It is now completely official: Oliver P. Cipollini Jr. is the Democratic candidate for governor’s council of the first district. Mr. Cipollini confirmed his win following a recount conducted last week at the behest of Nicholas D. Bernier, the runner-up in the three-way Democratic primary race.
Incumbent Charles O. Cipollini, Oliver’s brother, has yet to announce whether he will actually run again or, as hinted in recent interviews, step aside to let Oliver win.
***
Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet, candidate for re-election to the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners, has finally launched her new campaign website, and that’s at www.sheilalyonscapecod.com.
***
Finally, from the “Good Intentions Gone Hysterically Awry” file: a group that opposes ballot question three, which asks voters to legalize marijuana for medical use in Massachusetts, submitted to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office the website URL http://votenoonquestion3.org for inclusion in the voter’s guide that was recently mailed out.
It turns out that this group, at the time it submitted the URL, had not actually acquired the domain name, which was scooped up by someone who launched a hilarious spoof site that boasts such “news articles” with riotous headlines like “Medical Marijuana is the Gateway Drug to Twinkie Addiction” and “A Healthy Body is the Devil’s Playground.”
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Primary Election Day is almost upon us! Where does the time go?
First and foremost, folks, remember that the primary election this year is two weeks earlier than normal and on a Thursday — September 6, to be precise. Get out and vote! Voting gets things done; whining on news website comments sections about how bad the country is does not.
The primary ballot is not terribly busy but there are a few key races to consider, starting with two contests for the Ninth Congressional District. On the GOP side we have Christopher Sheldon of Plymouth and Adam G. Chaprales of Sandwich vying for the party nomination.
In terms of positions on the major issues, these men are largely interchangeable and their respective experiences in public service I would call comparable, so this might be a very close race.
On the Democratic side, I am not anticipating good news for C. Samuel Sutter, the Bristol County DA challenging Congressman William R. Keating (D). Mr. Sutter’s campaign strategy has been to aggressively criticize Rep. Keating rather than sell his own qualities, which is never a good sign.
Add to that the fact Mr. Sutter has issues he wants to address, but in most cases no game plans for doing so — and has made addressing traffic at the bridges one of his three big issues. Having been stuck at the bridges myself on many an occasion I appreciate the sentiment, but really: bigger fish to fry.
More locally we have a primary contest for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District between incumbent Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) and Brian R. Mannal, or as I’m calling it, The Race of Lost Opportunity.
See, Rep. Atsalis I consider one of the more vulnerable incumbents in the region. I think a very solid challenger could defeat him, but no such challenger has come along in several years and Mr. Mannal, in my opinion, has failed to buck the trend.
As a fellow Democrat, Mr. Mannal needed to decisively illustrate where Rep. Atsalis has failed as a legislator on critical issues and show voters how he would be markedly different. On his campaign website, Mr. Mannal compares and contrasts himself with the incumbent on three issues of significance: the increase in the sales tax, an expedited approval process for wind turbines, and whether to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
The other three topics he mentions are rather trivial: proposals on a term length increase, posting roll call votes on the state website, and a campaign spending disclosure measure…not the kind of issues voters are all that concerned with nowadays. His positions on other priority issues are unsurprising and fail to educate voters how he’d be a change from the status quo.
Mr. Mannal’s most aggressive push against Rep. Atsalis has also been on relative non-issues: Marie Parente’s endorsement of the incumbent and Rep. Atsalis’s attendance record. I’ve written about both previously and won’t rehash them now, I’ll simply say Mr. Mannal could have (and I dare say should have) put his time and effort toward something more substantial.
Still, Mr. Mannal has put significantly more effort into his campaign than Stephen M. Palmer, the Plymouth man challenging Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) — and by “challenging” I mean “His name is on the ballot but he has a snowball’s chance of actually winning.”
I recently listened to WATD’s online candidate forum hosting Sen. Murray and Mr. Palmer and…uh, yeah. Wow. Mr. Palmer was semi-coherent, confused, angry, occasionally condescending — in other words, he sounded like yet another person running for office not to serve the public but to have a large stage upon which to grind his anti-government axe.
Finally we have the three Democrats running for governor’s council of the first district: Nicholas D. Bernier, Oliver P. Cipollini, and Walter D. Moniz. This is another toss-up because the candidates’ positions are virtually identical: more public outreach, more diligence in appointing judges, no rubber-stamping whatever comes to them.
One thing voters should be aware of is the potential for another non-contest should Mr. Cipollini win. The Republican incumbent, Mr. Cipollini’s brother Charles, won the 2010 race against Oliver despite his continued insistence that he didn’t even want to win. He actively encouraged people not to vote for him. Voters deserve better than that.
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
In last week’s rundown of the candidates for district and county offices, I omitted the race for governor’s council of the first district for space reasons. Let’s cover that now.
Not surprisingly, voters are looking at a possible repeat of the 2010 election, when brothers Oliver P. and Charles O. Cipollini, of Marstons Mills and Fall River respectively, ran against each other – by which I mean, they were both candidates and they campaigned, but Charles kept telling voters to support Oliver.
Charles won the election and, like last year, has no primary opponent. Oliver, however, will face off in September against fellow Democrats Walter Moniz of New Bedford and Nicholas D. Bernier of Swansea.
