Scott Brown goes to Washington- Who will take his place?

One of the things that I value about the netroots in general, and about SSP in particular, is the ease with which it allows me to find information on specific elections and and races that the MSM would never dream of covering (I guess us nerds are just too few to be a profitable marketing demographic).

As an MA resident and Democratic activist, I’d like to dedicate this, my very first SSP diary, to developing race to succeed State Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex State Senate District. I think that this is a vital race for political nerds across the country to watch, because it has the opportunity to change the narrative here in New England, where conventional wisdom is that we Democrats are about to be the victims of a 1990/1994 style Republican wave this November.

The race for Scott Brown’s former State Senate seat is relevent across the region because it is traditionally one of the swingiest of swing districts in the Commonwealth.

A little history:

The Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex seat was held by the former Republican floor leader in the MA Senate right up until 1992, when it was won by a young, charismatic and openly lesbian county prosecutor named Cheryl Jacques. Jacques was (and is) a national figure in the LGBT rights movement, and is a former president of Human Rights Campaign (she resigned from the Senate to take that position and move her family to Washington in March of 2004). Jacques was also the progressive standard-bearer in the 2001 special election for US congress that was eventually won by the less-than-liberal US Rep. Steve Lynch of South Boston.

http://www.cheryljacques.org/

Scott Brown, than a little-known State Rep. from his native Wrentham, went on to win the special election caused by Jacques’ resignation over her CoS in a massive upset, winning by only a handful of votes despite the fact that the special election was scheduled for the day of the 2004 Presidential Primary, which was unopposed by President Bush on the Republican side.

http://www.boston.com/news/spe…

The Candidates:

There are three currently declared candidates in the race for Scott Brown’s Senate seat, two Democrats and one Republican.

The Republican is formidable. He is Wrentham State Rep. Richard Ross, a Scott Brown protege who succeeded Brown in the State House when Brown moved up to the Senate. Unlike Brown, Ross has a moderate reputation, having been one of only a handful of Republican supporters of gay marriage during the key votes on the Constitutional Amendment in 2007. Ross, like Brown, is charismatic and a strong campaigner.

On the Democratic side, we have a two candidates who probably could not be in sharper contrast with one another. State Rep. Lida Harkins is a 21-year veteran of the State Legislature, and was a trusted lieutenant to both of our most recently previous Speakers of the House, Tom Finneran and Sal DiMasi, both of whom are currently facing federal corruption charges. Harkins is also a conservative on some social issues, such as choice. But she is a proven vote-getter in her hometown of Needham, the biggest D-leaning town in the district, and a close-in suburb of Boston.

Needham Town Meeting member Dr. Peter Smulowitz is young- 33- and has only two years in elected office under his belt. Smulowitz, however, has the advantage of having been in this race the longest- he declared his candidacy against than-incumbent Scott Brown last November- and the organizational and fundraising advantages that go along with it. Smulowitz has almost double the CoH than Ross does, and almost seven times as much as Harkins, and he also already has a campaign organization in place, with a top-notch staff, open campaign office and in-place volunteer network. Smulowitz also benefits from not being associated with the taint of Beacon Hill (We Massholes are very, very annoyed at our state legislature right now), and of being the pro-choice progressive in a primary race where liberal voters will almost certainly dominate.

I’m supporting Dr. Smulowitz because I believe he will not only be a better progressive legislator in office, but I also believe he would be our party’s strongest nominee against the formidable Rep. Ross. While Ross could paint Harkins as the out-of-touch insider from Beacon Hill, since she has been there 21 years to his 6, Smulowitz, who is not currently serving in the legislature, could do the same to Ross. I believe it’s also vital not to underestimate the power of an already-assembled organization in the short time frame of a special election.

Candidate websites can be found here:

Ross (R) :    http://reprichardross.org/

Smulowitz (D) :   http://petersmulowitz.com/

Harkins (D) : No campaign website up yet, legislative website here http://www.mass.gov/legis/memb…

As I mentioned earlier in this post, this will be a vital race for Democrats to win, not because we need another seat in the MA State Senate (although that’s always nice…) but because a win here can change the narrative about Democratic doom and Republican ascendency in our state. Check out the candidates, and if you’re in the area, come help out!

UPDATE:

Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray announced today that she is scheduling the special election for Scott Brown’s former State Senate seat for April 13th (primary) and May 11th (general). That means that it’s just a little more than two months before we find out who our nominees are!