some cases, the Cape Cod Commission.

“To a lot of them it feels like a constant maze to navigate…it’s tough to get quick decisions,” he said, and he wanted to constantly review regulations to make local and regional review processes more streamlined and business-friendly.

He doubted that the launch of the OpenCape regional fiber optic broadband network would prove a potential boon to businesses. “I don’t necessarily know if OpenCape going to be a big part of that. I don’t think people are not opening a business because they don’t have access to the Internet,” he said. “Call Comcast to get the Internet.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he was undecided whether to support the county’s possible purchase of the Dennis-based Aquacultural Research Corporation (ARC), which has been pitched by its current owners as a possible county service. While supportive of the local shellfishing industry, Mr. Steinhilber said he was wary of the $4 million suggested purchase price.

He proposed forming a county subcommittee to review the finances of the business and the proposal to determine if it would be a worthy return on the county’s investment.

For more information on the candidate, visit Mr. Steinhilber’s official campaign website at www.ericforcc.com.

State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich) has issued an endorsement for the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners race, and he is backing his one-time rival Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet.

“Sheila Lyons is a leader for Barnstable County who is not afraid to take on difficult issues and bring people together to solve challenges,” Sen. Wolf said in a press release. “From broadband internet access to wastewater, Sheila has worked hard for the last four years. Sheila has served us well and I’m proud to support her.”

Sen. Wolf and Ms. Lyons squared off in 2010 for the Democratic nomination in the state senate race.

Ms. Lyons also received an endorsement from Congressman William R. Keating (D), who said, “Sheila has tackled the issues affecting the Cape head on.  I support Sheila in her re-election campaign and look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”

***

Andrew V. Putnam of Falmouth, candidate for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, has put together a campaign ad you can check out online at YouTube:

The candidate is holding a pair of meet-and-greets next week. On Thursday, October 18, Mr. Putnam will be at Betsy’s Diner on Main Street in Falmouth from 7 to 9 AM, and at Liam Maguire’s, also on Main Street, from 5 to 7 PM.

Finally, Mr. Putnam is calling for an open debate this month with his opponent, the incumbent delegate Julia C. Taylor. Mr. Putnam announced on Monday that Ms. Taylor had accepted, and they are working on a date, time, and location for what may be the first-ever dedicated debate between two assembly candidates.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to someone treating the assembly race like a real political campaign. It’s so weird!

***

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 17 and get ready to meet the candidates who are running to represent Sandwich in the Legislature.

The League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area is co-sponsoring a candidates’ forum at Sandwich High School that night, and the guest list includes Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) and State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich), and their respective opponents, Thomas F. Keyes of Sandwich and R. Patrick Ellis of Sandwich.

Rep. Hunt and Mr. Ellis will face off at 6:30 PM, and Sen. Murray and Mr. Keyes will square off at 8 PM. The event is open to the public.

After that, the League of Women Voters of Falmouth will hold its candidates’ night on Wednesday, October 24 at the Morse Pond School in Falmouth. That begins at 7 PM. The final roster of invited candidates has not been announced.

***

Speaking of Mr. Keyes, his next fundraiser is next Sunday, October 21 at the Aqua Grille on Gallo Road, Sandwich. Former US Attorney Michael Sullivan is the evening’s special guest.

The Oktoberfest-themed event runs from 5 to 7 PM and is $35 per person or $50 per couple. Tickets will be available at the door or in advance by calling 774-208-3480.

***

Quickie endorsement time. Christopher Sheldon, Republican candidate for US Representative of the Ninth District, recently received the endorsement of the Wholesaler-Distributor Political Action Committee of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

“Sheila Lyons is a leader for Barnstable County who is not afraid to take on difficult issues and bring people together to solve challenges,” Sen. Wolf said in a press release. “From broadband internet access to wastewater, Sheila has worked hard for the last four years. Sheila has served us well and I’m proud to support her.”

Sen. Wolf and Ms. Lyons squared off in 2010 for the Democratic nomination in the state senate race.

