The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance released the following statement in response to a recent debate in the state senate regarding the special election date for the soon to be vacant Plymouth and Barnstable district.
State Senator Vinny de Macedo (R-Plymouth) resigned from the position in October. Secretary of State Bill Galvin, who was recently found to have violated state ethics rules by politicalizing a taxpayer funded voter guide, has waded into legislative affairs in order to secure a general election date more favorable to his party.
Secretary Galvin is pushing to hold the special general election on the same day as the much-anticipated Democratic presidential primary, a move that would guarantee sky high turnout for the eventual Democratic nominee. This would all but ensure that the seat would flip to Democrats, further bolstering their already robust supermajority in the state senate. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr is instead pushing for the special primary election to be held on presidential primary day. This move would still save taxpayers money, while removing the outside money, hype, and influence of the presidential election from a local government affair.
“Secretary Galvin should leave senate matters to the senate. Perhaps instead of meddling in their affairs for political gain, Secretary Galvin could focus on producing a taxpayer funded voter guide that doesn’t violate state ethics guidelines. For the first time in a generation, the Secretary of State could produce a non-partisan voter guide,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Framingham) and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) demonstrated a tremendous amount of bi-partisan cooperation in recently passing a campaign finance bill that was fair, unlike the House version. We hope the Senate President will work with Governor Baker and Senate Minority Leader Tarr and agree to a fair General Election date that doesn’t fall on the Presidential Primary,” concluded Craney.