Romney,
O'Brien Spar at Gubernatorial Debate
POSTED: 10-25-02
NEWTON, Mass.
-- Gubernatorial candidates Shannon P. O'Brien and Mitt Romney both are trying to convince voters that their opponent
will raise taxes.
At their fourth televised
debate on Thursday, Romney, the Republican former Winter Olympic chief, said O'Brien had voted while in the Legislature
for the sales tax, the income tax, gas taxes and the cigarette tax. He said as governor, she would do more of the same.
"A leopard doesn't change its spots," Romney said.
O'Brien, the Democratic state treasurer,
criticized Romney for proposing to increase excise taxes on sport utility vehicles and to tax developers who build in open
spaces.
"There's one candidate that's
running for governor this year who wants to raise taxes, and that's Mitt Romney," O'Brien said.
The debate at New England Cable News was the fourth of the gubernatorial
campaign and the last to include Green Party candidate Jill E. Stein, Libertarian Carla Howell and independent Barbara C.
Johnson.
The debate was the most contentious
so far, with several of the candidates frequently interrupting each other and refusing to yield their time to the moderator.
Stein questioned tax breaks that had been given
to Raytheon Corp. and Fidelity in the 1990s, which she called "payoffs for layoffs," and pushed for a more equitable
tax structure that would cut the income tax for poor people and close tax loopholes for the rich.
"I'm going to create fair taxes -- what a novel idea," she said.
Howell pushed her ballot question to eliminate the state income
tax, and said she would repeal all state gun control laws. She said expanding gun ownership would drastically cut the number
of rapes and other crimes.
"Guns save lives
in the hands of private citizens," she said.
Johnson
called for making the state's registries of deeds more efficient through technology updates and trimming some jobs. She
said the state's economic approach needs to focus on alternative energy research and development, fish farming, medical
technology and biochemistry.
Romney assailed
O'Brien for accepting a salary increase of $45,000 per year -- from $75,000 to $120,000 -- an increase which took effect
in 2000. O'Brien, who has been treasurer since 1999, said the Legislature had raised her salary along with all of the
other constitutional officers at the same time.
She
highlighted Romney's career as a venture capitalist, and in particular a deal his company arranged at an Indiana paper
plant where hundreds of workers lost their jobs. She said Romney has profited at the expense of working people.
Romney, who founded Bain Capital, a venture capital firm, in 1984,
said it was unfair to pick one or two examples where jobs had been cut. O'Brien has been running a television ad that
highlights the paper plant layoffs.
"I
wish I could bat 1.000. I can't," Romney said. He said his company had created tens of thousands of jobs in hundreds
of companies.
"I'm basically in the
investors' Hall of Fame," he said.
With
less than two weeks to go, the race is tight. A new poll showed Romney and O'Brien in a tie, both with 37 percent. Stein
was favored by 3 percent of respondents, followed by Howell and Johnson, each with 1 percent.
The WHDH-TV/Suffolk University poll of 400 likely voters statewide was conducted Sunday
through Tuesday. The margin of error was 5 percentage points.
The candidates were asked about their position on ballistic fingerprinting, in light of the serial sniper attacks in
the Washington area.
O'Brien and Stein said
they would support such tests, while Howell and Johnson said they would oppose them. Romney said he would consider them if
the tests were shown to work effectively. He also said if the sniper suspects were found guilty, they should face the death
penalty.
Romney and Johnson support the death
penalty, while O'Brien, Stein and Howell all oppose it.
The last debate is scheduled for Oct. 29, but only O'Brien and Romney will participate. Election Day is Nov. 5.
(AP)
With Election Day Approaching, Issue Differences Emerge
Posted: 10/12/2002
BOSTON -- With Election Day less than four weeks away, the gubernatorial candidates
have staked out clear differences on issues ranging from bilingual education to the death penalty to welfare-to-work requirements.
But voters may have trouble distinguishing between
the leading candidates, Democrat Shannon O'Brien and Republican Mitt Romney, on key issues such as the MCAS test and abortion,
on which they are pushing similar policy proposals.
Bilingual education has been a focus of the campaign, largely because an initiative headed for the ballot would dismantle
the state's 30-year-old bilingual education program and replace it with a one-year, English immersion program.
Romney, the former Winter Olympic chief, supports English immersion
because he says it helps children integrate faster and find good jobs. O'Brien, the state treasurer, opposes it because
she says it goes too far by forcing schools to use a single method of teaching English.
The issue sparked a lively exchange during Wednesday's gubernatorial debate, in
which Green Party candidate Jill Stein disputed Romney's assertion that in California, where English immersion is already
the law, students are succeeding at learning English more quickly.
Stein, independent Barbara Johnson and Libertarian Carla Howell all oppose the ballot question's English
immersion program.