My theory, Cynical Version, is that the general election will come down to Charles and Mr. Bernier, because voters don’t know squat about any of the candidates and will simply vote for whoever appears at the top of the ballot, and “Bernier” comes before “Cipollini.”
My other theory, the Non-Cynical Version, is that Charles will probably square off against Mr. Moniz, who ran in 2010 and got his 2012 campaign ramped up nice and early.
Either way, both those scenarios would better serve the voters than another non-campaign featuring the Not Even Remotely Fighting Cipollini Brothers.
***
The campaign events calendar is looking pretty thin all around, except for Sandwich Republican Thomas F. Keyes, who has a slew of events scheduled for this month and next.
Among the upcoming local events for the state senate candidate: house parties at the homes of Beverly Comeau in Sandwich (May 18), Frank and Andi Keohane in Falmouth (May 30), Ted and Sylvia Wahl in Sandwich (June 3); a reception with Mary Z. Connaughton, former Republican candidate for state auditor, at the Nimrod in Falmouth (June 18); a garage sale (seriously, that’s what it says) at the Sagamore home of Alice Zinkevich (June 23); and a meet-and-greet at Ms. Zinkevich’s home (June 26).
Sheila R. Lyons, incumbent Barnstable County Commissioner, is preparing to launch her new campaign website. There’s just a placeholder page there now, but I’ll let you know when the full site is up and running.
One of her opponents, Eric R. Steinhilber, has also launched his campaign website, which already has some content on it.
The third candidate, incumbent Mary L. (Pat) Flynn, does not have a county commissioner-specific website up yet.
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
It looks like Oliver P. Cipollini Jr. is coming back for his third shot at governor’s council of the first district.
The Marstons Mills Democrat has confirmed that he is running for the seat he ran for unsuccessfully in 2008 and in 2010, making him the third Democrat to throw his hat into the ring, along with Walter Moniz of New Bedford and Nicholas D. Bernier of Swansea.
The incumbent, Republican Charles O. Cipollini of Fall River — Oliver Cipollini’s older brother — is at present a “probable candidate” for re-election.
For those of you who might have forgotten, Charles won an unusual race that pitted him against his brother. The two men frequently campaigned together, and throughout his run, Charles openly declared that he didn’t really want to win and would prefer it if voters supported Oliver.
Charles’ tenure has been equally colorful. He questioned Supreme Judicial Court nominee Barbara Lenk’s capacity for impartiality on same-sex marriage issues in light of the fact she is a lesbian; asked SJC nominee Fernande R.V. Duffly during his confirmation hearing his thoughts on polygamy and communal living; and, commenting on Governor Deval L. Patrick’s efforts to expand the diversity of the SJC, wondered aloud how long it would take the governor to “nominate an illegal” (as in illegal immigrant).
His supporters regard Charles as a breath of fresh air and a change of pace from the (real or imagined) rubber-stamp nature of the governor’s council, while his detractors view him as a disruptive presence on the council.
Whether Charles will run again is a topic for another day, but if he does, voters could be looking at a repeat of the brother-versus-brother non-race of 2010. They can do better than that.
***
Sandwich Democrat R. Patrick Ellis this week officially kicked off his campaign for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District. John Walsh, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, joined Mr. Ellis and his supporters for the campaign launch event, held last night at Hemisphere in Sandwich.
Last week Cape Cod Community College held one of the last (if not the last) major debate among all five Congressional candidates, and somehow the night managed to avoid turning ugly, as have so many other debates.
Not only did the audience refrain from hooting, hollering, cheering, and jeering, but the candidates themselves were completely civil – and by “candidates” I mean State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) and Democrat William R. Keating, who have sniped at each other almost relentlessly since the primary race wrapped.
I won’t go so far as to declare any kind of winner, but Mr. Keating, Rep. Perry, and unenrolled candidate MaryAnne Lewis came across as solid candidates. Perry especially stayed on-topic and always answered the questions as posed to the panel, but Keating and Lewis came across as well-informed and were able to articulate their thoughts.
Then there was unenrolled candidates James A. Sheets and Joseph van Nes. Sheets seemed to spend as much time taking potshots at the Democrats as he did discussing the issues. Several times during the evening they went badly off-topic and often failed to directly answer questions, and at times van Nes’s lack of knowledge on a given topic was glaring.
***
Another note on the Congressional race: a WGBH poll of 400 voters showed that Rep. Perry held a narrow one-point lead over Mr. Keating – 41 percent support to 40 percent – but when voters who are still waffling were asked who they were leaned toward, Keating pulled ahead and took a three-point lead over Perry (46 percent to 43 percent).
On the fundraising front, Mr. Keating is closing in on the $1 million mark, much of that money coming from unions, while Rep. Perry has raised more than $800,000. Ms. Lewis has raised about $57,000, Mr. Sheets has raised about $8,500 according to unofficial sources (he failed to file a report with the Federal Election Commission by the most recent deadline), and Mr. van Nes has not raised enough money to warrant filing a report.
