Only six contests, but voters on alert
Candidates are beginning the push for votes as the 2008 legislative election season kicks into gear in the region.
Contests are featured in only six districts this year. But the races, all involving challenges to sitting state representatives, promise to be spirited.
A common task for all those running may be finding a way to get noticed by voters amid the ongoing drama of the race for the White House.
"In some ways it's harder because all the focus seems to be on the presidential candidates," said Republican State Committee member John N. Racho of Ipswich. But he said a silver lining for local candidates is the overall heightened interest in politics this year.
"If a candidate runs a good campaign. . . their message will be listened to because a lot of people are seeking information about public policy."
Racho said a presidential year also promises to bring a large voter turnout, a dynamic he believes will help his party because "a lot more people other than the Democratic base" will be casting ballots.
Democratic State Committee member Kathleen Pasquina of West Newbury, an early supporter of Barack Obama who is helping coordinate her Senate district for him, agreed local candidates could get overlooked this year. But she said she hopes that does not happen.
"I think it's really important to have the competition," said Pasquina, noting that as a party leader, she puts considerable effort into seeking Democrats to oppose incumbent Republicans. "I know these people are working hard and they deserve attention," she said of the legislative contenders.
One race in the spotlight is a three-way Democratic primary contest in the Fourth Essex House district, which includes Essex, Gloucester, and Rockport.
Seven-term incumbent Anthony J. Verga is trying to fend off challenges from fellow Gloucester residents Astrid af Klinteberg and Ann-Margaret Ferrante. With no other candidates, the primary winner will have a clear path to victory in November.
Verga has faced only two electoral challenges since winning his seat, prevailing easily both times, including in 2006 against a write-in primary foe. That record, his longtime incumbency, and the stature he enjoys on Beacon Hill as House chairman of the Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs would appear to give him an edge.
But his two primary foes, both lawyers, have name recognition from their past work in the community. Af klinteberg is a former two-term Ward 4 Gloucester city councilor. Ferrante is a former executive director of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission and a former aide to state Senator Bruce E. Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.
In another primary fight, first-term state Representative Stephen "Stat" Smith is trying to turn back a challenge from fellow Everett Democrat and Alderman at Large Wayne A. Matewsky in the 28th Middlesex District, which includes Everett and part of Malden.
The contest promises to be competitive, featuring two seasoned and popular political figures in the city.
A former alderman and common councilor, Smith prevailed in hard-fought primary and final election fights in 2006 to win the seat of the late Edward G. Connolly, who died that May. Two years before, he had narrowly lost a primary challenge to Connolly.
Matewsky is a 27-year veteran of the City Council. A Ward 1 Common Councilor beginning in 1981, he was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 2007, tallying more votes than any other city-wide candidate that year.
Meanwhile, state Representative Lori A. Ehrlich, a Marblehead Democrat, and Marblehead Republican John Blaisdell are competing for the second time this year in the Eighth Essex District, which includes Marblehead, Swampscott, and two Lynn precincts.
Last March, Ehrlich, co-founder of two area environmental organizations, defeated Blaisdell and Independent Mark Barry of Marblehead in a special election to fill the seat that became vacant when Douglas W. Petersen resigned last November to become the state's agricultural resources commissioner.
Her strong margin of victory in March - she collected 3,545 votes to 2,133 for the second-place finisher, Blaisdell, a retired Marblehead police officer - would seem to establish Ehrlich as the favorite. But Blaisdell is known in the district from his years as a police officer, and like Ehrlich, he brings a ready organization and enhanced name recognition from the special election race.
State Representative Bradford Hill, an Ipswich Republican, is also facing a challenge this year. Boxford Democrat Donald Bumiller is campaigning to unseat Hill in the district that includes Hamilton, Wenham, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and parts of Boxford and Middleton.
Bumiller, a first-time candidate, is a lawyer and the president of the Essex County Bar Association. He appears to face a steep task in unseating Hill, a former Ipswich selectman who has handily defeated three challengers since first winning his seat in 1998.
In other races, three-term state Representative Barbara L'Italien, an Andover Democrat, faces Georgetown Republican and former selectman Lawrence Brennan in a rematch of their 2006 race. The district includes parts of Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill, Methuen, and North Andover.
Based on the 2006 race, L'Italien starts out the favorite against Brennan, who did not seek reelection as a selectman this spring. In the 2006 contest, L'Italien prevailed by 8,765 votes to 6,039. But Brennan could be helped by the districtwide exposure he gained from that run.
In a contest among three Medford Democrats, state Representative Paul J. Donato is vying with labor organizer Patrick William McCabe and first-time candidate A. James Caralis, founder of OpenMass.org, a nonpartisan website that tracks the state Legislature. That primary fight is in the 35th Middlesex District, which includes parts of Medford and Malden.