The death penalty is another
divisive issue. Romney and Johnson support use of the death penalty in cases such as terrorism, the murder of witnesses, and
violence against children where there is "incontrovertible" evidence.
O'Brien, Stein and Howell oppose the death penalty, citing the possibility the wrong
person could be convicted and killed. O'Brien and Stein said the death penalty has been applied disproportionately to
blacks and Latinos.
Jerold Duquette, a political
science professor from Springfield, said issues often have little impact on voters. People always intend to vote based on
issues but instead focus on the candidates' honesty, integrity, independence and character, he said.
In the current race, O'Brien is trying to tout her integrity
and experience, while Romney is pushing his independence, said Duquette, who teaches at Central Connecticut State University.
"What they are are values that the candidates
have twisted into issues," he said. That can lead to difficulty once the person is elected.
"If I've spent my entire campaign convincing you that I'm honest and
my opponent isn't honest, what do you know about what I'm going to do? Not a damn thing," Duquette said.
O'Brien and Romney, the two leading candidates, share similar
views on two issues important to many voters: Abortion and the MCAS exam.
Both candidates say as governor they would strongly uphold laws that protect abortion rights, even
though O'Brien opposed abortion while in the Legislature 15 years ago except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the
mother's health, and Romney says he is personally opposed to it.
Last week, the two candidates sparred over who was the strongest abortion rights supporter, with each
touting endorsements from abortion rights groups and challenging each other's records on the issue.
Stein and Howell support abortion rights, while Johnson appeared
to hold the most conservative view on the issue: She said she supports it only in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's
health is threatened.
The MCAS test -- officially
known as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test -- looms large for the next governor. In June, seniors for
the first time will need a passing grade to get a diploma. About 12,000 of this year's 64,000 seniors have so far failed
to do so.
But unlike in the Democratic primary,
when two candidates supported the test and two opposed it, O'Brien and Romney both support the test as a graduation requirement.
They say it is necessary to improve education and make sure the billions of dollars in education funding in the last decade
are well spent.
Stein, Howell and Johnson all
oppose using the test as a graduation requirement. They say it forces students to prepare for the test, but detracts from
free thinking.
"It's the state government's
version of trivial pursuit: an unrelated collection of facts and figures that make a mockery of education," Howell said.
On the current requirement that Massachusetts
welfare recipients work 20 hours to be eligible for benefits, Romney said it is working well and should be preserved. O'Brien,
Stein and Johnson said education and training should qualify towards the 20-hour requirement.
Howell, who would replace all government welfare with private charity, favors neither.
(AP)
Bush,
Gore Stump For Gubernatorial Candidates Romney, O'Brien Pull Out Top Brass
POSTED: 6:26 p.m. EDT October 4, 2002
BOSTON -- A new reading of the governor's race indicates it's
anyone's contest.
A Boston Herald
poll of 407 likely Massachusetts voters gives Democrat Shannon O'Brien 43 percent, and Republican Mitt Romney 42 percent
-- a virtual dead heat. A crucial 11 percent are undecided.
With the numbers so close, the candidates rolled out the big guns Friday.
NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu said that President George W. Bush's
two-hour visit brought more than $1 million into the state GOP coffers, and Mitt Romney will be the biggest beneficiary.
But it was a two-way street. Bush was guaranteed a pumped up crowd
to push his agenda against Iraq.
"We are
proud to have this man as the president of the United States," Romney said.
At a time when Bush could not be more popular in Massachusetts, and at a time when Mitt
Romney needs something to gain some momentum in a tight gubernatorial election, it was the perfect photo opportunity.
"I strongly stand with Mitt Romney because I believe he is
the best person for the job of governor of Massachusetts," Bush said.
But the bulk of the 40-minute address, that drew 800 people who paid as much as $5,000 per couple,
was devoted to Bush's anti-terrorism agenda, denouncing Saddam Hussein.
"I want to tell you all, for the sake of our freedom, for the sake of peace, if the United
Nations won't make a decision, if Saddam Hussein continues to lie and deceive, the United States will lead a coalition
to disarm this man before he harms America and our friends," Bush said.
Romney couldn't have asked for more.
"It was exciting and fabulous. What an incredible leader," Romney said.
While several hundred protesters were kept at bay outside the hotel,
the Romney campaign is hoping the patriotic tones that sounded inside will rub off on its candidate.
"Mitt Romney also stands with the president in the war on terrorism. Today, Shannon
O'Brien is standing with Al Gore, who is one of the president's biggest critics in the war on terrorism," Romney
spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said.
The Romney campaign
is hoping those 11 percent undecided voters in this race are feeling equally patriotic. But polls show many of them are suburban,
independent women who may not be as eager to go to war with Iraq.
Meanwhile, in Worcester, Mass., former Vice President Al Gore campaigned for O'Brien.