***
When Charles D. Baker Jr. first hit the scene, there was an air of promise around this fiscally conservative but socially moderate candidate. Governor Deval L. Patrick was not faring well in the court of public opinion and was a prime target for a well-coordinated, focused campaign from the former high muckety-muck of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare.
Over the summer and into the fall Mr. Baker made slow but steady progress on Gov. Patrick, and every month the voter polls showed the Republican challenger was gaining ground on the incumbent. Now the governor appears to be pulling away again.
The latest Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll of 500 voters revealed that Gov. Patrick was the preferred candidate, receiving 46 percent support to Mr. Baker’s 39 percent. Baker’s numbers are up five points from the September poll, but so are Gov. Patrick’s.
Dr. Jill E. Stein has lost what little support she had; last month four percent of voters backed her, now she’s down to one percent. Two percent of voters have made up their minds, leaving the “undecided” category.
And, not surprisingly, some of those voters came from Timothy P. Cahill’s base; his support dropped four points from September, to 10 percent.
While several voters said they would vote for Baker if Cahill were to vanish from the ballot, one in four said the whole debacle between Baker and Cahill involving turncoat running mate Paul Loscocco and several staffers who may or may not have been GOP moles, is driving them to the Patrick camp.
***
James H. Crocker Jr. is back on the campaign trail after helping his family deal with the loss of his in-laws.
Mr. Crocker, the Republican candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, briefly suspended his campaign last week after his in-laws were killed in a car crash.
His opponent, Democrat Daniel A. Wolf, gracefully limited his own campaign work during that period out of respect for Mr. Crocker instead of pouncing on the opportunity to glom all the attention for himself.
***
Patricia L. Mosca of Bourne, the lone woman in the Democratic primary race for governor’s councilor of the first district, is back to try again. She has announced she will be challenging the brothers Cipollini – Democrat Oliver and Republican Charles – as a write-in candidate.
I normally am not a write-in candidate fan, but considering that this is such a non-race – Charles has said quite clearly he wants his brother to win – I applaud Ms. Mosca for wanting to make Oliver C. actually work for this gig.
***
And now for the endorsement lightning round!
Thomas F. Reilly, the state’s former attorney general, has jumped party lines to endorse Mr. Baker for governor (delayed revenge for Gov. Patrick trouncing him in the 2006 primary?).
Rep. Perry was endorsed by the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.
F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, received an endorsement from Citizens for Limited Taxation.
***
This week’s event reminders:
The Committee to Elect Therese Murray and Olive and Dave Chase are hosting a fundraiser this evening for Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) at the Sandwich Glass Museum from 6 to 7:30 PM. Suggested donation for both events is $50 per person.
Mr. Hunt is holding his final campaign fundraiser tomorrow at the East Sandwich Grange Hall. The Tony Lujan Quintet will perform.
Lance W. Lambros, Democratic candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, will be holding a (not quite) Halloween meet-and-greet at the Grundman household on Wing Boulevard East in Sandwich. That’s happening tomorrow from 5 to 7:30 PM.
Desperados in Mashpee will on Monday hold a “meet the candidates” night from 5 to 7 PM. That will feature candidates for the Legislature who represent Mashpee.
James M. Cummings, Barnstable County Sheriff, is hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Perry on Wednesday. That’s at the Hyannis Conference Center from 5 to 7 PM.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Here we are, the final column before Primary Election Day!
As is often the case, the turnout for the primaries will probably be on the light side, but if you’re reading this then you better bloody well get off your cans and go out to vote on Tuesday.
There are four Republicans and two Democrats vying for their respective party nomination for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, perhaps the Cape’s most crucial race of the season. Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) was a strong voice for the Cape for many years, and the region can’t afford to be without a staunch advocate in Washington.
Although this paper is not going to offer any endorsements for the primaries, I’ll exercise some editorial privilege and urge voters to support State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) and State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) for the very reason I just cited. As Cape residents themselves, either man would immediately be a superior spokesman for the region’s needs in federal government.
You might think their general credentials pale when compared to those of, respectively, William R. Keating and Joseph D. Malone, and I’d argue that point, but there’s a greater concern here: considering the state of the economy, Cape voters need to be more than a little self-serving and stick with the hometown boys.
PS: If you don’t go out to vote and the guy you wanted to win doesn’t, you waive your right to gripe about it later.
***
By the way, Gatehouse Media’s poll on the Congressional race augers good news for Rep. Perry, bad news for everyone else. As of Tuesday Rep. Perry was winning with 48 percent of 652 voters supporting him, 36 percent backing Malone, eight percent for Republican Raymond Kasperowicz, and Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating each receiving two percent support.
***
Regular readers know that, while I list noteworthy endorsements in this column, I find them generally useless. They’re more reflective of a candidate’s political allegiances than a true measure of his or her value to the masses as an elected official.
And yet, sometimes endorsements are very telling. I look to Mr. Malone, whose endorsements have been largely from people like him: guys who used to big kind of big wheels in politics and haven’t done anything worthwhile in that arena for years. That always said to me this was a guy set in old and perhaps outdated ways of thinking.
Last week Mr. Malone got an endorsement from Christy P. Mihos, former (and spectacularly failed) gubernatorial candidate. In his endorsement, Mr. Mihos harkens back to a golden time when state government was flawless and effective and everyone was a establishment-defying reformer, and applauded Malone for being part of a glorious time that I’m sure was not at all quite that spiffy in reality.
