Democratic Primary election, Sept. 8, a Thursday.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Vote--on THURSDAY this week, folks. Just wanted to highlight the unusual day. A nice young canvasser just came by my house to remind me, and I realized I hadn't seen notice of it much on the social media channels.

Sample ballots: http://www.somervillema.gov/alerts/sample-ballots-available-september-8-state-primary

Comments

[frotz.livejournal.com]

If anyone has opinions on the candidates for the Democratic nomination for Middlesex Sheriff, Koutoujian and Kelleher , I'd be curious to read them. (There was another candidate or two at one point, Brodie looking particularly interesting, but the field seems to be down to two.) The coverage I've seen so far hasn't conveyed a lot, though there's also a recording of a half-hour televised debate that I haven't had a go at yet.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Koutoujian's campaign demon-dialed my cell phone from a DC number 5 years ago or so, so I'm probably voting against him. Petty, I know.

[redbird]

At the moment I am leaning slightly toward Kelleher because he doesn't seem as convinced that opiate addiction is the only reason for crime in Massachusetts. (This is based on both candidates' campaign websites, which mostly feel like everyone coming out in favor of the same agreed-to-be-good things. Even though I mostly agree with them that those things are good, it doesn't give much to distinguish on.)

[jicama]

There's a little information at http://www.cjpc.org/Middlesex.htm , but it unfortunately doesn't have any answers to its questionnaire.

[ron_newman]

Sheriff Koutoujian's answers to that questionnaire. His opponent has not answered it.

[jicama]

Thanks, that sounds good to me.

[ron_newman]

Does anyone have any opinion or information about the candidates for Governor's Councilor?

[kelkyag]

There are -- or were last I walked past -- signs for Borelli up along Trum Field, which as far as I know is public property and not an appropriate location for privately placed political signs. I am annoyed about that -- and have no meaningful information about any of the candidates to go on presently.

[ron_newman]

Interesting, since I got a robo-call from Mayor Joe asking me to vote for Kennedy.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Not me. I used to turn to Progressive Dems of Somerville for evaluations but the web site doesn't seem active now. Maybe it's all done on Facebook these days and I'm not on Facebook like the kids today.

[jdh0625.livejournal.com]

Kids aren't on Facebook today anymore, either.

FYI!

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Heh.

[somergirl80.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the heads up. It's much appreciated! So odd that they're having it on a Thursday but glad to know now. I hadn't heard when until now.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was a big dummy and made the "Tuesday is election day always!" assumption and almost walked into my polling place this morning before realizing there was no election going on.

I'm mostly just looking forward to the end of the Cheung canvassers and mailers clogging up my mailbox.

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

Why so many mailers, btw? Cheung is really over doing it - to the point today in my head I said i would vote for the person who sent the least! jk of course but still

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

I heard he got money from outside donors that probably paid for a lot of mailers. http://bluemassgroup.com/2016/09/i-miss-the-peoples-pledge/

[keithn.livejournal.com]

The same is true of Pat, as the article points out.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Massachusetts Teachers aren't from Massachusetts? Fascinating.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

There was nothing in your comment or the context of the thread that would clue me in that you were arbitrarily defining "outside" as "outside the state" rather than the commonly understood definition. (https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/) A simple clarification would have been more appropriate than gratuitous sarcasm.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I should have totally said Wall Street hedge fund guys and not teachers in our state, to be clearer. You are quite right. http://bluemassgroup.com/2016/09/200000-to-buy-a-mass-senate-seat-for-a-former-virginia-republican/

Politics in the Age of Trump comes to Massachusetts: a group run by Wall Street hedge fund executives called Education Reform Now (Sessa Capital, Covey Capital, Charter Bridge Capital, Cubist Systematic Strategies, and Sanford C. Bernstein employ its directors) dumps $200,000 into a state Senate race to try to buy a seat for former Virginia Republican Leland Cheung who backs an expansion of charter schools (13 percent of them for-profit businesses nationwide).

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I have been receiving mailers mostly from Pat Jehlen and groups campaigning on her behalf. I had three delivered at once on Saturday. It's getting a bit absurd.

Leland Cheung did somehow get my e-mail address and I have been receiving e-mails from him.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if I was the only person who was getting spam from him without having signed up for anything. Apparently not. :/

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Yep, me too. And I would never have given him my e-mail since I support his opponent. Ugh.

[avacon.livejournal.com]

He got my (single-use) email address from when I donated to the Elizabeth Warren campaign which is how I know where he got it from. I find this extremely sketchy and it reminded me a few weeks ago that I needed to ask for one of Pat's yard signs.

[madrigal.livejournal.com]

I've been getting them, and I don't live in Somerville, Medford, Cambridge, or Winchester.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I have been receiving e-mails from Leland Cheung. I never signed up for e-mails from him and I'm not entirely sure why he is e-mailing me, although I believe he may have gotten my e-mail address when I sent an e-mail to the Cambridge City Council in support of Uber a couple of years ago. I'm not bothered by it and have kept myself subscribed because I find something interesting about a campaign with impossible odds.

Last week he sent an e-mail with this line:

"It has been decades since an incumbent State Senator has been successfully challenged in a Democratic Primary."

I have to wonder if he really believes this time will be any different and, if not, what he is hoping to accomplish from running a sure to lose primary campaign against a popular state senator.

I was against Cheung at first, but I will probably vote for him because I agree with lifting the charter school cap, and Pat has really made her opposition a focal point of the campaign. I still like Pat and I really doubt that Cheung's charter school position is popular in this district, though. I would be impressed if he lost by less than 20 points.