"Al Gore and Bill Clinton demonstrated quite clearly that Democrats
can, and will, provide fiscal leadership, will manage our government well while at the same time focusing on the issues that
really matter to the people of this state and the people of our United States," O'Brien said.
Gore likened O'Brien and Gabrieli to the strong team he and
Clinton provided in 1992.
"You need somebody
as governor who cares about working families, who has a demonstrated record of integrity and confidence and accomplishment
on behalf of the people. That's what Shannon O'Brien represents," Gore said.
Gore then hinted at his own political plans.
"Well, I haven't ruled out running for president again, but I am not going
to make a decision until the end of the year," Gore said.
Gore said that after more than 12 years of Republican rule on Beacon Hill, the Democrats are determined to take back
the governorship in Massachusetts.
Copyright
2002 by TheBostonChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Poll: O'Brien, Romney Deadlocked in Governor's Race
Posted: 10-04-2002
BOSTON -- Democrat Shannon O'Brien and Republican Mitt Romney
were deadlocked in the race for governor, according to a Boston Herald poll released Friday.
O'Brien received 43 percent support to Romney's 42 percent, within the poll's
margin of error of 4.9 percent. Eleven percent of the 407 likely voters questioned said they remained undecided with one month
to go before the Nov. 5 general election.
"We
don't see any major change in the overall dynamics of the race," said R. Kelly Myers, director of RKM Research and
Communications, which conducted the poll Wednesday and Thursday. "The race continues to be extremely tight."
A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll conducted a week earlier had found O'Brien
with a narrow lead over Romney: 42 percent to 36 percent with a margin of error of 5 percent.
The new poll found both candidates' favorability rating had dropped in the past
two weeks.
O'Brien was viewed favorably
by 51 percent of voters, with 30 percent giving her an unfavorable mark. That was compared to a 60-23 margin in the earlier
poll.
Romney's favorability ratings fell
to 47 percent from 57 percent, with 36 percent viewing him unfavorably now compared to 29 percent two weeks ago.
O'Brien continued to lead Romney among female voters, 48-37
percent, while Romney held a 46-33 percent advantage among independent voters.
Thirty-eight percent of those polled had watched Tuesday's televised debate, the second
between the candidates.
Thirty-nine percent
believed O'Brien won the debate, compared to 28 percent for Romney and 26 percent calling it a tie. But Romney was favored
by 48 percent of voters who watched the debate, compared to 43 for O'Brien.
The candidates are scheduled to debate three more times before the election, including two
debates that will include all five candidates for governor.
That may offer a boost to Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Carla Howell, who received
2 percent and 1 percent support respectively. (AP)
Candidates Make Last-minute Push Before Primary
Posted: September 16, 2002 (AP)
BOSTON -- Shannon
O'Brien munched on a muffin at a New Bedford diner. Warren Tolman scored the endorsement of a Boston meter maid. Tom Birmingham
cruised the Merrimack Valley in his "Momentum Tour" bus. Robert Reich planned to eat dim sum and go bowling.
On the
day before the primary election decides who will face Republican Mitt Romney, the four Democratic gubernatorial candidates
made a last-minute push for votes on Monday.
O'Brien, the state treasurer, visited diners in New Bedford, Fall River
and her hometown of Easthampton. "I'm just making sure that all the Democrats know that if they want to win in November
... I'm the one to vote for," she said.
O'Brien, whose father Edward O'Brien lost a 1976 congressional
primary by four votes, said she was continuing to target voters with automated phone messages from Middlesex District Attorney
Martha Coakley and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman.
Robert Reich, who took the day off to observe the Jewish holiday
Yom Kippur, planned to resume campaigning after sundown with an all-night campaign swing through Boston. Reich planned to
meet fans leaving the Red Sox game, have a cannoli in the North End after midnight, then visit Chinatown and an all-night
bowling alley in Dorchester. Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley held a news conference on Monday to stump for Reich. Spokeswoman
Dorie Clark said Reich wanted to reach as many voters as possible, particularly given his day off on Monday. "If that
means getting dim sum at 2 in the morning or bowling in Dorchester at 3:30, that's what we'll do," she said.
Birmingham, the Senate president who has made union endorsements a campaign cornerstone, started the day with leaders of
the teachers unions at South Station and planned to end it at Boston Medical Center to highlight his endorsement by the Massachusetts
Nurses Association. "What those endorsements represent is what the people of the commonwealth care about," including
education and health care, he said. "This is a very fluid race and there's no substitute for meeting people personally
when they haven't quite made up their minds yet."
Tolman, the race's only Clean Elections candidate, greeted
voters at Boston's Back Bay subway station and at Ralph's Diner in Worcester. Many people were waiting until the last
minute to decide, Tolman said, giving as examples a meter maid and three others in Boston's financial district who told
him on Monday they were behind him. "If they want someone who's going to be a reformer and stand up for their interests,
not the special interests, then I'm their guy," Tolman said.