Let’s be honest: as the saying goes, the past was never as perfect as we remember, just as the future is not always as bleak as we dread. Sometimes old ways fade into the mists of history for a good reason, and in an election cycle when – according to the national media narrative, at least – voters are crying out for fresh ideas, why should voters turn to someone whose heyday was 20 years ago?
And yet more: Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Malone got the nod from the Boston Globe last week.
Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape & Islands District, received the endorsement of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter – Political Action for Candidate Election.
Patricia L. Mosca, Democratic candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, received the formal endorsement of Carole A. Fiola, the current and departing councilor.
Rep. Perry got the endorsement of the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund.
James M. Cummings, Barnstable County sheriff, has endorsed Democrat – yes, a Republican has endorsed a Democrat! – Walter Moniz in the race for governor’s councilor of the first district.
***
Now that we have all the praise out of the way, let’s move on to the obligatory last-minute controversies.
Last week the Boston Globe discovered that Timothy P. Cahill, Guy W. Glodis, and Timothy P. Murray – candidates for governor, state auditor, and lieutenant governor, respectively – all had some tax issues in their backgrounds.
The campaign committee for Mr. Cahill, the sitting state treasurer, had failed to pay about $15,000 in state taxes over the past decade. Mr. Glodis, Worcester County sheriff, had neglected to pay $2,568 in taxes on interest collected by his campaign committee between 2007 and 2009. Lt. Gov. Murray’s campaign committee failed to make tax payments on campaign fund interest in 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Cahill and Lt. Gov. Murray acted on the delinquencies right away and offered the perfunctory “This was just a simple mistake” explanations.
Sheriff Glodis, however, is being a bit more obstinate and is insisting that his campaign does not also owe federal tax payments on his accrued interest, which runs contrary to federal tax code. Not a wise position to take in light of recent revelations that he once received a questionable loan from a hedge fund manager now doing hard time in federal prison for bilking investors.
***
The gap between Governor Deval L. Patrick and Charles D. Baker Jr. continues to shrink. That latest Rasmussen poll showed that 44 percent of voters surveyed currently support Gov. Patrick, and 42 percent support Mr. Baker. Mr. Cahill trails waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind at 8 percent (Green-Rainbow Party Dr. Jill E. Stein was not named in the poll).
***
It’s not too late to plan to hit the Daily Brew in Cataumet this evening, for a fundraiser for State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth). He’ll be there starting at 5:30 PM for a casual meet-and-greet with voters. His special guest is Cape Cod RTA director Thomas S. Cahir, who previously held the Third Barnstable District state rep seat.
Call 508-540-6308 to RSVP.
***
This week’s event reminders:
William Zammer is hosting at his Flying Bridge restaurant a fundraiser for David T. Vieira, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District. That is scheduled for Sunday from 4 to 6 PM. Donations will be accepted at the door.
James F. Munafo Jr., Republican candidate for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District, invites supporters to a “FUNdraiser” in support of his campaign. Join Mr. Munafo at Sandwich Mini-Golf on Route 6A in Sandwich for the “Vote Munafo Mini-Golf Tournament” on Sunday. The tourney runs from 4 to 7 PM. E-mail votemunafo@integrity.com to reserve a spot in the tournament. Cost is $10.
F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, is holding a pasta supper fundraiser at the American Legion Hall in Sandwich on Saturday, September 25 starting at 6 PM; a golf tourney fundraiser at Holly Ridge on Sunday, October 3 starting at 8:20 AM; and “Pizza & Politics with Pizzazz” at Two Brothers Pizza & Mexican in Sandwich on Monday, October 11 at 5:30 PM.
***
Finally, a quick correction of sorts. In the ongoing verbal girly slap-fight between Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating, the former recently chided the latter for collecting a pension from his State House days while also serving as Norfolk County DA and running for Congress.
According to an official statement from the Keating campaign, “Bill Keating is not colleting [sic] a pension at this time. If he is elected to the serve in the Congress, he will donate the state pension he has contributed to for 33 years to the Norfolk Advocates for Children. Bill founded the Norfolk Advocates for victims of sexual abuse with money obtained in drug seizures.”
So there.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Last week I attended the annual Cape Cod Republican Club meeting, so I thought I’d share some brief thoughts on it.
The bulk of the meeting gave several local GOP candidates for elected office a chance to make a quick introduction, chat themselves up, offer the usual Rah-Rah Let’s Go Team rally rhetoric, and of course, some obligatory Democrat bashing.
That’s the only real issue I had with the evening. Yes, folks were playing to the audience, but tacit slams like calling the GOP “the party that loves America” or direct slaps like claiming that Democrats never read the Declaration of Independence are petty and demeaning.
I’ve never cared for the strategy of building one’s self up by tearing the other guy down, and historically neither have voters; a lot of candidates on both sides – I’ll provide examples of each in Kerry M. Healey in 2006 and Martha Coakley in 2010 – have gone down to defeat thanks in part to their rampant negativity.
