Mass. AFL-CIO COPE Political Roundtable Features 9 Democratic Candidates for State Senate in the 2 Current Special Elections

This month’s Political Roundtable served as a Candidate Forum for the seven Democrats seeking the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex Senate seat vacated by Anthony Galluccio. In the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District, there are currently three Democrats and one Republican running in the special state senate election to replace now-U.S. Senator Scott Brown; two of those Democratic candidates appeared at this event. The Primary Election for these seats is on April 13th and the General is on May 11th.

As the Labor Movement is increasingly finding itself at odds with many of the Democrats it has helped elect, this was an opportunity for union members to ask these candidates the tough and important questions on labor’s issues and about what each candidate will and will not do if elected State Senator. This was not an endorsement meeting, but merely an informational forum so activists had a chance to hear from the candidates. Each candidate had a chance to introduce themselves, talk briefly about their main issues, and answer a couple questions from those in attendance, mainly regarding their positions on destination resort casinos, and the recent education reform that essentially stripped collective bargaining rights from teachers.

Candidates for the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex District who participated were Dan Hill of Charlestown, Sal DiDomenico of Everett, Dennis Benzan of Cambridge, Marjorie Decker of Cambridge, Michael Albano of Chelsea, Tim Flaherty of Cambridge, and Denise Simmons of Cambridge.

Candidates for the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District who participated included Lida Harkins of Needham and Peter Smulowitz of Needham.

Mass. AFL-CIO Political Director Bob Bower also spoke of organized labor’s plan to elect over 500 hundred delegates to this year’s Democratic State Convention. Click here to learn more.

The next COPE Political Roundtable will be held on Thursday March 18th at 1:30 PM. Please stay tuned for more details.