Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Concord Democrat Cory Atkins will keep the office she claimed more than a decade ago.
On a night filled with good news for Democrats across the board, state Rep. Cory Atkins could party like it was 1999, which is when she won the 14th Middlesex seat she'll hang onto after a challenge from Michael Benn, a Republican from her hometown of Concord. Reached by phone not long after Elizabeth Warren’s victory speech, Atkins spoke excitedly about a bout teamwork among Massachusetts Democrats leading up to Election Day. “What I’m proud of is all of the Democrats,” Atkins said, "Because we worked so hard on coordinating campaigns and it really worked to our advantage. We worked so hard for each other.” The 14th Middlesex District includes the towns of Concord and Carlisle, along with precincts 1, 2 and 6 in Acton and precincts 1 and …
Lexington Democrat Mike Barrett defeats Chelmsford Republican Sandi Martinez to claim seat long held by retiring state Sen. Susan Fargo.
While they’re saying goodbye to Susan Fargo, the Democrats aren’t ready to let go of her seat in the state Senate. Lexington Democrat Mike Barrett, after outlasting four challengers from his own party in the primary, has defeated Sandi Martinez, a Republican from Chelmsford, to claim the Third Middlesex District seat Fargo, a Lincoln Democrat, held tightly for eight terms before deciding to retire. “I’m excited about returning to the Senate,” said Barrett, who was a state Senator from Cambridge from 1987 until a failed bid for governor in 1994. “Eighteen years older, probably not 18 years wiser, but I think smarter and I’m looking forward to it.” The Third Middlesex District represents Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lincoln, …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voters made decisions on car repairs, assisted suicide and medical marijuana in the statewide election.
Question 1: Right to Repair Voters approved the “Right to Repair” ballot question, which would give consumers more choices when fixing a car in today's election. According to numbers on boston.com, 85 percent of voters approved the question, with 51 percent of the state reporting at 10:15 p.m. The initiative requires automakers to make computer software codes for repairs more accessible to independent repair shops and car owners by 2015. But in July, state legislators devised a compromise that would give carmakers until 2018 to comply with the new law, according to a Boston Globe report. By approving Question 1, voters trumped that compromise and enacted the “Right to Repair” act as written on the ballot. “Voters sent a clear message to …
Marilyn Pettito Devaney won with 75 percent of the vote in the district that covers more than 30 communities.
[Results updated at 9:35 a.m. on Nov. 7] Voters returned Watertown’s Marilyn Pettito Devaney to an eighth term on the Governor’s Council, Tuesday, supporting her by a wide margin in the race against Newton’s Thomas Sheff. With 95 percent of the 270 precincts counted, Pettito Devaney received nearly 74percent of the votes, according to results collected by Patch and Boston.com. Pettito Devaney, a former Watertown Town Councilor, received 230,222 votes, and Sheff, who had run for mayor in Newton in 2005, received 80,891 votes. Pettito Devaney defeated two challengers in the Democratic primary in September before facing Sheff, who ran as an un-enrolled candidate. The Third District of the Governor’s Council includes 32 communities, from …
Democrat Elizabeth Warren beat incumbent candidate Scott Brown in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.
Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has beaten incumbent Republican candidate Scott Brown for a seat on the U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press. Warren is won by a margin of eight percentage points, 54 percent to 46 percent, making her the first female senator elected in Massachusetts. An estatic Warren addressed a crowd of hundreds of excited supporters at the Copley Fairmont Plaza hotel in Boston on Tuesday night. "We did what everyone thought was impossible," she said. "We taught a scrappy, first-time candidate how to win." "You took on the powerful Wall Street banks and let them know that you want a Senator out there fighting for the middle class all of the time," she said. "And despite the odds, you elected the first …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Local Democrats and Republicans across Massachusetts discussed Wednesday night's debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney in a live chat on Patch.
In the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado, President Barack Obama came out flat while Gov. Mitt Romney had some effective arguments, according to local Democrats and Republicans from across Massachusetts who joined in a Patch live chat during the debate on Tuesday night. "Overall, tie goes to Obama," said Democrat Alex Buck. "Romney had a couple good lines, but nothing hugely productive. He looked jittery and possibly his most memorable line was about Big Bird." Reader Tom Sheff added late in the debate, "No defining moment so far, that's for sure." As the debate opened on the economy, Romney took an early upper hand according to the Democrats and Republicans who joined the chat as panelists. "President seemed nervous, and …
Friday, September 14, 2012
The latest findings from Patch's Red and Blue Commonwealth surveys.
Massachusetts Democrats got more of a confidence boost out of their party conventions than Republicans did: that's the major finding from Red and Blue Commonwealth surveys sent out to Massachusetts Republicans and Democrats earlier this week. An overwhelming 88% of influential Massachusetts Democrats surveyed in Patch polls said they feel "more strongly" that their candidate is going to win the presidential election in November. Only 56% of Republicans surveyed responded similarly. Republicans also seemed less confident about whether their presidential candidate had gotten into the details of their plans: 45% of them were neutral or disagreed with the statement that "In his convention speech, Romney provided specifics on his goals for the …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Question 3 on the Nov. ballot will ask about legalizing medical marijuana.
This November voters will be able to cast a vote for or against legalizing medical marijuana in the Commonwealth. According to WBUR, proponents have formed the Committee For Compassionate Medicine (Subtitle: ‘Yes’ for Massachusetts Patients). The opponents are at MaVoteNoOnQuestion3.com. Question 3 on the ballot reads: “A yes vote would enact the proposed law eliminating state criminal and civil penalties related to the medical use of marijuana, allowing patients meeting certain conditions to obtain marijuana produced and distributed by new state-regulated centers, or, in specific hardship cases, to grow marijuana for their own use.” So we want to know: Are you for or against legalizing medical marijuana in the state?
Muriel McGrann
11:39 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
I will wait and see if you are a follower or leader in providing a debt free State and legislation for small business creation and passing legislation that serves the people and not your party leaders.......but thats really to much to ask a Democrat is it not????? more ›