Man In The Middle by Nancy OhanianPeople think of Massachusetts as an all blue state. It isn't. There's a Republican governor. And although Hillary won in a landslide in 2016, Trump still got over a million votes (33.5%). And in 2018, Republican Geoff Diehl won 36.2% of the vote statewide against Elizabeth Warren in the U.S.
In the 2018 election, Democrats increased their majorities in the Massachusetts state legislature, picking up 3 seats in the state Senate and 10 in the state House. There are 4 special elections on March 31, a week from Tuesday. Tomorrow the state legislature will decide whether or not to postpone the elections. My bet is that they will. These are the vacant seats being contested:
Whoever wins the Democratic primary in MA-05 today will be Congress' next member-- and they walk right into the dysfunctional mess in DC. Only one candidate is prepared to walk into that mess and take a significant role and that's Carl Sciortino. No way to be sure who's going to win today.
There are no teabaggers we have to worry about in the race to replace Ed Markey in the deep blue Massachusetts House seat that will be decided a week from today. Most of the candidates are garden variety Democrats looking to advance their careers. True to form, EMILY's List has backed the most conservative woman running, Katherine Clark, best known for her efforts to pass domestic spying legislation in Massachusetts-- yes a bill that allows people to be spied on without a warrant.
Politics as a bloodsport even predates Ted Cruz immigrating to the United States. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr weren't dueling over a damsel. That video above may win a congressional seat for Carl Sciortino because people like the message. No, not especially the messages on the Blue America billboards based on the video, although those are popular messages in MA-05. But it is the message of comity between an unabashed progressive and a Tea Party member that makes it so compelling.
Maybe you already started getting the desperate and pathetic e-mails from multimillionaire congressmen, like Scott Peters, begging for your money to finance his career-- which is all about supporting Wall Street corporate special interests. Or maybe you got one of those ridiculous Steve Israel e-mails telling you that [fill in the blank] is the most important race of the cycle and please give more money.
If you're a regular DWT reader, you already know that Blue America endorsed Carl Sciortino for Ed Markey's old congressional seat (MA-05).
There are a number of garden variety Democrats-- and worse-- running for Ed Markey's old House seat (MA-05), but there is only one strong progressive in the race: state Rep. Carl Sciortino, who was endorsed by Blue America last February.
Brownsberger wants to stand out-- even if only as the worst candidate in the raceA Republican isn't going to win Ed Markey's old House seat, MA-05. The district is very blue. Last year Markey was reelected 254,128 (76%) to 82,286 (24%). The district is composed of 24 townships. Markey rocked every one of them. Obama beat former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 65-33%. The PVI is D+14. Republicans don't win in D+14 districts. The whole ball game in MA-05 is the primary.