On a more positive note, I must say it was a shrewd move on the club’s part to keep its current leadership team intact through November. With Fran Manzelli in the lead the club has seen some great strides forward since last year, and changing horses mid-stream could have thrown things off during what is shaping up to be a critical year for the party.
***
The evening’s guest speaker, state auditor candidate Mary Z. Connaughton, finally has her campaign website up. That’s at www.maryforauditor.com.
***
I also learned at the meeting that there is a Republican candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, a chap named Joseph A. Ureneck.
For the curious: he lost the lawsuit on the grounds such international marriage contracts were, as of the 2003 ruling, not recognized as valid in the United States.
Man, just when you think you’ve seen it all, huh?
***
Final note on the meeting: I must offer a quick “well played, sir” to James F. Munafo Jr., candidate for State Representative of the Second Plymouth District, for his canny push card, which features his qualifications on one side and a complete Boston Red Sox season schedule on the other.
Eric R. Steinhilber, Republican candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, has picked up the endorsement of former state representative Thomas N. George.
“Eric Steinhilber has worked in the community and learned that we need a new approach for representing this district,” Mr. George said in a press release. “He will listen to all commentary then make decisions based on the needs of all his constituents. He realizes we cannot continue with the old procedures and practices which have resulted in the economic condition under which we now labor.”
Mr. George served four terms (1997 to 2004) as state rep of the First Barnstable District seat, which is now held by State Representative Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis).
***
The nigh-invisible Ray Kasperowicz, Republican candidate for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, announced last week he had filed enough signatures to qualify for the September primary ballot.
Now he just has to get out and make his name known, because right now all the attention is going to State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) and Joseph D. Malone, the latter of whom is making good on his promise to visit the Cape regularly. He was in town last week to congratulate David Braga, who was recently elected to the Falmouth Board of Selectmen, and stopped by Hyannis Monday for another “Joe’s on the Job” tour appearance.
***
Conservative pundit Howie Carr will be on the Cape tomorrow for a joint book signing with Rep. Perry. It’s in Orleans so you’ll have to fight tourist traffic, but if you want to go it runs from 11 AM to 1 PM at Booksmith on West Road (Skaket Corners Plaza).
Be forewarned: Howie signs his books with the blood of liberals he lures into his home with the promise of socialized medicine and all the arugula they can eat.
Rep. Perry has two fundraisers on the horizon: June 14, 6 to 8 PM at Yarmouth House in Yarmouth; and June 22, starting at 5 PM, at Tomatoes Italian Grille and Bar in Sandwich.
***
On the Democratic side of this race, things are starting to come alive for William R. Keating, who last week announced several union endorsements, including from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
Mr. Keating and his Democratic rival in the primary, State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable), will meet for the first time in a public forum on Thursday, June 10. The Harwich Democratic Town Committee hosts that event at Harwich Town Hall, and the forum begins at 7 PM.
Each candidate will give a brief overview of their background, their major accomplishments as elected officials, and will be asked to articulate their specific vision and priorities for the 10th Congressional district. A Q-and-A session will follow.
For more information, contact Ray Gottwald at 508-430-1666 or RayGottwald@aol.com.
***
Suzanne M. Bump, Democratic candidate for state auditor, this week picked up a big endorsement from Congressman Barney Frank (D). Rep. Frank said Ms. Bump’s “many years of experience and passion for her work make her the best choice to be the Commonwealth’s next state auditor.”
***
Here’s the latest poll on the gubernatorial race. According to the Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll released last week, Governor Deval L. Patrick was in the lead with 42 percent support among those polled, followed by Republican Charles D. Baker Jr., unenrolled candidate Timothy P. Cahill at 14 percent, and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Dr. Jill E. Stein at eight percent.
But the worse and more telling results of this poll: more than half of those surveyed think Gov. Patrick needs to go and almost half think he’s doing a lousy job; 63 percent of people surveyed have never heard of Baker, even though he’s been running since July; and the percentage of voters who view Cahill negatively has more than doubled, from 16 percent to 34 percent.
***
Finally, since we’re on the governor’s race, I would like to state for the record: Tim Cahill, you’re a jerk.
Cahill last week blasted Gov. Patrick for meeting with Muslim leaders and, in Cahill’s words, “pandering” to them and “playing politics with terrorism.”
What did the Muslim leaders want? Things like improved communication with local law enforcement agents to improve cultural awareness of Islam and greater considerations for Muslims that they may better practice their faith. Cahill called this “political correctness run amok.”
Yeah! How dare they ask for understanding and tolerance!
Cahill is, as you’ve just read, getting plastered in the polls and needed to put some fire under his campaign, but taking Gov. Patrick to task for reaching out to the Muslim community, in doing so shamelessly playing to voters’ fears, smacks of desperation and opportunism and only perpetuates the stereotype that “Muslim” equals “terrorist.”
Personally, this is not the kind of narrow-minded thinking I want in my leaders, and I’m disappointed that Cahill felt it necessary to stoop to this.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
The political season is well and truly underway, because we have our first attack ad.
The firing squad here is the Republican Governors Association, which has launched not one but THREE ads against unenrolled gubernatorial candidate Timothy P. Cahill: one for TV, one for the radio, and one web ad, but all three are viewable on a new website bearing the header of “The Cahill Report” (www.thecahillreport.com).