Secretary of State William Galvin predicted a low turnout,
even though candidates for statewide offices have spent a record amount of money on television ads and other campaign expenses.
Using absentee ballots and other indicators, Galvin predicted that fewer than 30 percent of registered voters would cast ballots.
He estimated about 700,000 Democrats would vote and about 235,000 Republicans.
Massachusetts has about 3.9 million registered voters. Polls
will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Also on Monday, a new poll showed O'Brien leading, with the support of 30
percent of respondents. Reich trailed with 21 percent, followed by Birmingham at 16 percent and Tolman at 12 percent, according
to the WHDH-TV/Suffolk University poll.
In another closely watched race, Kerry Healey held a slight lead over fellow
Republican James Rappaport in the Republican lieutenant governor's race, though her lead was within the poll's margin
of error, meaning the race is a statistical tie.
Like Reich, Rappaport observed Yom Kippur on Monday and did not campaign.
Healey campaigned with Healey in Boston. Three Democrats are running for lieutenant governor.
The poll of 370 likely
Republican voters also found that Healey, Romney's running mate, was more popular among men than women. Among men, Healey
led 43 to 23 percent, the poll found, while women preferred Rappaport by 38 to 31 percent.
The poll of 370 likely Republican
voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points. On the Democratic side, 400 likely Democratic voters
were polled, for a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. (AP)
DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE TOM BIRMINGHAM VISITED QUINCY
Posted: 8/10/02 (WJDA)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Birmingham was in Quincy
this morning. Birmingham met nurses as they arrived for work at Quincy Medical Center. The 20 thousand member
Massachusetts Nurses Association has endorsed Birmingham's candidacy for governor. Officials say Birmingham played
an instrumental role in keeping the facility open.
GROSSMAN DROPS OUT OF GOVERNOR'S RACE
POSTED: 10:20 a.m. EDT July 12, 2002
BOSTON -- Democratic
candidate Steve Grossman announced Friday that he was dropping out of the race for governor.
NewsCenter 5's Janet
Wu reported that Grossman made the decision because he did not believe that he could win the five-way race for the Democratic
nomination in the September primary. "It's like the Kenny Rogers song: 'You've got to know when to hold
'em, know when to fold 'em,'" Grossman said.
A recent poll by the Grossman campaign
showed him trailing Shannon O'Brien and Robert Reich. A Boston Herald poll last month showed Grossman with just 6 percent
of the vote, well behind O'Brien's 31 percent and Reich's 19 percent.
Grossman always said those numbers
didn't discourage him. He was quoted as saying, "I'm the first one to announce, and I'm planning on being
the last one standing."
Grossman's departure leaves O'Brien, Reich, Senate President Tom Birmingham and Warren
Tolman in the race. Republican candidate Mitt Romney is running unopposed for the Republican nomination. Grossman said that
he vowed to continue fighting for what he thinks is important: education and reducing the cost of prescription drugs. He said
that he will fully support the Democratic nominee.
POSTED: 6/21/2002
In Romney Residency Challenge, Have Democrats Already Won?
BOSTON -- The state Ballot Law Commission plans to rule this week whether Republican gubernatorial candidate
Mitt Romney is kicked off the ballot, though many who have followed the case think the Democrats' challenge doesn't
have a chance.
The thinking is the commission will reject Democrats' claim that Romney doesn't
meet the state's seven-year residency requirement, and then voters will support Romney to protest the Democrats' political
ploy.
But some say it doesn't matter what the Ballot Law Commission rules -- the Democrats
have already won.
Romney, the telegenic former Salt Lake Olympic chief who returned to Massachusetts
on a wave of Olympic-inspired glory, has been reduced to talking about his three homes, the three boats he keeps in New Hampshire,
and the Wellesley Hills bookkeeper who pays his bills.
Then there are the questions about Romney's honesty, which came
up after he said he had filed Massachusetts resident income taxes in 1999 and 2000, admitting only later that he had first
filed as a Utah resident then changed to Massachusetts after deciding to run for governor.
"He
came here as the shining knight on a white horse, and he's fallen off the horse," said Dan Payne, a Democratic political
consultant.
True to the old political axiom, "A candidate is never more popular than on the
day before he announces his candidacy," Romney was wildly popular when he returned to Massachusetts in March after the
Olympics.
Polls showed him easily beating incumbent acting Gov. Jane Swift, also a Republican,
and all five Democratic candidates.
One pollster gushed at the time, "He is the profile for everything
voters are looking for right now."
Now, after two weeks of Romney residency coverage, those who hear
about Romney's time in Utah are as likely to think of the tax discount he received for his $3.8 million Utah home as they
are of his success leading the Olympics.
"The Democratic Party has already got out of it what the party
intended," said former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, a Democratic candidate.
