Margot's and David's recommendations for Sept 4 2018 primary

Dear friends,

We are once again reaching out to friends and neighbors with our recommendations for the upcoming election, this time for statewide candidates in the Democratic primary Tuesday, September 4, the day after tomorrow (which is Labor Day).  We recommend Jay Gonzalez for Governor, Quentin Palfrey for Lieutenant Governor, and Josh Zakim for Secretary of State.  We will elaborate on our reasons below.  Please forgive us for the lateness of this message.  We have also been working very hard on one local race, and our intense focus there has prevented our getting to this communication until now.  More on that below also. 

Our views and priorities in state campaigns are of necessity colored by the current national scene.  We feel that we are in a state of emergency.  Just as it is becoming more urgent to address economic injustice, enormous racial disparities, environmental degradation, and climate change, the federal government is racing in the wrong direction.  Instead of using its power and resources to find equitable solutions to these pressing problems, the current administration acts as a slush fund for officials in key power positions, enacts policy that plunders the earnings of people with low and moderate incomes to benefit the wealthiest among us, destroys protections for workers, consumers, and the environment, threatens a variety of human rights, and foments hatred and division to divert attention from these ravages. 

In this context, we feel that it is crucial to use whatever power is available in state government to address the problems we face and hold a firm line on further erosion of human rights.   We need leadership. 

We feel that the administration of Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito has been characterized mostly by mediocrity and mean-spiritedness.  Baker has stood by while our transportation infrastructure crumbles, failed to take bold steps to stem the opioid epidemic, tried to undermine public education, taken only baby steps to slow climate change, and shrunk rather than expanded access to health care coverage.  This is unacceptable and unnecessary.  Jay Gonzalez has a comprehensive set of proposals on these and many other issues, the administrative experience to bring his vision to fruition, and the boldness to fight for it.  Jay was the Director of Administration and Finance in the Patrick administration and had a lot of private sector experience before that; his background gives him standing to refute Baker’s claims of management expertise.  Take a look at Jay’s issues proposals here.  We think you will be impressed, as we have been when hearing Jay speak about his vision and plans for action. 

Quentin Palfrey brings both passion and a wealth of experience in finding innovative solutions to some of the pressing problems outlined above.  As Senior Advisor for jobs and Competitiveness in the Obama administration, he led a variety of initiatives to create an economy that works for everyone.  In Massachusetts he served as chief of the Healthcare Division in the office of the Attorney General, overseeing implementation of health care reform. He is dedicated to addressing the underlying causes of poverty and inequality.  We have been impressed with his comprehensive grasp of the key issues we face as well as his heartfelt approach to public service.  You can learn more about Quentin here. 

Josh Zakim, a young attorney and Boston City Councilor, is challenging the long-time incumbent Secretary of State in order to make voting more accessible to citizens of Massachusetts.  Sometimes the office holders and candidates who are vying for offices that are not at the top of the ticket don’t get much attention, but who holds these offices can have a profound effect on how our democracy plays out.  The Secretary of State administers our election system, overseeing (with considerable discretion) how the election laws are implemented.  He or she is in the position to propose and champion changes to existing law.  The election laws we have now in Massachusetts resemble the ones in states like North Carolina where Republican-controlled legislatures have enacted draconian legislation with the express intention of suppressing voter turnout.

Josh points out that our voter turnout has plummeted over the last 30 years.   Low turnouts here favor entrenched incumbents, especially top leaders in the state House of Representatives who year after year prevent vital environmental, worker protection, and funding legislation from moving forward.  If we were serious about expanding access to voting we would expand early voting to include primaries and municipal and special elections, institute no-excuse absentee voting, and remove the 20-day deadline before an election to register to vote.  Josh Zakim favors all of these reforms, and is already fighting for them. 

In his current role as a Boston city councilor, Josh has consistently stood up for equity, fairness, housing security and protections for immigrants.  We would be proud to have him as our Secretary of State.  You can learn more about his platform here.  

In our local race for State Representative in the 17th Worcester District, just next door to the one we live in, we have been helping our longtime friend and political ally David LeBoeuf to win the Democratic nomination.  If you live in that district we have already reached out to you to let you know about David, and we urge you to vote for him!  He brings an impressive track record of civic engagement, successful advocacy, and community service to his quest for public office.  Professionally, David has led initiatives to support small business and develop strong local economies.  He has held key roles in a number of political campaigns including serving as campaign manager for Harriette Chandler’s re-election in 2014.  You can learn more about David here.  

Looking toward the November election, we urge you to support and get involved in ballot questions #1: Safe Patient Limits, and #3: protecting civil rights for transgender individuals.  We will elaborate on our reasons for supporting these questions in a later post.  Meanwhile, you can learn more here and here. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this!  Most importantly, please vote!

As we say in the campaign business, Many Happy Returns!

Sincerely,

Margot and David

P.S. A little of how the process works:  you can vote in a party primary if you are registered in that party or if you are registered to vote but not enrolled in any party.  Polls are open from 7 AM to 8 PM.  If you are unenrolled, you need to ask for a Democratic ballot to vote for the candidates we are recommending.  If you are not sure where you vote, you can find out here.    

(It is a bit ironic that we're sending you to a page with a picture of our candidate's opponent on it.  It demonstrates his penchant for self-promotion.)