The 1st Bristol district (Foxboro/Mansfield/Norton) has been held by Republicans since it was drawn 15 years ago. Naughton was the only Democrat who stepped up to run for this district in the special election last winter, after the death of incumbent Rep Michael Coppola. Although Coppola's widow, Ginny Coppola, won the election to serve out the remainder of the term, Claire Naughton got 45%, the first time a Democrat broke 40% in this district. This time, two other Democrats ran, I think in part because she showed the district was winnable. Naughton won the 3-way primary in a landslide, with 60%.
Although Naughton got into the race expecting a rematch with Ginny Coppola, Coppola decided not to run for re-election. Instead, she's facing Republican activist Jay Barrows, a Mansfield businessman and former George W. Bush delegate. They differ on many issues. He intends to vote for the constitutional amendment on marriage, just as Coppola did, while Naughton will vote against it. His top priority is an immediate rollback of the income tax to 5%, while her top priority is schools, police, firefighters, and local services. On taxes, Claire Naughton's position has always been that we need to focus on restoring local aid and cutting property taxes, and we can't afford to do that if we cut the income tax now. You can learn more about Claire's views in this video, where she discusses the issues with US Rep Barney Frank.
But perhaps the biggest contrast is in their commitment to doing the job and representing the community. When asked whether he'd be a full time Representative, Jay Barrows said "it's not full time pay." He apparently intends to continue relying on his business for that "full time pay." Claire has been campaigning full time for almost a year, and if she wins, she will devote her full attention to the job of representing her district.
Claire Naughton spent 30 years teaching public school in Brookline, Attleboro, and Warwick. She's the elected Democratic statecommitteewoman from the 1st Bristol district and former chair of the Foxboro town committee. She wants to go to the state house to work on the problems she's seen in local communities.
At the beginning of her campaign, Claire pledged to attend every town meeting in all three towns in the district. As a couple of Norton residents wrote in a letter recently,
True to her pledge, Claire has attended every town meeting in the district since she began her campaign. Case in point: on the rainy evening of Oct. 11, there was a town meeting in Norton. There were five candidates there and a sea of signs - until 7 p.m. Then all of the candidates and their supporters melted away into the night - except Claire Naughton, who went into the Norton town meeting and listened to what people in our community were saying.
I'm convinced that Claire Naughton would be the kind of Representative I most want: Accessible, open, smart, an advocate for progressive reforms, not just another Democratic vote in the house.
This is going to be a very close election. Claire has built on her support from last winter by going door to door all year, and she can win this time. How close will it be? It feels like the kind of election that will be decided on the ground, on election day, possibly by a handful of votes. Every volunteer means more votes. Wanna help get out the Democratic vote tomorrow in Massachusetts? Do it in Claire's district - join us! |
