For the vast majority of Franklin County’s 49,000 registered voters, Thursday’s primary election may not seem important enough to show up at the polls, with just a single Democratic contest for the obscure post of governor’s councilor affecting all towns.
Three to 5 percent of Greenfield’s voters are expected to turn out at the polls, estimates Town Clerk Deborah Tuttle.
But Democrats and independents in nine West County towns will help decide a three-way race for state Senate. Voters in Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe and Shelburne will choose the Democratic nominee for the 52-town Berkshire-Hampshire-Franklin-Hampden District.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in this rare Thursday primary election in which there are no races on local GOP ballots.
The Democratic Governor’s Council race, appearing on all Franklin County town ballots, pits former Springfield Mayor Mary E. Hurley, a retired district court judge, against Hampden County Bar Association President Jeffrey S. Morneau. Both are East Longmeadow residents.
The winner among the Senate hopefuls running — Rinaldo Del Gallo of Lenox, Andrea C. Harrington of Richmond and Adam G. Hinds of Pittsfield — will face Republican candidate Christine M. Canning of Lanesborough to fill a vacancy being left by 10-year veteran Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield. All three candidates would be new to elected office.
Del Gallo, 54, who practices law in Pittsfield, has labeled himself a “Bernie Sanders candidate” who favors decriminalizing marijuana, supports presumption of shared custody in divorce cases and who points to his success in advocating for an animal rights ordinance in Pittsfield. He has worked on or inspired bans on plastic bags and Styrofoam in Pittsfield and other Berkshire County towns. He is also the spokesman for the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition.
“At the end of the day, we’re very, very different candidates,” Del Gallo said in a Recorder-sponsored debate last week at Mohawk Trail Regional High School. “And I’m sick and tired of the same old, same old. At our core, I believe in the nordic model, there’s an accumulation of wealth for the super rich … I’m all about going after that wealth …. With that money, we could fund schools. With that money, we could build infrastructure. With that money, we could have green energy and really make it possible.”
Harrington, 41, a Pittsfield attorney and small business owner, is a board member of Berkshares, a local currency for Berkshire County; a member of the Affordable Housing Committee in her Berkshire County town and a volunteer with programs to provide expanded educational opportunities for young people in Berkshire County: the Railroad Street Youth Project, the Crocus Fund and the Berkshire Academies’ Mentors. She is a mother of two.
Harrington, a proponent of drug court, changing the state’s public education funding formula and providing for universal pre-kindergarten and affordable day care, told last week’s gathering, “I see this seat as an opportunity to push the rest of the state on a progressive agenda … I’m running to represent you; I’m not running to represent a bunch of politicians … Thirteen years of practicing law has taught me that the experience of the decision makers really matter. Twenty-five percent of the Legislature is made up of women. … It’s women in the Legislature who brought us equal pay for equal work. I stand on their shoulders. I will continue to work for policies that are going to help working families, that are going to help our seniors. … I’ve been fighting for my clients every day. … I’m tenacious. I’m tough.”
Hinds, 40, the executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition who directed Pittfield’s $5 million gang-prevention program, points to his experience working for nearly 10 years for the United Nations on Kurdish negotiations in Iraq, in Jerusalem on the Mideast peace process and on working to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons.
“I believe that politics can be inspiring,” said Hinds, who grew up in Shelburne Falls. “We inspire by making sure we have focused attention on energy and the environment, on social and economic justice. … That’s who I am, somebody who builds coalitions and gets things done. … I’m going to be a strong voice for western Mass. and stand up and make sure that we get not only what we need, but that we move forward on a progressive agenda ….We need a progressive who can get results, and I have the background to do that. … I have the background, and I’m ready to go on day one.”
Governor’s Council
The race for Govenor’s Council, a panel that meets weekly to advise the governor on judicial appointments, appointments of clerk-magistrates and parole board members, as well as prison pardons and commutations, is not expected to draw large turnout as the only contest in most Franklin County towns.
Hurley has emphasized in her campaign that 10 of the state’s district court judicial vacancies are in Western Massachusetts, is promoting a resolution by judges in the four western counties calling for filling the openings along with those of other court personnel. Morneau has called for greater diversity in the judiciary, and wants the makeup of the bench to better represent the larger community, including women, persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented groups.
Thomas T. Merrigan of Greenfield, who served on the Governor’s Council from 2007-2012, said the council serves as a “very vital democratic function” that deserves voters’ attention.
”It provides the checks and balances on the governor’s executive power to select judges,” said Merrigan, who doesn’t endorse either current candidate for the Eighth District post. “You wouldn’t want the executive to be able to do this without checks and balances. … In western Mass., it’s an important process because we as western Mass. people need to have a strong voice in Boston so we get appropriate attention for our judicial needs and insist on representation on the state supreme court. It’s not a rubber stamp.”
On the Web:
vimeo.com/181200094
statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com
www.andreaforsenate.com
www.adamhinds.org
www.jeffmorneau.com
www.electmaryhurley.com
You can reach Richie Davis at: rdavis@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 269