| Despite the endorsement, only Rep. Blumer's name will appear on the ballot since she had been running unopposed, and Secretary of State William Galvin ruled that there wasn't enough time to print up new ballots. The Democratic Town Committee pledged to back the winner of today's caucus in a write-in effort, including paying for one district-wide mailing for the endorsee. A vote for Rep. Blumer on Nov. 7 will not be counted.
Richardson said she'd long planned to run for state representative, but expected to do so after Blumer retired 6 or 8 years from now. "This isn't how I envisioned this happening," she said.
The caucus format allowed for 2-minute opening and closing statements, as well as 30-second answers to five questions. A longer written questionnaire was passed out to caucus voters.
Richardson, vice chair of the Framingham School Committee and a member of the Massachusetts Association of School Committee Board of Directors, noted that she has worked on state issues affecting the town, including unfair allocation of state funding for schools and problems with funding charter schools. She pledged to be a full-time legislator if elected (she currently works as a real estate agent). She said she would support expanding health insurance coverage to more people without coverage. When asked about top three legislative priorities, she responded: public education, the healthcare initiative and economic development.
Richardson's first "Meet the Candidate Event" is scheduled for Sunday, October 29 from 1 to 3 pm at Bella Costa Restaurant.
Will all the other other candidates back Richardson? Wes Ritchie, the only one I spoke with after the vote, told me that he will be supporting her. Murphy said in her written comments that "This election is bigger than I am and the Democratic seat is what is important."
However, in her written statements, Hall said, "My answer will depend on the circumstances." Hall finished second in caucus voting on the final ballot, 106 votes to 73.
The format only allowed candidates to briefly address a few issues, and voters were directed to written responses for more details. In her written comments, Richardson said she supports increasing the foundation budget to meet education needs of all students, supports full funding of the Mass. Prescription Advantage program until the federal program is changed and opposes slot machines at existing race tracks.
On the income tax rollback, she said "cutting the tax rate to 5.0% would shift the burden onto the property tax placing an unfair burden on the people least able to afford it." And, she would vote to oppose placing an amendment banning same-sex marriages on the 2008 ballot. She opposes the death penalty, saying "I oppose discrimination."
Many town residents - including me - are unhappy with Galvin's ruling on this election, concerned that a two and a half week campaign isn't enough time to mount an effective write-in vote or allow voters to be adequately informed. There's a danger that progressive votes could split among multiple candidates, allowing a candidate much more conservative than the majority of voters to slip in. This would dramatically alter the character of the district's representation from the past legacy of Rep. Blumer or Barbara Gray before her.
Anti-immigrant candidates Jim Rizoli and Nicholas Sanchez will be seeking write-in votes. In addition, "unenrolled" independent Marla Davis, who works for the Foxborough school district, has posted a message to a local town mailing list that she wants to run a write-in campaign.
There were many references to the sad circumstances of the day's event. The Blumer family attended to participate in naming Rep. Blumer's successor, although they did not speak publicly about their choice. Debby's son Adam was part of the Framingham Democratic Town Committe's Sixth Middlesex District Committee set up to create a process to endorse Blumer's successor.
State Sen. Karen Spilka called the election circumstances "an ugly process that we have to go through."
"It is going to be extremely difficult for anybody to win this race" because of the short time frame and need to get write-in votes, she told caucus attendees.
"We need to elect a Democrat in this race. We need to unify behind the person who is chosen today," she said, warning, "if we don't do that, there is a good strong chance with ideals very different from ours will get in. ...
"Giving Framingham a voice, that's what this is all about." |