***

Andrew V. Putnam, candidate for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, has put together a campaign ad you can check out online at YouTube:

On another note, Mr. Putnam is calling for an open debate this month with his opponent, the incumbent delegate Julia C. Taylor. No word on whether she’s accepted.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to someone treating the assembly race like a real political campaign. It’s so weird!

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

From the “I Called It” file: I remarked last week that the race between Republican Congressional candidates Adam G. Chaprales and Christopher Sheldon would be close, but I had no idea the race would end with fewer than 50 votes separating the two; the final tally was 11,019 votes for Mr. Chaprales, 10,980 for Mr. Sheldon.

But wait! In a shocking last-minute twist, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office announced Tuesday that Mr. Sheldon was in fact the winner by 79 votes. Mr. Chaprales conceded the race Tuesday, leaving Mr. Sheldon to focus on Congressman William R. Keating (D), who handily defeated C. Samuel Sutter, Bristol County’s district attorney.

Mr. Sutter simply did not present a well-fleshed-out platform. Most of what he said during the campaign was framed as a criticism of Rep. Keating rather than a sales pitch for himself.

From the “Missed It By That Much” file: Brian C. Mannal scored what everyone (myself included) is calling an upset primary victory over State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable). I thought Mr. Mannal would lose this race — as did the candidate himself as evidenced by remarks he made to the media after the election — but he instead won with 56 percent of the vote in the Second Barnstable District.

I predicted a Mannal loss because, not unlike the Keating/Sutter race, the challenger focused more on tearing Atsalis down than he did on building himself up. Petty carping over quasi-issues like endorsements and attendance records made Mr. Mannal appear more like a man running to take down Rep. Atsalis and less like someone running to act as a champion for his potential constituents.

So why did Mr. Mannal win? My theory is that years of running against ho-hum opponents made Rep. Atsalis complacent and he did not take the race as seriously as her perhaps should have.

Regardless of the reason, Mr. Mannal now belongs to the “Free Ride to Re-Election Club” that also includes State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich) and State Representatives Timothy R. Madden (D – Nantucket), Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis), and David T. Vieira (R – Falmouth).

Then there is the item from the “Never Expected That!” file: the Democratic primary for governor’s council of the first district ended in a statistical three-way tie between Nicholas D. Bernier of Fall River, Oliver P. Cipollini Jr. of Marstons Mills, and Walter D. Moniz of New Bedford.

In terms of ballots cast, Mr. Cipollini, a three-time candidate for the post, received 142 votes more than Mr. Bernier, who announced Monday he would seek a recount.

We’re now set up for a repeat of the 2010 general election race that pitted brother against brother: Oliver Cipollini against Charles O. Cipollini, the incumbent.

This time, however, Charles may forgo the pretense of a campaign he waged in 2010, when he actively encouraged voters to support his brother. Charles has indicated that he might simply drop out of the race and hand the job over to Oliver.

For two candidates who liked to talk about restoring integrity in politics, they’re showing an appalling lack of integrity in so shamelessly conspiring to get Oliver into office.

***

Daniel Botelho, non-party candidate for Congress, has a new campaign website up at www.danielbotelhoforcongress.com. It’s a solid improvement over the previous iteration, so go check it out.

***

State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) invites the public to his next fundraiser, the “ ‘Slice & Ice’ Golf Outing and 19th Hole Social” on Monday, September 17. That will be held at the Ridge Club in Sandwich starting at noon with warm-ups and a bag lunch, followed by a 1 PM shotgun start.

The cost to attend is $150 per player for the entire day or $75 per person for the after-tourney social, which starts at 5 PM. Go to www.electrandyhunt.com/events.html for further details and to register.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) has a few campaign events coming up. On Saturday, June 9 is a hoedown (no kidding, a hoedown!) at 305 Pine Street, West Barnstable, featuring Tex-Mex food (okay, now I’m interested), country music, and a horsemanship demo. This runs from 4 to 8 PM. To RSVP for this, shoot an e-mail to philip_n_wallace@hotmail.com.