If Romney
has been tainted -- forced to defend his tax records for two weeks instead of touting his stands on issues -- so too has the
Democratic Party been tainted, said Jeffrey Sedgwick, political science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Voters may remember into the fall election season that the Democrats tried to force Romney off
the ballot on a technicality and take away their choice, Sedgwick said.
A Boston Herald poll
conducted on Wednesday and Thursday found that one-third of respondents viewed the Democratic Party more negatively because
of its challenge to Romney's residency.
Romney has tried to capitalize on those negative sentiments with
television and radio ads that blame Democratic opponents Shannon O'Brien and Tom Birmingham for the challenge.
The state Constitution requires a governor to live in Massachusetts for the seven years prior to election. Democrats
say Romney is ineligible because he moved to Utah from 1999 to 2002 to run the Olympics.
Sedgwick,
the UMass professor, said the fact that the campaign has gotten so bitter so early, still four and a half months before the
general election, indicates a "scorched issue" race.
Already, Romney's lawyer brought
up Romney's wife's multiple sclerosis during the Ballot Law Commission hearings, and Sedgwick said he wouldn't
be surprised if the Democrats play up Romney's wealth and his Mormon religion as the campaign progresses.
"I don't think it's going to be a highroad campaign,"
he said. (AP)
SWIFT MAY
GET FEDERAL JOB
Acting Governor May Be Up For Postal Service Spot
POSTED: May 10, 2002
BOSTON -- Acting Gov. Jane Swift may have a job lined up for when her term is up Jan. 2. Swift reportedly
is considering a spot on the board that oversees the U.S. Postal Service. The position pays up to $42,000 a year.
If she
accepts the appointment, Swift could continue to live in western Massachusetts and spend more time with her three young children.
Friday's Boston Globe says the postal service prospect came up two weeks ago when Swift visited the White House. A Swift
spokesman said he could not comment on any job offers the acting governor may be considering.
POSTED:
6/21/2002
In Romney
Residency Challenge, Have Democrats Already Won?
BOSTON -- The state Ballot Law Commission plans to rule this week
whether Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney is kicked off the ballot, though many who have followed the case think
the Democrats' challenge doesn't have a chance.
The thinking is the commission will reject Democrats' claim
that Romney doesn't meet the state's seven-year residency requirement, and then voters will support Romney to protest
the Democrats' political ploy.
But some say it doesn't matter what the Ballot Law Commission
rules -- the Democrats have already won.
Romney, the telegenic former Salt Lake Olympic chief who returned
to Massachusetts on a wave of Olympic-inspired glory, has been reduced to talking about his three homes, the three boats he
keeps in New Hampshire, and the Wellesley Hills bookkeeper who pays his bills.
Then there are
the questions about Romney's honesty, which came up after he said he had filed Massachusetts resident income taxes in
1999 and 2000, admitting only later that he had first filed as a Utah resident then changed to Massachusetts after deciding
to run for governor.
"He came here as the shining knight on a white horse, and he's fallen off
the horse," said Dan Payne, a Democratic political consultant.
True to the old political axiom,
"A candidate is never more popular than on the day before he announces his candidacy," Romney was wildly popular
when he returned to Massachusetts in March after the Olympics.
Polls showed him easily beating incumbent
acting Gov. Jane Swift, also a Republican, and all five Democratic candidates.
One pollster
gushed at the time, "He is the profile for everything voters are looking for right now."
Now,
after two weeks of Romney residency coverage, those who hear about Romney's time in Utah are as likely to think of the
tax discount he received for his $3.8 million Utah home as they are of his success leading the Olympics.
"The
Democratic Party has already got out of it what the party intended," said former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, a
Democratic candidate.
If Romney has been tainted -- forced to defend his tax records for two weeks instead
of touting his stands on issues -- so too has the Democratic Party been tainted, said Jeffrey Sedgwick, political science
professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Voters may remember into the fall election season that the Democrats
tried to force Romney off the ballot on a technicality and take away their choice, Sedgwick said.
A
Boston Herald poll conducted on Wednesday and Thursday found that one-third of respondents viewed the Democratic Party more
negatively because of its challenge to Romney's residency.
Romney has tried to capitalize on
those negative sentiments with television and radio ads that blame Democratic opponents Shannon O'Brien and Tom Birmingham
for the challenge.
The state Constitution requires a governor to live in Massachusetts for the seven
years prior to election. Democrats say Romney is ineligible because he moved to Utah from 1999 to 2002 to run the Olympics.
Sedgwick, the UMass professor, said the fact that the campaign has gotten so bitter so early, still
four and a half months before the general election, indicates a "scorched issue" race.
Already,
Romney's lawyer brought up Romney's wife's multiple sclerosis during the Ballot Law Commission hearings, and Sedgwick
said he wouldn't be surprised if the Democrats play up Romney's wealth and his Mormon religion as the campaign progresses.
