Gomez to Face Markey in Senate Election
A political newcomer will face a long-time Massachusetts politician in the race to be the Bay State’s next U.S. senator. The Associated Press has declared Republican businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset and Democratic U.S. Congressman Edward Markey of Malden the winners of their U.S. Senate special primary elections, according to tweets from Fox 25. The call for Gomez came approximately one hour after the polls closed in the statewide primary while a call for Markey came moments later. Gomez defeats his more seasoned opponents, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of Abington and state Rep. Dan Winslow of Norfolk. Markey beat fellow U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch of South Boston. Brett Rhyne of Needham ran an unsuccessful bid as write-in candidate. The general election will be held June 25. South End Patch
Lynch, Markey to Debate Tonight in Lowell
The combatants for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate special election will square off Monday night in Lowell for their second debate leading up to the April 30 primary. Congressmen Edward Markey (D-Malden) and Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) will participate in the debate being held at 7:30 p.m. at Durgin Hall on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The debate is being sponsored by UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion and the Boston Herald. Questions for the debate will be posed by UMass Lowell students while the moderator will be reporter Jaclyn Cashman, according to the university. Markey and Lynch previously met for their first debate March 27 at the Channel 5 studios in Needham. The two candidates agreed to six total debates before the primary. The winner of the April 30 primary will be the Democratic nominee to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The general election in June 25. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Polls Give Markey Double Digit Lead in Senate Race
Two polls last week show double digit leads for U.S. Rep. Edward Markey over his Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in the race for U.S. Senate. Results of a UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll last week showed Markey (D-Malden) leads Lynch (D-South Boston) by 29.5 percentage points among potential Democratic primary voters. The poll also shows Markey is leading over all three Republican candidates. Fifty percent of those polled said they would vote for Markey, while 20.5 percent said Lynch, giving Markey a 29.5 percent lead. Twenty-three percent said they were unsure about how they plan to vote. Markey and Lynch face off in the April 30 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry’s appointment to Secretary of State. On the Republican side, Markey also led, according to the poll, coming in 19 points over former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, 17.2 percent over former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and 23.2 percent over State Rep. Dan Winslow. The poll also showed Lynch leading over all three Republican candidates: 18 percent over Gomez, 17 percent over Sullivan and 24.5 percentage points over Winslow. A second poll last week, this one by the League of Conservation Voters, which is supporting Markey in the special election, also shows him with a double digit lead. The poll shows Markey at 42 percent, with Lynch at 28 percent. AFL-CIO not endorsing in the primary Both Lynch and Markey continue to bring in endorsements and seem to be splitting union support, however, neither candidate will get the backing of the state’s largest labor organization. The AFL-CIO has decided not to endorse in the Democratic primary. The Boston Herald reported this week that Steven Tolman, Massachusetts AFL-CIO president, said the union will work to defeat whichever Republican candidate wins the GOP primary. GOP candidates kick off campaigns, national TV weighs in With just a month and a half until the primary, the candidates are wasting no time campaigning, building teams and putting their all in the sprint toward the April Primary. Republican Candidate Michael Sullivan officially kicked off his campaign Saturday in Abington. This week we also learned Sullivan hired Richard Tisei’s former campaign manager to manage his campaign for U.S. Senate. His camp also includes former State Rep. Karyn Polito as his “campaign chairman,” Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) spent some time with Attleboro Patch when he came through town to meet and greet potential voters. Winslow also got himself some national attention when MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pointed out a discrepancy when he blasted his party last weekend for holding a straw poll at the Danversport Yacht Club. Maddow […]
Lynch, Markey Hit the Road, Republicans Get Started