On Tuesday, June 12 Tomatoes in Sandwich is hosting a Flag Day flag collection and reception from 5 to 7 PM. Contact Lisa Perry at flaldp@aol.com or 508-888-3094 to RSVP for this event.

Rep. Hunt goes country again on Saturday, August 25 with a Texas BBQ and trap shoot event at the Monument Beach Sportsman’s Club in Bourne from 4 to 8 PM. The details on that are still being firmed up, so visit the candidate’s events page at www.electrandyhunt.com/events for the latest details.

***

Barnstable County Commissioner Sheila R. Lyons has officially kicked off her re-election campaign.

Ms. Lyons held a campaign launch event last week at Tugboats in Hyannis, which saw such special guests as Congressman William R. Keating (D), State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich), State Representatives Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) and Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis), and fellow incumbent County Commissioner Mary L. (Pat) Flynn.

This week’s trivia: Ms. Lyons and Sen. Wolf ran against each other in 2010, vying for the Democratic nomination for state senate.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Tuesday marked the deadline for candidates for district and county offices (not including the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, more on that below) to file their nomination papers with their local registrars of voters, and the final tally is pretty sad: only five of the Cape’s 12 incumbents seeking re-election — two State Senators, six State Representatives, two Barnstable County Commissioners, and two county officers — have challengers in the coming election.

Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) is poised to first face a new (and so far invisible) primary challenger, Democrat Stephen M. Palmer of Plymouth, and the winner of that contest will face Sandwich Republican Thomas F. Keyes. State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) will take on Centerville Democrat Brian R. Mannal, and whoever prevails will go on to the November general election unopposed.

The other contested local races are State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) and Sandwich Democrat R. Patrick Ellis for the Fifth Barnstable District; and Commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet against Eric R. Steinhilber of Barnstable (see below for the latest wrinkle in this race).

There’s a chance this number could dwindle further if, during the nomination paper certification process, any candidate should become disqualified for failing to collect enough valid signatures, but this happens infrequently.

I’m truly surprised by the slim pickings considering this is a presidential election cycle, which is generally more active than mid-term elections, but I also feel sorry for voters. Solid contests are good all around: they make the incumbents work for their jobs, open up opportunities for new blood and new ideas and government, and lead to more educated voters. A greater number of contested races would have been beneficial all around.

***

On the plus side, the race for US Representative of the Ninth Congressional District is looking ever more robust. Republican Adam Chaprales of Sandwich is throwing his hat in the ring, setting the stage for a GOP primary race; Christopher Sheldon of Plymouth is already running.

Mr. Chaprales is a former one-term Sandwich selectmen whose main claim to fame is that at age 21, he was the town’s youngest-ever selectman. Now 28, he works for New York Life Insurance Co. He launched his campaign this past weekend. His official campaign website is www.adamforcongress.com.

(One bit of web design advice for the candidate: that floating “sign up for updates” bar is wicked annoying. Lose it.)

Incumbent Rep. William R. Keating (D), Democrat C. Samuel Sutter, the Bristol County District Attorney, and non-party candidates Daniel Botelho of Fall River and Peter A. White of Mashpee are also running.

The deadline for Congressional candidates with party affiliations to file their paperwork is this coming Tuesday. Non-party candidates have until mid-summer.

***

Nomination papers for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates were distributed this week to town clerks and Janice O’Connell, clerk of the assembly, and we already have two confirmed candidates for the county’s legislative body.

One of them is Falmouth’s Andrew V. Putnam, and the other is Ronald R. Beaty Jr. – the same Ron Beaty who was running for county commissioner…and I say “was” because none of the town clerks I spoke received his nomination papers by the Tuesday deadline.

This effectively ends Mr. Beaty’s plan to run dual races for county commissioner and the assembly. Earlier this year Mr. Beaty sought an opinion from the office of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth – Elections Division and was informed that he could legally could hold both seats, as long as he exercised due diligence to avoid voting on issues as a member of one board that directly impacted the other (e.g., he could not as a county commissioner vote to raise the stipend delegates receive).