"I don't think it's going to be a highroad campaign,"
he said. (AP)
SWIFT MAY
GET FEDERAL JOB
Acting Governor May Be Up For Postal Service Spot
POSTED: May 10, 2002
BOSTON -- Acting Gov. Jane Swift may have a job lined up for when her term is up Jan. 2. Swift reportedly
is considering a spot on the board that oversees the U.S. Postal Service. The position pays up to $42,000 a year.
If she
accepts the appointment, Swift could continue to live in western Massachusetts and spend more time with her three young children.
Friday's Boston Globe says the postal service prospect came up two weeks ago when Swift visited the White House. A Swift
spokesman said he could not comment on any job offers the acting governor may be considering.
WEYMOUTH MAYOR ENDORSING O'BRIEN FOR GOVERNOR
POSTED:
April 20, 2002 (WJDA)
Weymouth - Weymouth
Mayor David Madden is endorsing State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien for governor. Madden endorsed the Whitman resident
and her running mate Chris Gabrieli during a press conference this afternoon at Weymouth Town Hall.
ROMNEY CHOOSES RUNNING MATE
POSTED:
2:48 p.m. EST April 3, 2002 (AP)
BOSTON
-- Faced with two announced candidates he
could not support, Mitt Romney said that he would let the candidates for Lt. Gov. fight their own battles.
But then Patrick Guerriero
dropped out and Kerry Murphy Healey entered, prompting Romney to endorse Healy late Wednesday afternoon.
NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu
said that Romney walked into his Cambridge headquarters with Healey beaming. He acknowledged that Healey will soften his hard
businessman's image for general election voters.
"I will
look to her as someone who can provide prospectives on social policy add balance to the team to help me lead the Commonwealth.
I am convinced that her judgment, that her views, that her experience, will compliment my own," Romney said. "The
voters of Massachusetts are going to make this decision. The republican voters in the primary will decide who the lieutenant
governor ought to be. But I want everyone to know that in my view, the person who would make the strongest compliment to my
candidacy is Kerry Murphy Healey."
Donna Cuomo, who entered the lieutenant governor's race Tuesday, then made a surprise
announcement.
"I am here to help you and I am dropping out of the race for lieutenant governor," Cuomo said.
That leaves
one man still running for lieutenant governor -- Jim Rappaport.
"I have been saying that for six months that the choice should
not be picked in a smoke filled room," Rappaport said.
"I think Jim Rappaport is a terrific guy. Like him, I don't
have a huge philosophical difference, but we have similar backgrounds, we are both businessmen, and we both grew up in the
same part of the economy. We've learned about many of the same features. In Kerry Murphy Healey, I've come to know
someone who has a different background," Romney said.
"My guess is that the party, the activists, in September, will
back Kerry Healey and Mitt Romney," Republican consultant Ron Kaufman said.
Romney denies that he ever went back on any of his promises.
ROMNEY NAMES CAMPAIGN MANAGER
POSTED: March 29, 2002
BOSTON - Mitt Romney has named businessman
Ben coes to be his campaign manager, saying Coes has a long history in Republican politics natinally and in New England. Coes
most recently served as charirman and president of softwarre company Beachfire Inc. and before that was general manager of
Iron Road Railways Inc., a Washington D. C. based holding company that manages transportation companies in the U. S. and Canada.
Coes' political experience includes a stint as executive director of the Maine Republican Party during the 1994 election
cycle. Coes was also a senior aide to California Gov. Pete Wilson during his 1996 presidential campaign and was a speech writer
for U. S. Energy Secretary Admiral James Watkins. He was also a White House intern under President Reagan. (AP)
Tim Cahill will announce candidacy for State Treasurer
Posted: March 23, 2002 (WJDA)
Quincy - Quincy's Tim Cahill, a City Councilor and the current Norfolk County Treasurer will
announce his statewide candidacy for State Treasurer. On Monday he travels to Worcester, Pittsfield and Springfield
to make the official announcements. On Tuesday he will announce officially in Lowell, New Bedford, and Quincy.
ROMNEY OPENS CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
POSTED: 7:32 a.m. EST March 22, 2002
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney
opened his campaign headquarters in Cambridge Thursday.
Romney also
is scrambling to build a campaign staff and bone up on the issues in Massachusetts after spending the last three years organizing
the Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Democrats, meanwhile, are changing
their strategy now that Romney is in the race and acting Gov. Jane Swift is out.
State Democratic Party chairman
Phil Johnston says he expects Sen. John Kerry to take a prominent role in planning strategy and raising money to defeat Romney.
