Primary election poll - Governor of Massachusetts

[ron_newman]

The primary election for Governor of Massachusetts, as well as other statewide and district offices, is just a week away: next Tuesday, September 9.

In our last poll, taken in mid-July, over 30% of us were still undecided. If that's still true today, the candidates have a lot of work left to do and not much time left to do it in. Let's see how much DSLJ's opinions have changed in the past seven weeks.

(Note: like our previous polls in DSLJ, this is not a secret ballot; individual votes are readable by all members of the community)

[Poll #1980755]

I have not listed independent candidates here because they will not be on the September 9 primary ballot. But if you support one, tell us in the comments.

All discussion about the state election (for Governor or any other office) is welcome here. This Reddit post contains links to the campaign websites of all opposed candidates for all statewide offices on the September ballot. As today's Globe article shows. many of us can't even name the candidates for offices lower than Governor.

Comments

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I found a non official sample ballot for Medford at http://www.wheredoivotema.com/
Just put in your address and you can click through to find your particular sample ballot. Unknown if it's complete (like if it contains verbage for any voter referendums, etc if there are any) but it does have the major positions listed. I suspect this contains only state wide items, not local city items.

[ron_newman]

That's a totally official website -- it is run by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and will give you a sample ballot for any address in the state.

Ballot issues are on the November ballot, not next week's.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

It's pretty disappointing how little attention the governor's race has been getting. It looks like Martha Coakley is going to win the Democratic primary and general election simply because she is the only name most voters have heard before. While our governor is elected, it doesn't feel that way. It feels like someone is blown into office by the winds.

I assume the governor's race will heat up a bit, but not until after the primary, which is the more important election given the Democratic advantage in this state.

From what I've seen, there isn't a big difference between Coakley and Grossman in terms of policy, and Berwick has no chance. I'm voting for Grossman simply because Joe Curatone endorsed him and because Martha Coakley's failure to beat Scott Brown in 2010 makes me worried about her blowing another election. I normally don't care about endorsements but Curatone's endorsement tells me that he has a good relationship with Grossman which should make it easier for him to get things done at the state level that benefit Somerville.

As far as Lt. Governor goes, this is a position with hardly any authority at all. We haven't even had one for over a year after the last one got bored and quit to take a job that paid better. I am voting for Leland Cheung simply because he's a popular Cambridge city council member and Cambridge and Somerville are pretty much in the same boat on all major issues.

[ron_newman]

I didn't even know that Mayor Joe had endorsed Grossman. He's been pretty quiet about it, quite unlike 2008 when he was in loudly and early for Deval Patrick.

A mailer from the Mayor for Grossman would swing some voters around here, but I haven't seen one.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

I was just looking for a sample ballot to make sure I had researched all the races, but I didn't find one. I hate to be surprised in the booth.

[ron_newman]

Go to http://WhereDoIVoteMA.com , type in your street address, and you'll get a link to a sample ballot. This site is run by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and should work for any address in Massachusetts.

If you live in Somerville, you can also find sample ballots at http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections , in the right-hand column.

A slightly OT peeve

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Other states I have lived in have sent sample ballots, including poll location (since they shifted more than here in Somerville, where they apparently never change) before EVERY election. In the language the voter indicated was the preference when they registered. It reminded everyone when the election was, looked identical to what would appear in the voting booth, clearly stated what office/proposition was being voted on, included pro and con statements approved by the SoS's office, etc etc.

Here? A few sandwich boards are put up in a few intersections.

Not the end of the world, obv, but I just wonder why it isn't done here at all.