Now, however, it looks like he’ll be running only for the assembly. “After carefully reevaluating the political ramifications of my non-party candidacy for Barnstable County Commissioner, I have finally decided to formally withdraw myself as an Independent Candidate,” he wrote in an e-mail, “and to throw my complete support to Eric Steinhilber and his candidacy.”

He is dedicating himself to his assembly run, and said his “various positions on the respective issues currently related to county government will now be vigorously pursued via that potent avenue!”

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Two candidates for re-election have come under fire recently for alleged ethics violations. First we have Sheila R. Lyons, incumbent Barnstable County Commissioner, who was been accused by rival candidate Ronald R. Beaty Jr. of accepting campaign donations from individuals who she has interacted with in her official capacity as county commissioner.

First, Mr. Beaty cites on his blog the fact that Ms. Lyons received in December 2011 a $200 donation from Henri S. Rauschenbach, who the county commissioners appointed to co-chair the Special Commission on County Governance.

Important details number one through three: Mr. Rauschenbach was recommended for the special commission by the Cape Cod Business Roundtable, not the county commissioners, who only approved the selection; the donation was made eight months after that appointment; and Mr. Beaty has made his disdain for the special commission very well known and has made a number of efforts to undermine its work.

I’ll also point out that this is a complete 180 from December, when Mr. Beaty publicly showered praise on Ms. Lyons. In an e-mail sent out to Cape media outlets, he called Ms. Lyons a “shining star” and a “pragmatically insightful and pleasant woman who cares deeply about social justice, the welfare of individual Cape Cod residents as well as Barnstable County as a whole.”

Of course, he wasn’t running for Ms. Lyons’ job at the time.

Mr. Beaty further noted that Robert Ciolek, an independent consultant to the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, also donated to Ms. Lyons in 2011 — several months after (I repeat: after) he was contracted by the commissioners to serve as the CCWP’s consultant.

Mr. Beaty claims these donations could constitute legal conflicts of interest, but there’s an important piece missing from this equation: did Ms. Lyons derive direct personal financial benefit? There’s nothing to suggest she did, so unless someone can prove otherwise, the claim here falls flat.

(Not that campaign donations for political favors aren’t a real problem, but it’s important to draw a clear distinction between politics as usual, which is unfortunate, and true graft and corruption, which is despicable.)

Ah, but what about the fact that Ms. Lyons last month received a $75,000 bank loan through the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, for which Dorothy A. Savarese serves as president — the same Ms. Savarese who sat on the aforementioned Special Commission on County Governance?

Well, unless Ms. Savarese personally signed or pushed through the loan application, the accusation of a conflict of interest is again hollow.

In the case of Mr. Beaty, he appears to be venting his ire at the special commission and its recommendations — specifically to reformat county government and to explore the creation of a regional wastewater management entity — at Ms. Lyons, perhaps in an attempt to undermine her re-election and prime his own campaign.

Problem is, if these charges cannot be proven and do not result in any sort of official sanction by the state ethics commission, Mr. Beaty’s tactic could backfire.

The same could be said for Brian R. Mannal, who is challenging State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) in the primary. Mr. Mannal last week filed a formal complaint against Rep. Atsalis with the state ethics commission over an e-mail sent by the incumbent.

That e-mail was sent from Rep. Atsalis’s State House e-mail address to Lee Fisher, former lieutenant governor of Ohio, asking if he remembered Mr. Mannal from his and then-Governor Ted Strickland’s 2006 campaign.

Apparently, Rep. Atsalis was trying to clarify Mr. Mannal’s party loyalties, noting that his opponent was involved in President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2000, later got a gig with the state of Ohio under a Republican administration, and remained a member of the GOP until 2004 (Mr. Mannal has openly admitted to jumping ship to the Democratic Party that year).

Rep. Atsalis acknowledged the e-mail, which he called “innocent,” and said he sent it through his State House e-mail account in error.

Here, an ethics violation might not apply because the e-mail did not have any sort of monetary value attached to it, but the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance does prohibit the use of public resources such as state e-mail accounts for campaign purposes.

