Voice of the voters
Shandell Campbell
Age 23.
Occupation Courier.
Residence Mattapan.
Party Democrat.
Reaction Before the debate, Campbell described himself as a strong Healey supporter, mainly because of his concerns about Deval Patrick’s legal work on behalf of violent criminals. Afterward, he was undecided. ‘‘They asked her some questions that she really couldn’t answer.’’ He liked what Grace Ross had to say about a lot of issues, including taxes: ‘‘She said the people who earn a higher level than the middle class, that they should pay the same as we should.’’ He said he had hardly heard of Ross before last night and planned to ‘‘read up’’ on her. He still found Healey a strong candidate, citing ‘‘the fact that she’s familiar to the position already and she had a good ideas about what she wants to do.’’ But he was ‘‘kind of impressed’’ with Patrick, too: ‘‘He looked like he really cares.’’
Pam Cirincione
Age 49.
Occupation Systems analyst.
Residence Wakefield.
Party Democrat.
Reaction Before the debate, Cirincione said, she was tired of Healey’s attack ads targeting Patrick, but she was also concerned about Patrick’s views on illegal immigration. In last night’s debate, she said, Patrick’s answers on that topic were ‘‘much more to my liking.’’ In particular, she found that his argument that providing instate tuition to illegal immigrants would only affect a few hundred students put the issue in perspective. She thought the lieutenant governor ‘‘did OK,’’ but did not make the sale. ‘‘I would really have liked to have voted for a woman in that position, but there’s nothing that strongly convinces me to vote for her,’’ she said. Cirincione thought Ross ‘‘brought up lot of good points and was lot more detailed than the other candidates.’’ If Patrick becomes governor, she said, ‘‘he should hire . . . Ross.’’ If she had to vote tomorrow, she would choose Patrick, she said, but ‘‘there’s two weeks left, and a lot can happen in those two weeks.’’
Bonita Gilchrist
Age 44.
Occupation Administrative
assistant.
Residence Mattapan.
Party Undeclared.
Reaction After the debate, Gilchrist was still leaning toward Patrick, but she was surprised at how much she liked Mihos. She especially liked Mihos’s ‘‘ideas about fees and taxes and where he would raise the money to put back into the economy,’’ she said. ‘‘His ideas were very realistic and common-sense.’’ Then again, it was hard to imagine Mihos as governor, because he lacks government experience, as well as a ‘‘commanding presence,’’ she said. ‘‘Deval has charisma, and Christy lacks it.’’ Gilchrist pointed to a moment when the candidates were all talking at once and Patrick ‘‘took a step back and waited for people to finish, so that he could be heard; that really impressed me.’’ She was pleased to see that Healey did not mention Patrick’s legal advocacy for violent criminals.But Gilchrist is not happy with Governor Mitt Romney, and ‘‘I don’t see where she’s done such a great job as lieutenant governor.’’
Mike Burns
Age 28.
Occupation Software engineer.
Residence Quincy.
Party Democrat.
Reaction Burns was ‘‘really impressed’’ with Grace Ross, calling her ‘‘a real straight talker.’’ Healey ‘‘did really well’’ and rose in his estimation last night. But Healey’s citation of statistics — such as the statewide teacher-student ratio, the percentage of the budget spent on local aid — left him cold. ‘‘Most people realize you can spin the numbers any way you want,’’ he said. He said he was unlikely to vote for Healey, however, mostly because he is tired of ‘‘the blame game’’ between Republican governors and Democratic legislators on Beacon Hill. Patrick did well, he said. ‘‘He clarified his position’’ on immigration issues. ‘‘When you get the sound bites that he’s for illegal immigration, you say, ‘That’s not good.’ But when you heard about a 2-year-old kid [who] comes into the system and then they’re an illegal immigrant their whole lives, that’s kind of a different situation.’’ Mihos disappointed him. ‘‘I didn’t think he had much to offer.’’
Brian Venable
Age 52.
Occupation Architect.
Residence Reading.
Party Democrat.
Reaction Venable voted for Patrick in the Democratic primary, but he had been having mixed feelings about him since then, worrying that he avoided specifics on the issues. Last night, Patrick seemed ‘‘much more concrete,’’ he said, citing Patrick’s explanation of ‘‘where the money’s going to come from’’ for some of his proposals. He thought Ross made ‘‘some excellent comments,’’ such as her argument that Healey’s talk about cutting taxes ignored other tax and fee increases. To Venable, Healey ‘‘seemed to be stuck on the taxcut issues,’’ which Venable feels missed the point, because ‘‘fees have gone up across the board.’’ Venable is also concerned about the Romney-Healey administration’s handling of the Big Dig, which he said he wished the candidates had discussed last night. By the end, he felt he was ‘‘still a Patrick supporter,’’ but planned to give ‘‘serious consideration’’ to Ross. 