As we review the news of the week, the turnout for Springfield's preliminary election Tuesday was 7.6%, continuing a trend of few voters taking part in city elections.
Mayor Domenic Sarno won with 76 percent of the vote, with the second place finisher, Yolanda Cancel, checking in with 15 percent. Both will move on to the November general election. Besides a wide gap in the voting, Sarno also holds a massive fundraising advantage over his challenger.
"We did a story about a month back in the Advocate looking at the candidates," said ist Dave Eisenstadter. "And most troubling is that Mayor Sarno has decided not to show to many of the campaign events, these debates. And he still gets rewarded by having the greatest share of the votes when turnout is dismal,"
ist Ron Chimelis said he agreed that Sarno's absences were a "problem," but wondered why Sarno would bother showing up.
"He knows he's just about assured a victory," Chimelis said. "I hate to take the pragmatic side, and I don't like to take the pragmatic side. But if I could win by not [appearing at candidate forums] — I hate to say it — I'd probably do the same thing."
Meanwhile, voters in Chicopee will go to the polls Tuesday for that city's mayoral preliminary. Four candidates are vying to move on to November. Incumbent Richard Kos decided not to run for another two-year term.
On Saturday, the Massachusetts Democratic Party will hold its convention in Springfield. The 2020 primary race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Ed Markey figures to be front-and-center at the event. Markey and his two declared challengers, Shannon Liss-Riordan and Steve Pemberton, will be addressing the convention. Congressman Joe Kennedy, who has said he's considering ing the race, is also expected to attend.
The other U.S. senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, will also speak at the convention. Warren, among her party's leading presidential candidates, recently endorsed challengers in Democratic congressional primaries elsewhere. But one of our guests wonders where Warren will fall in a local race for the U.S. House.
- Dave Eisenstadter, managing editor, Valley Advocate
- Ron Chimelis, columnist, Springfield Republican