The ads paint Mr. Cahill as “Like Deval Patrick, only worse” and accuse the current state treasurer of cronyism, mismanaging the state pension fund, increasing costs at the Massachusetts State Lottery, and wasting taxpayer money on a lavish office redeco, and staff bonuses and vehicles.
Why go after Cahill, you might ask? Why not go after Gov. Patrick, the guy who’s been leading in recent polls? Because in the GOP’s eyes Tim Cahill is what you’d call a “spoiler,” a guy who could divert the all-important unenrolled voter base away from Republican Charles D. Baker Jr., split their support, and let Gov. Patrick slide through to a second term.
Cahill responded with his own Internet ad chastising the RGA and Baker for running the attack ads (even though the RGA stated it made the ads on its own, sans the Baker campaign’s authorization).
Mr. Baker’s camp has neither openly condoned not condemned the ad, but if they’re smart they’ll distance themselves from the campaign. After all, negative campaigning only hurt Kerry M. Healey’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006 and, more recently, Martha Coakley’s US Senate campaign this year.
***
A side note: the Baker camp last week said ta-ta to campaign manager Lenny Alcivar and named Tim O’Brien as the new manager. Mr. O’Brien, notably, managed Ms. Healey’s 2006 campaign…or mis-managed, depending on your point of view.
Pundits are calling this a desperation move, but I think it may be way too early to make that call. Granted, the Baker campaign hasn’t been making any great strides forward under Alcivar, but changing the guard seven months out from the general election does not bespeak a Hail Mary Play to me.
***
State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) last weekend officially launched his campaign for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District. I would have mentioned this last week, except no one from his campaign told any of us here at the Enterprise about the kickoff event in Hyannis.
I must give a quick nod to the senator’s primary rival William R. Keating who, in a display of class that is often sorely lacking in politics, issued a statement welcoming Sen. O’Leary to the race.
They kind ruined it for me by adding in some Keating-centric campaign rhetoric and asking Sen. O’Leary to “support the eventual Democratic nominee, to ensure that we don’t turn back the clock by electing a Republican who will support failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place,” but hey, I’ll take what inter-candidate niceties I can get.
I must also give the Keating campaign a not-so-gentle nudge and say get a move-on, would you? Mr. Keating is now the only man in this race who has not made a formal announcement of candidacy. That, I’m told, is coming later this month. I can’t imagine why they’re choosing to wait so long.
***
It looks like James H. Crocker Jr. of Osterville is pulling the trigger and officially running for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District as a Republican. He filed has paperwork with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance last week.
This sets up a two-way primary race between Mr. Crocker and Eric R. Steinhilber, who launched his campaign back in February.
***
A quick note from the world of unsurprising endorsements: State Representative Viriato (Vinny) M. deMacedo (R – Plymouth) endorsed colleague and friend State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District.
An even bigger name attaching itself to the Perry campaign train: former Massachusetts governor W. Mitt Romney. “He will be a strong conservative voice against the Washington culture of higher taxes, higher spending, and higher debt,” Der Mittster said in a press release. “I am looking forward to the contributions he will make in the US House of Representatives.”
Speaking of contributions, Romney’s “Free and Strong America” PAC is throwing $2,500 into Rep. Perry’s war chest along with the official thumb’s up.
***
Thomas F. Keyes, Republican candidate for State Senator of the Plymouth & Barnstable District, announced the addition of Glenn Kelly of Falmouth to his campaign team. Mr. Kelly will be the campaign coordinator for Falmouth.
According to a press release, Mr. Kelly is the Head Professional at the Woods Hole Golf Club – man, I feel like there’s a good joke in there somewhere – and a former Falmouth Republican Town Committee chairman.
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Patricia L. Mosca of Bourne is launching her campaign for governor’s councilor of the first district next Saturday, May 8, at the Hemisphere Restaurant in Sandwich. That runs from 6 to 9 PM, and attendance in free.
Ms. Mosca is a retired probation officer with the Plymouth District Trial Court and as a social worker with Social Service Foster Care and the Transitional Assistance Program.
For further information about next week’s reception, contact Ms. Mosca directly at 508-221-1160 or visit her campaign website at www.democratsofsandwich.org/PatriciaMosca.htm (be warned that whoever set it up perhaps doesn’t know HTML as well as he should. You’ll see what I mean when you check it out).
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Final reminders! James F. Munafo Jr., Republican candidate for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District, is holding his campaign kickoff tomorrow at the Hyannis Golf Course from 5 to 7 PM. Contact the campaign at 508-771-8101 or votemunafo@integrity.com.
Republican David T. Vieira of Falmouth, candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District, is holding his kick-off fundraiser at the Falmouth Navigator (just off Sandwich Road in Hatchville) this Tuesday from 5 PM to 8 PM. Tickets are $25. To purchase tickets, call Addie Drolette at 774-836-0100.
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F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, has a couple of fundraisers coming up: Friday, June 4 at the Tao Water Art Gallery on Route 6A in Barnstable, from 6 to 8 PM; and a Cape Cod clambake at the West Barnstable Deer Club on Saturday, July 31 from 4 to 7 PM.