With only days to go before nomination papers are due in the race for U.S. Senate, last week was a busy one for announced and potential candidates looking to fill the seat left vacant by John Kerry’s appointment to Secretary of State. The Republican field lost one prominent candidate, and another generated a bit of controversy. On the Democratic side, Congressmen Edward Markey (D-Malden) and Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) have been working through their pre-primary debate schedule and campaigning across the state. Democrats Markey and Lynch hit the roadBoth Democratic candidates hit the road again last week from Pittsfield to Salem, meeting with residents and attending fundraisers. Markey had campaign stops in Taunton, Fall River, Lowell and Pittsfield, to name a few. On Thursday, Lynch spoke to the Boston Firefighters Local 718. He also had campaign stops in several communities, including Lynn, Methuen, Peabody and Salem. Jamaica Plain is a territory within the bounds of Lynch’s seat, the MA 8th. On Wednesday, Lynch and Markey signed a deal to limit outside groups from producing ads during the Democratic Primary. The deal is based on a similar pledge signed by Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren during the 2012 Senate Race. Also last week, Lynch received the endorsement of the 75,000 member Massachusetts Building Trades Council. Markey was endorsed by Daily Kos. Last week also saw a new poll released in the U.S. Senate race. Conducted by WBUR/MassINC, the poll showed Markey holding a slim 38 percent to 31 percent lead over Lynch in the primary, with 26 percent saying they’re still unsure who they will vote for. The poll also showed that either Democratic candidate would hold a lead over a generic Republican. Bielat drops out of Republican primary raceRepublican Sean Bielat said Wednesday that while he thought he could run a strong campaign, the timing wasn’t right for him to run, according to an Associated Press report. He previously ran for Congress twice – against Barney Frank and Joe Kennedy III, who he lost to in November. Bielat had sought donations to run last weekend and even filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. The field of Republican candidates could be crowded if no one pulls out of a potential run and if everyone who pulled papers gets them in by the deadline. Candidates have until Wednesday, Feb. 27 to gather the 10,000 certified signatures needed to appear on the April 30 primary ballot. The special election is June 25. No papers have been submitted as of Feb. 21 according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Already in the running are State Rep. Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk), former Nantucket selectman and county commissioner Douglas Bennett and former Navy Seal […]
Markey or Lynch: Who Would You Vote for Today?
We have a race. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch became the second candidate to officially enter the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by new Secretary of State John Kerry, following his fellow Democratic Congressman Ed Markey. Lynch and Markey will now face off in a primary set for April 30 for the right to represent the Democratic Party in the special election on June 25 against a still unknown Republican opponent, as no GOP candidate has officially entered the race yet. Former U.S. Senator Scott Brown fired an early salvo against Markey, but said on Friday that he would not run for Senate. There are differences between Lynch and Markey, despite being members of the same party. Lynch voted against Obamacare, officially called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while Markey voted for the bill. Lynch also has an anti-abortion stance, although it’s not absolute—Planned Parenthood currently gives him a score of 83 percent to Markey’s 100 percent. The National Right to Life Committee, meanwhile, gave Lynch a score of 10 percent during the last Congressional session, while Markey received a zero. The most recent National Journal rankings from 2011 give Markey a liberal score of 89.2, making him the 41st most liberal member of the House, while Lynch received a liberal score of 72.8, ranking him the 123rd most liberal member of the House. Lynch also touts his union support as a former ironworker who then graduated from law school and later won his current congressional seat in 2001, while Markey, also a lawyer by trade, was first elected to Congress in 1976. Another potential factor is the state’s unenrolled voters, who can choose to cast a ballot in one party’s primary. Over half of Bay State voters are registered as unenrolled, which would allow unenrolled voters who lean right to vote in the Democratic primary for Lynch—or against Markey—if they decide to show up at the polls. During the special Senate election in 2010 between Brown and state Attorney General Martha Coakley, during the height of the Obamacare debate, 54 percent of registered Massachusetts voters turned out. Who would you vote for if the primary were held today: Lynch or Markey? Are you an unenrolled voter and, if so, do you plan to vote in the Democratic primary on April 30? Tell us your plans to vote in the comments below. South End Patch
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