But while Romney has a clear path to the GOP nomination, the Democrats still face
the prospect of a bruising primary that could divide the party. There are five Democrats currently in the race. (AP)
Swift Drops Out Clearing Way for Romney
POSTED: March 19, 2002
BOSTON -- Acting Gov. Jane Swift tearfully and unexpectedly bowed
out of the governor's race today, clearing the way for Salt Lake Winter Olympics chief Mitt Romney to focus on defeating
Democrats -- not a primary challenger.
"I
believe that this is in the best interest of our state, as it will allow the Republican party's best chance of holding
the governor's office in November," Swift said, her voice choking with emotion.
The announcement of Romney's entrance into the GOP race for governor had been
anticipated for weeks, and Swift's popularity suffered with each poll taken. Still, until recently, she said she welcomed
a challenging campaign. Many of her staff did not know until Tuesday about her decision.
"It is rare in Massachusetts politics that people are stunned," said Michael
Goldman, a longtime Democratic activist. "This is a genuinely stunning event."
Swift's announcement stole the thunder of Romney, who scrapped plans to make his
formal announcement with supporters at a Boston hotel and instead held a subdued news conference in front of his Belmont home.
He thanked Swift for her years of work and said he didn't want to take the attention away from her, for this day.
"It's admirable that she's decided to focus her resources
on managing the state during tough economic times and also to help raise her family with all her energy and heart," Romney
said, surrounded by his wife Ann, three of his five sons, three daughters-in-law, and two grandchildren.
But Romney, whose father George Romney was governor of Michigan,
was quick to add: "Lest there be any doubt, I'm in. The bumper stickers are printed, the Web site's going up.
The papers are going in today."
A Boston
Herald poll on Sunday showed Romney, whose only political experience is an unsuccessful challenge to Democratic Sen. Edward
Kennedy in 1994, leading Swift 75 percent to 12 percent.
Swift's decision to drop out of the race to spend more time with her husband and three young daughters dramatically
changes the complexion of the governor's race, which features five Democrats vying for the nomination. Now, they'll
have to campaign against each other, and against Romney.
Democrats include: Senate President Thomas Birmingham, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, state Treasurer Shannon
O'Brien, former state Sen. Warren Tolman and Steve Grossman, a former national Democratic Committee chairman.
Swift, who has been plagued by personal and political controversies,
said she decided not to take on the simultaneous task of being a mother of three, running for election and governing during
a budget crunch.
"Having said early on
the time with family was non-negotiable, something had to give," Swift said. She plans to serve out her term until the
end of the year.
Within moments of making his
announcement, Romney was challenged on his stand on abortion, a hot-button issue in a state that in the last three elections
has supported fiscally conservative, socially progressive governors.
"On a personal basis, I don't favor abortion," he said. "However, as governor of the
commonwealth, I will protect the right of a woman to choose under the laws of the country and the laws of the commonwealth."
Swift, 37, became Massachusetts' first female
chief executive, and the nation's youngest, in April, succeeding Paul Cellucci when he became ambassador to Canada. She
was the first governor in the nation's history to give birth in office when she had twin girls in May. She also has a
3-year-old daughter.
Swift said she did not
know what she planned to do next, but told reporters, "You guys keep telling me I'm young."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said no one from the Bush administration
urged Swift to drop out. Swift said she would not take a federal job.
The birth of Swift's twins produced favorable national publicity and a bounce in the polls. But when
she returned to work at the end of June, she continued to find herself with little political capital and a Statehouse dominated
by Democrats.
That made tough challenges even
tougher: a worsening budget crunch, calls for added security measures after Sept. 11, and a controversial decision not to
commute the sentence of a convicted child molester.
Earlier, when she was lieutenant governor, the state Ethics Commission ruled she had created an appearance of impropriety
by allowing aides to baby-sit for her older daughter and fined her $1,250.
More recently, she was sued by two members of the Turnpike Authority board whom she fired after
they voted to delay toll hikes.
Romney has been
riding a wave of popularity since successfully leading the Winter Olympics. A longtime Massachusetts resident who graduated
from Brigham Young University in Utah and sent his children there, Romney graduated from Harvard Business School and went
to work in Boston at Bain & Co., where he rose to chairman.
In 1984, he co-founded Bain Capital, a venture capital company. He has been active in Belmont's Mormon
community, which constructed a 70,000-square-foot temple in 2000.
Romney, who returned to Massachusetts on Sunday from Utah, has said he considered the health of his wife,
who has multiple sclerosis, before deciding to run. Ann Romney said Tuesday she was feeling healthy and was s fully behind
her husband's candidacy. When asked about her preference in the decision, however, she paused and said: "Mitt and
I would have loved to have a few weeks off." (AP)
Tom Koch will reportedly run for Norfolk County Treasurer
Posted: March 15, 2002 (WJDA)
Quincy - The
head of the Quincy Park department will reportedly run for Norfolk County Treasurer. Tom Koch says he will officially announce
his candidacy next month. He reportedly took out nomination papers for the position this week. (WJDA)
Quest for Delegates in Race for Governor Continues
Posted:
February 12, 2002
BOSTON -- Former U.S. Labor Secretary
Robert Reich said he is well on his way to collecting enough delegates to appear on the party's ballot this fall. And
he claims the field is already narrowing to three candidates.