Hey, candidates! A friendly reminder that the deadline for turning in your completed nomination papers for any district or county seat is coming up! Party and non-party candidates have until Tuesday, April 27 to get their paper in.
Party candidates for statewide and federal offices have until May 4, and non-party candidates have until August 3.
As of this week, there are still a few local races with no stated formal challengers to the incumbents: William Doherty, Barnstable County Commissioner; James M. Cummings, Barnstable County sheriff; Michael D. O’Keefe, Cape and Islands DA; and State Representative Timothy R. Madden (D – Nantucket).
Even more curious is how no one from the GOP has emerged to take down Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. No one. The closest we’ve come? There was a rumor that Peter Flaherty, former aide to Governor W. Mitt Romney and former Suffolk County assistant DA, was considering a run, but nothing’s materialized.
***
The Sandwich Democratic Town Committee opened up on Sunday their shiny new headquarters for the 2010 election season, and the ribbon cutting attracted no less than Governor Deval L. Patrick.
You may be asking yourself what the big deal is. The big deal is that Gov. Patrick’s presence sends the message that the Democrats are going to be focusing on Sandwich this year. The town’s been firmly in the GOP camp since State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) was first elected to the seat in 2002, and now that he’s moving on to focus on his Congressional run, the seat is vulnerable to a Democratic takeover.
The two gents lined up to duke it out for state rep of the fifth Barnstable district – which includes all of Sandwich – are Democrat Lance W. Lambros and Republican F. Randal Hunt. That’s going to be one of the stronger local contests and could be a very close race.
***
Daniel A. Wolf, Democratic candidate for state senator of the Cape and Islands district, has announced his campaign kick-off event for Saturday, April 24. That will be held at The Paddock in Hyannis and run from 4 PM to 6 PM.
This is actually the third, final, and closest stop on a three-town tour that day which begins in Provincetown and stops in Orleans before ending in Hyannis. To RSVP for the Hyannis event call Stefanie Coxe at 508-360-9074 or kickoff@danwolfforsenate.com.
Another Republican is eyeballing State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis’s (D – Barnstable) seat. Charles C. Case Jr. of Centerville, an attorney, filed his paperwork with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance last week.
This sets us up for a primary race as James F. Munafo Jr., a Barnstable town councilor, is also running as a Republican.
***
Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) has given her official website a facelift. It boasts better aesthetics, more features (including more multimedia content), and more active updating. Go to www.theresemurray.com and poke around.
Sen. Murray is running for re-election this year to her ninth term.
***
What the –?! Another candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district?
Yep, and her name is Patricia L. Mosca, and she hails from Bourne. She’s a retired probation officer with the Plymouth District Court and a former social worker supervisor with the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance.
She officially launches her campaign on Saturday, May 8 with a reception at the Hemisphere Restaurant in Sandwich. That starts at 6 PM.
Ms. Mosca is one of four people – all Democrats – running for the seat currently held by Carole A. Fiola, who is not running for re-election.
***
Poll time!
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll of 500 likely voters revealed that Gov. Patrick might be reclaiming a little of his mojo. In a theoretical race between Gov. Patrick, Republican Charles D. Baker Jr., and unenrolled candidate Timothy P. Cahill, the incumbent comes out on top, edging out Baker by an eight percent margin.
This is a better lead than Gov. Patrick had only a month earlier, when he came out winning the same three-way contest by only a three percent margin.
In a scenario in which Christy P. Mihos is the Republican pick, Mr. Mihos replaces Mr. Cahill in the third-placer; Gov. Patrick wins this theoretical election over Mr. Cahill by a five percent margin, and Mr. Cahill beats Mr. Mihos by an 18 percent margin.
(There was absolutely no mention of Green-Rainbow Party candidate Dr. Jill E. Stein, nor of Grace Ross, a former Green-Rainbow Party member who jumped to the Democratic Party to challenge Gov. Patrick in the primary – in theory, at least, because she’s been pretty quiet since she entered the race.)
The poll suggested that Mr. Mihos’s standing is slipping, while Gov. Patrick may no longer be the sitting duck he was a few months ago. The Boston Globe reported last week that the governor has over the past few months displayed a renewed energy and hit hard on some key issues.
No, readers, it’s not at all cynical to think that Gov. Patrick is cranking the volume up to 11 because it’s an election year and his job’s at stake.
***
Mr. Cahill, by the way, is claiming that he is the first candidate to reach the 10,000 signature mark, meaning (assuming all the signatures are certified) he has secured his spot on the November ballot.
“People are sick of the petty bickering between the two major parties, where one party says ‘no’ to an idea simply because the other party came up with it,” campaign mouthpiece Adam Meldrum said in a press release. “This year, the people of Massachusetts are not going to be saddled with the same old partisan choices they’re always been presented with. This year, voters will have a viable third alternative to the Democrats and Republicans who have created the mess this state is in.”
***
Back to the polling thing. While poking around online I found on MassBeacon.com an informal poll to see who the favorites are in the race for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District. The poll – completely unscientific, by their own admission – had our two local boys in the lead: Rep. Perry came out on top on the Republican side, besting Joseph D. Malone by a crushing 54-point margin; and State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) beat William Keating by a smaller but still decisive 18-point margin.