It should be noted that Rep. Atsalis already has one official strike from the OCPF. In June 2011 the OCPF fined Rep. Atsalis $3,125 for “numerous recordkeeping and reporting errors” on his campaign finance statements from 2007, which he failed to rectify by 2010. He was also required to practice strict “enhanced reporting requirements” through 2014 or face an additional $2,500 fine.

This brouhaha has a little more legitimacy to it than the Beaty/Lyons kerfuffle, but I think the voters might like to see a little more debate on the issues in the coming weeks rather than back-and-forth accusations of ethical lapses (especially if there is no merit to them).

***

This coming Tuesday marks the last day for candidates for county and district elected offices to file their nomination papers, and as things stand this week, we’re looking at a rather empty local ballot.

To date only three incumbents have declared opponents: Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth), State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich), and Rep. Atsalis. That leaves State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich) and State Representatives Timothy R. Madden (D – Nantucket), Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis), and David T. Vieira (R – Falmouth) running unopposed.

There’s also been no buzz for two county seats that are up for grabs this year: the Register of Deeds, a seat currently held by John F. (Jack) Meade, and the Clerk of Courts, now held by Scott W. Nickerson.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Mr. Ellis, who last week filed his paperwork with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) as a Democrat, has served as a selectman in Sandwich, well as the town’s superintendent of public works and tree warden.

Democrat Brian R. Mannal of Centerville also filed his paperwork with the OCPF, bringing him one step closer to his primary challenge to State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable).

So far no formal challengers have popped up for State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich) or State Representatives David T. Vieira (R – Falmouth), Timothy R. Madden (D – Nantucket), or Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis).

***

Beware the ides of March! Because that’s when Rep. Hunt will hold his official campaign kickoff event.

Join Rep. Hunt at the Dan’l Webster Inn in Sandwich on Thursday, March 15 at 5:30 PM as he launches his first re-election campaign. This is an “open donation” gig with no set minimum donation to the re-election campaign.

Contributions will be accepted at the event, or make an early donation online.

***

C. Samuel Sutter, Bristol County DA, this week formally announced his candidacy for the Ninth Congressional District. Mr. Sutter had what you might call a “rolling campaign kick-off” that started Monday morning in Provincetown and ended in Westport, with a stop in Falmouth along the way.

Backed mostly by supporters from off-Cape, Mr. Sutter stopped at Peg Noonan Park in Falmouth, where he chided Congress in general and Congressman William R. Keating (D) in particular for their ineffectiveness in addressing major national issues such as the federal deficit.

Mr. Sutter also made a couple of mistakes in his speech when he berated Rep. Keating for his votes on two bills, one for aid for firefighters and one calling for funding cuts to Planned Parenthood. Mr. Sutter said Rep. Keating voted against the first and refrained from voting on the latter, neither of which proved true.

The Sutter campaign brushed it off as a minor faux pas, but those are the kinds of faux pases (faux pi?) that can earn a fellow a reputation as uninformed at best, a liar at worst. Better get on the ball, Sam.

***

Walter Moniz, Democratic candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, has picked up an early endorsement from the retiring Congressman Barney Frank (D). Rep. Frank will formally issue the endorsement at an upcoming campaign event in Acushnet (also known as the thinking man’s New Bedford).

Meanwhile, another gent has entered that race: Nicholas D. Bernier of Swansea, who is also running as a Democrat. He doesn’t have an official website or Facebook page, just a page on WePay.com where people can make campaign donations.

There’s been no word from the incumbent, Charles O. Cippolini of Fall River, whether he plans to run for a second term.

***

Finally, a quick correction: last week I mentioned that Rep. Atsalis’s closest re-election race ever was in 2002, and he won by only 101 votes. That number was wrong due to a math error — hey, I became a writer so I wouldn’t have to do math — and the actual figure was 1,101.

(An aside: while presenting accurate information is always important, I find it amusing how quick politicians are to correct inaccurate vote tallies from past elections. It’s like they’re worried they could retroactively lose the race or something.)

Anyway, with this correct tally in mind, it reaffirms my earlier comment that Rep. Atsalis has never had a solid Republican challenger. Any Republicans out there care to step up and try their luck?

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.