Reich said yesterday that he had collected 537 delegates
at Democratic caucuses around the state last week. That's short of the 750 needed to appear on the ballot, with 15-hundred
delegates still uncommitted.
Buoyed by strong caucus showings in western Massachusetts, including Amherst, where he
received all 19 delegates, Reich said the prospects are dimming for his Democratic challengers Warren Tolman and Steve Grossman.
Tolman, a former state senator, rejects that claim.
A spokeswoman for Grossman says Reich fears Grossman because
he's the only one with private sector experience. (AP)
O'Brien Enters Race for Goernor
State
Treasurer Says New Leadership Needed
POSTED: Feb 11, 2002
BOSTON -- Shannon O'Brien officially kicks off her campaign for governor today.
The first term state Treasurer is one of five Democrats seeking her party's nomination. She will announce her candidacy
at stops in Boston, Worcester and her hometown of Easthampton. O'Brien has already named venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli
to be her running mate. The other Democrats in the race are Senate President Tom Birmingham, former state Senator Waren Tolman,
former U. S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Steve Grossman. Acting Governor
Jane Swift is the only Republican in the race. (AP)
Reich Getting Help From Kennedy Friends
Former Clinton Labor Chief Using Kennedy Advisor
POSTED: 7:32 a.m. EST February 25, 2002
BOSTON -- Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich is getting
some help from friends of New England's most famous family.
Former senior adviser to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Nick Littlefield,
is a special adviser, The Boston Herald reported. Former Kennedy Chief of Staff David Burke heads Reich's organization
efforts. Kennedy's old guru Bob Shrum will handle Reich's advertising. The former secretary of labor has disproven
prognosticators who said he would rely exclusively on academics. Reich took a job as professor at Brandeis University after
leaving President Clinton's cabinet. (by The Associated Press)
Romney Weighing Run For Governor
Sources Say Decision Will Come Soon
POSTED: 6:45 p.m. EST February 25, 2002
BOSTON -- Now that the Olympics are over, Mitt Romney is considering a run for Massachusetts governor. Romney
headed up the Salt Lake City Olympic committee, rescuing an effort mired in bribery scandals. On vacation now in Hawaii, sources
told NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu that he will likely decide as early as this week whether he will run. "In the world
of politics, you have to find the right opportunity, the right window open at the right time," Romney said in a CNN interview
earlier this month. "A position that you think you can win, and one where you think you can make a real contribution."
Romney's statement encouraged Massachusetts Republicans -- in particular business people -- to actively lobby him to
run against acting Gov. Jane Swift. Sources close to the Belmont native said that he will run if he feels he can win. Swift,
in Washington Monday, no longer denied that a Romney run is now possible. "Every conversation I've had with individuals
who've talked to Mitt Romney have indicated that he's interested in contributing in Massachusetts and improving the
Republican party, and I've lots of ideas how he could be helpful there," Swift said. Romney's supporters said
he should run based on the success of the Winter Games. He also has one campaign under this belt -- his 1994 run against Sen.
Ted Kennedy -- and as a successful businessman and multimillionaire, he has the personal wealth to finance a campaign. On
the other had, Swift supporters pointed out that he's been absent from Massachusetts for many years, the state convention
is now less than six weeks away -- not a lot of time to woo delegates -- and he wants assurances he can win before he commits,
which may be impossible. Sources said he is very interested in a political career, but because of his 1994 loss to Kennedy,
he believes he can't afford a second defeat. "I wasn't scared away by politics, but I actually thought they were
pretty interesting, and I'd like to participate if I found the right kind of opportunity where I thought I could win,"
Romney said. Sources close to Romney said that before committing to the race, Romney wants party leaders to tell him he can
win the primary against Swift, and he needs to believe he can beat whomever the Democrats elect in September. So far, there
have been no head-to-head polls comparing Romney with Swift, and he has not yet commissioned one. Those close to him said
he will send signals shortly to Massachusetts delegates, letting them know if he's serious about coming back to the Bay
State.
Bellotti will not run
for Secretary of State
POSTED: Jan 27, 2002
QUINCY
-- Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti will not run for Secretary of State. The Quincy native made the announcement yesterday
after talking to current Secretary of State Bill Galvin. He announced yesterday that he will run for re-election and will
not run for governor. Bellotti says he has received a number of calls urging him to consider running for either
Lieutenant Governor or State Treasurer. He plans to make a decision on those possibilities within the next several days. (WJDA)
O'Brien, Romney Spar at Gubernatorial Debate