PITTSFIELD — A Democratic candidate for a state Senate seat in the district affecting eight western Franklin County towns has called on his two fellow hopefuls in the September primary to agree to a voluntary limit in their campaign spending.
The 52-community district includes Conway, Shelburne, Buckland, Charlemont, Hawley, Heath, Rowe and Monroe as well as cities and towns in Berkshire, Hampshire and Hampden counties.
In an opinion-page column in The Berkshire Eagle, Rinaldo Del Gallo of Lenox called on Adam Hinds of Pittsfield and Andrea Harrington of Richmond, who are also running for the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden District, to agree to voluntary spending limits of around $20,000 in the current primary, and also to agree to limit political contributions and “independent” expenditures.
He said having to raise “daunting” amounts to run for office discourages good candidates from entering politics, leads to owing favors and creates situations where those “politics becomes less about people and more about campaign donors, especially large campaign donors.”
“It represents too much of a theft of time. Politics should be about time with people, not raising money,” wrote Del Gallo, who like his two Democratic rivals has not yet filed any campaign finance reports with the state Office fo Campaign and Political Finance. The Democrats could also agree to raise funds for the November general election if Republican candidate, Christine Canning, does not agree to the proposed limit. Del Gallo also proposed weekly debates or forums until the election.
Harrington could not be reached for comment by deadline, but Hinds campaign spokeswoman Jodi Joseph said “Our candidate remains focused on the best campaign he can run.”