Somerville Garden Club Annual Plant Sale

[artemii.livejournal.com]

Somerville Garden Club Annual Plant Sale
Next Saturday, Sept. 18
Starting at 9am
Center of Davis Square
Perennials, houseplants, and woody ornamentals
Most plants $1-3
[All proceeds benefit the garden club]

Primary election this Tuesday

[cos]

[crossposted to b0st0n, cambridge_mass, and davis_square]

The Massachusetts primary is this Tuesday, September 14th, and there are some interesting races happening in the area. So few people vote in the primaries, these races often get decided by a very small number of votes. And yet, in most state Senate and state House races in metro Boston, the Democrat always wins the seat, so the real election, the one that decides who your Representative or Senator will be, is the primary.

In Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford, progressive Democrats Avi Green and Carl Sciortino are challenging more conservative incumbents, in tight races. Both challengers have been endorsed by the Boston Phoenix, by Democracy for Massachusetts, and by the Sierra Club.

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In the 34th Middlesex, which is south Medford, west Somerville from Davis to Tufts, and a corner of northeast Somerville, Carl Sciortino is running against incumbent conservative Democrat Vinnie Ciampa. Sciortino is openly gay, and Ciampa voted for the amendment to ban gay marriage, so a lot of civil rights, gay rights, and similar groups are supporting Sciortino's campaign.

• Phoenix article about the Sciortino-Ciampa race
  
• Somerville Journal questionnaires: Carl Sciortino, Vinnie Ciampa
  
• Ciampa's Democratic platform scorecard

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In the 26th Middlesex, consisting of the eastern third of Cambridge and the eastern quarter of Somerville, reformer Avi Green is running against long time incumbent Tim Toomey.
Toomey isn't as conservative as Ciampa, but he is a key supporter of House speaker Tom Finneran, while Avi Green has pledged to vote against Finneran for the speakership. Toomey is also mostly opposed to choice on abortion, and Avi Green is firmly pro-choice. Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts is asking for people to support Avi Green. Beyond the issues, Toomey stands for the old guard of the Democratic party, that is suspicious of newcomers and I feel acts as a barrier to getting people involved in politics and revitalizing the party, while Avi Green is part of the Dean wing of the party, eager to get more new people involved.
Toomey voted against the gay marriage amendment and Green supports gay marriage as well, so this race won't affect that issue in the house. The statewide and national gay rights groups, such as Equal Marriage and the Mass Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, are endorsing Toomey as a reward for his vote, while local gay groups (Cambridge Lavender Alliance, OutSomerville), are endorsing Green.

• Map of the 26th Middlesex
  
• Phoenix article about the Green-Toomey contest.
  
• Cambridge Chronicle voters' guide: Avi Green, Tim Toomey
  
• Somerville Journal questionnaires: Avi Green, Tim Toomey
  
• Tim Toomey's platform scorecard

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To find out what district you live in and who your incumbents are, check WhereDoIVoteMA.com.
To see how your incumbent voted on the gay marriage amendment, go to MassEquality
If you care about abortion choice and family planning issues, see who Planned Parenthood of MA supports.
If your incumbent is a Democrat, you can see how their votes on key issues compare to the Democratic party platform on the Mass Scorecard.
If you're a Dean Democrat, take a look at DfMA's endorsements.
If environmental protection is important to you, see who the Sierra Club endorses

And now I'm off to volunteer for Avi Green for the afternoon. They're canvassing in east Cambridge today, come join us if you want to: http://www.avigreen.org/StateRep/contact.html