NATIONWIDE, THE big election news Tuesday will come from presidential primary voters in Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio, and Texas. But a small fraction of voters in Massachusetts have decisions to make as well. Because of turnover on Beacon Hill, there are legislative races on the ballot in four House districts Tuesday.
Of these contests, the Globe makes an endorsement in one: For the 32d Middlesex District, which includes Melrose and parts of Wakefield, we urge voters to choose Democrat Katherine Clark.
Clark, a lawyer, hopes to replace former representative Michael Festa, who now heads the state's Department of Elder Affairs. She has gained impressive experience in government over the years - on the Melrose School Committee, as general counsel for the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, and in Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. Clark understands the constraints that shape government budgets. She has firsthand experience with trying to pay for decent public education at a time when local aid is unreliable and homeowners are pressed hard by their property taxes. And she sees the need for balance, for instance, between speeding up business permitting and protecting the environment.
Legislators, once elected, tend to stay in office as long as they like. So while special legislative elections don't garner much attention, they can have profound effects for individual districts and for the state.