Perhaps tellingly, “other” was the third most common choice above other confirmed and rumored candidates in both races. Alas, the site did not hold a theoretical race between the two party candidates and unenrolled candidate Peter A. White.
The odds of an all-Cape slate candidates are not guaranteed, of course, but it would definitely be cool.
***
On a Joe Malone-related side note, Mr. Malone has added Ted Langill to his campaign staff as his political director. Mr. Langill previously worked as a legislative aide to State Senator Robert L. Hedlund (R – Weymouth). Point of interest: Sen. Hedlund himself was for a time a rumored candidate for the 10th district race.
***
Finally, Suzanne Bump, Democratic candidate for state auditor, has launched her campaign website. That’s up at http://suzannebump.com.
The auditor race is unusually active this year – six candidates! – but then again, long-time auditor A. Joseph DeNucci is stepping down, and open seats tend to attract more interest than those with incumbents.
Special online bonus time!
I came across this campaign ad, which is NOT for J.D. Hayworth, the guy trying to oust US Senator John McCain (R – Arizona) in the primary race, but for McCain himself. It’s remarkably whimsical for a campaign ad so I thought I’d share the cheap yuks with y’all.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Excuse me, people. I believe when I let for vacation I told you not to do anything interesting while I was gone. But did you listen? Noooooooooo!
Yep, there was a lot of movement last week, and let’s start with what is shaping up to be the big race on the Cape, the race for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District. On Sunday Republican Joseph D. Malone made his candidacy official with a special kick-off event at Plimoth Plantation. The former state treasurer has vowed to reach out to voters of all political persuasions in his campaign.
With Mr. Malone all in, we now have a slate of six candidates, and we’re waiting on a seventh in William Keating, the Norfolk County District Attorney who has been planning to formally end his bid for Massachusetts Attorney General and shift his attention to the seat currently held by Congressman (and former Norfolk County DA) William D. Delahunt (D).
Rep. Perry recently announced he was adding Swift Current Strategies — which worked on US Senator Scott P. Brown’s (R) campaign — to his team, and launched a new social networking website for supporters dubbed “Perry’s Patriots.” You can find that at www.perryspatriots.com (just look for the logo that is just similar enough to the New England Patriots logo to get him in dutch with Bob Kraft).
Perry's Patriot and Pat the Patriot - separated at birth?
***
Another candidate in this hectic race is State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable), and his pending departure from the state Legislature has so far attracted three Democrats interested in succeeding him: Sheila R. Lyons, a member of the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners; Mark D. Forest, longtime aide to Rep. Delahunt; and Daniel A. Wolf, CEO of Cape Air.
Mr. Wolf is well-known in the Cape business community so he’s not a non-entity, but his political experience is, to the best of my knowledge, virtually non-existent. Ms. Lyons has had relatively limited experience, all of it in county government, but she knows how to campaign and get her name out. Mr. Forest knows the game at the federal level and has connections throughout the district, so I have to call him the odds-on favorite.
Barnstable and Mashpee readers can learn more about the candidates in the front section.
So far only one Republican, Eric Steinhilber, is in the mix, but word is that Barnstable Town Councilor James Crocker Jr. has taken out nomination papers.
Since I’m talking about this race, now’s a good time to mention that Ms. Lyons, Mr. Forest, and Mr. Wolf are scheduled to appear at a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Harwich Democratic Town Committee. That’s happening on Tuesday, April 6 at 7:30 PM, and will be held at the Harwich Community Center.
Last week I mentioned that Republican David T. Vieira of Falmouth was officially in as a candidate for state representative of the third Barnstable district. Well, first of all, his campaign website is now live, and that’s at www.votevieira.com. He’s also announced his kick-off fundraiser at the Falmouth Navigator (just off Sandwich Road in Hatchville) for Thursday, May 6 from 5 PM to 8 PM. Tickets are $25.
Meanwhile, incumbent state rep Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth) is officially kicking off his re-election campaign tonight. Rep. Patrick, supporters, and special mystery guests will be at Oysters Too in East Falmouth tonight from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. There is a suggested donation of $50, but all are welcome to attend.
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Oliver P. Cipollini Jr., Democratic candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, has his new campaign website up and hummin’. Beat feet over to www.olivercipollini.com and check it out.
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An unenrolled candidate has thrown his name into the ring for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. James Henderson of Stow filed his paperwork with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, and now joins incumbent William F. Galvin and Republican William Campbell of Woburn.
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Now this, I must say, is kind of cool.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker Jr. marked St. Patrick’s Day in an unusual way: People who went to his website last week and made a donation of $20.10 (as in Campaign 2010) received as a thank-you a download of “(F)lanagan’s Ball” by the Dropkick Murphys.
The Dropkick Murphys? Really? How unexpectedly hip of Baker. What next, Christy P. Mihos trading donations for Foo Fighters MP3s?
On that note: those two gentlemen will square off tonight at the Cape Codder Resort. This head-to-head debate starts at 7 PM (doors open at 6:15 PM, presumably to sell beer, popcorn, and giant foam fingers). The Cape Cod Republican Club and the Women’s Republican Club of Cape Cod are co-sponsoring the event.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
