Sunday, April 7, 2013
A look back at what happened over the past week in the U.S. Senate race.
It was a very busy week in the race for U.S. Senate. Things started to get heated as the candidates continue to race toward the April 30 primaries. We saw candidates lashing out at party backing, another facing an ethics complaint, new poll numbers, and more. Let’s start with the Democrats this week. Democratic candidates Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) and Edward Markey (D-Malden) will face off in a second debate Monday night in Lowell. If the news of the past week is any indication, it should make for an interesting back and forth between the candidates. Lynch took aim at his party leaders last week for supporting Markey. Lynch told the Boston Herald that the Democratic leaders haven’t been fair and told them that he thinks they’ve done…
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The forum will feature Democratic and Republican challengers in Needham at WCVB.
Five candidates seeking the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by John Kerry will debate for the first time in one place Wednesday night in Needham. The two Democrats and three Republicans vying for the vacated position will face each other in two separate, 30-minute debates in an event sponsored by the Boston Media Consortium and held at the Channel 5 studios. The debate will air live from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be moderated by R.D. Sahl. Patch will be among the media organizations covering the event. The primary election is April 30. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Malden) will square off against U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston). In the latest UMass Lowell poll, Markey leads Lynch 50 percent to 29.5 percent, …
Sunday, March 24, 2013
A look back at what happened over the past week in the U.S. Senate race.
The Democratic candidates for Senate this week talked about the war in Iraq, launched more television ads, opened regional and local campaign offices and continued to get the word out as the April 30 primary draws near. This past week marked the 10-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, and with a hotly contested U.S. Senate Primary just over a month away, both Congressmen seeking the Democratic nomination found themselves defending their votes. Democratic opponents Congressmen Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) and Edward Markey (D-Malden) both voted to use force in Iraq, but the two Senate candidates disagreed on a vote the following year to approve $87.5 billion to fund the war. MassLive.com reports that Lynch voted for the funding…
Saturday, March 9, 2013
A UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows he is in a strong position to run in 2014.
Results of a UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll this week show former Senator Scott Brown is more popular than he was when he lost his re-election bid last fall and is in a strong position to run for governor in 2014. The independent, nonpartisan poll surveyed 600 Massachusetts registered voters between Saturday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 5. With regard to Brown, the poll – which asked voters for their opinions on whether they would vote for Brown if he runs for governor – showed he has considerable bipartisan support, with 32.7 percent saying they are very likely to vote for him and 26 percent somewhat likely. Results showed that Brown, who garnered support of 92.2 percent of Republicans polled and 36.7 percent of Democrats, had more …
Friday, February 15, 2013
Part of the money will also be used to help employers pay for a rise in unemployment insurance rates.
The state senate voted Tuesday to spend $200 million in rainy day cash to balance the budget and freeze the unemployment insurance rates businesses pay, according to The Republican. The bill is part of an effort to close a projected $515 million shortfall in this fiscal year's $32 billion budget, causing by lower-than-expected tax revenue. The reserve fund money will also be used to help employers avoid a projected 28 percent increase in unemployment insurance – knocking that rise down to 4.4 percent. About $30 million of the $200 million withdrawal will be used to pay costs incurred in the state drug-lab scandal, The Republican reported. The spending would still leave Massachusetts with $1.2 billion in reserves, which is more than most …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Democratic congressmen Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch will face off in a primary on April 30 in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by new Secretary of State John Kerry.
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 …
Saturday, December 29, 2012
After President Obama’s selection of John Kerry as Secretary of State, there’s a lot of interest in the senior senator’s seat.
With U.S. Senator John Kerry as President Barack Obama’s pick for Secretary of State, it’s anyone’s guess who will run for the seat in a special election next summer. Kerry was nominated by Obama on Dec. 21. If Kerry is appointed, Governor Deval Patrick will appoint an interim senator, who will be named to the position before the special election. Names have already been dropped locally and from afar, including actor and Cambridge native Ben Affleck, who said he is not interested in running for the seat Kerry has held since 1985. Earlier in December, U.S. Representative Edward Markey told reporters at Malden City Hall, he would “seriously consider” running for Kerry’s seat in the U.S. Senate. On Thursday, he made it official, announcing he…
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
U.S. Senator Scott Brown will leave office in January. What should he do next?
U.S. Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, was defeated Tuesday by first time candidate Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat. Warren will take office as the state's junior senator in January. She'll replace Brown, who was elected in a special election in January 2010 when he defeated Democrat Martha Coakley. In his concession speech on Tuesday night, Brown told his supporters that "defeat is only temporary." As soon as the race was called, analysts began suggesting Brown may run for Massachusetts governor in 2014 or would seek the state's other U.S. Senate seat if Senator John Kerry is named Secretary of State under President Barack Obama in his second term. What should Brown do next? Tell us in the comments.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The Democratic challenger and Republican incumbent in the much-watched race for the Senate are at odds on whether the reschedule their final debate.
Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren wants to hold a final debate with Scott Brown after all — but it's not clear the incumbent Republican Senator will agree to it. On Monday, both camps in the down-to-the-wire election cancelled a debate that was to have been held Tuesday night. They cited safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Sandy. "It is simply not appropriate to go forward with a political debate when a disaster strikes," a Brown press aide said in a statement on Monday. "The focus for all of us before, during and after the storm needs to be on emergency response and disaster relief, not campaigns and politics." Warren's camp followed suit shortly afterward on Monday with their own statement. "Elizabeth believes the debate …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Both camps issued statements declining the planned exchange.
Both Republican Senator Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren bowed out of Tuesday's final televised debate, citing safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Sandy. Brown's camp was the first to announce its decision, releasing a statement at 4:22 p.m.. "The Scott Brown campaign today announced that out of concern for the hardship faced by people in the path of Hurricane Sandy that he will not be participating in tomorrow's fourth and final debate," said Brown Communication Director Colin Reed. "It is simply not appropriate to go forward with a political debate when a disaster strikes. The focus for all of us before, during and after the storm needs to be on emergency response and disaster relief, not campaigns and politics…
Bill Davidson
3:43 pm on Sunday, April 7, 2013
MassGOP going negative on Markey before the primary could backfire should Lynch win the nomination. His poll numbers have been stronger than Markey's vs. the Republican primary candidates. more ›