Michael Bloomberg

Several State Legislative Races On Mass. Primary Ballot

Thursday is state primary day across Massachusetts. And in western Mass., Democrats are competing in several legislative races.

In Pittsfield, incumbent State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier faces a challenge from Michael Bloomberg, the cousin of the former New York mayor.

Voters in parts of Springfield will choose among four candidates for the state representative seat currently held by Ben Swan, who is not running for re-election.

In Eastern Hampshire County, six Democrats are vying to replace Rep. Ellen Story, who is also stepping down.

The only state Senate primary is in the sprawling 52-town district that currently belongs to Ben Downing and covers parts of all four western counties. Rinaldo Del Gallo, Andrea Harrington and Adam Hinds are all looking to move on to November’s general election.

With Primary Looming, Money Rolls In For Western Mass. Legislative Races

With only days remaining until Thursday’s primary elections in Massachusetts, new campaign finance records are shedding some light on some western Mass. races for seats on Beacon Hill.

In the 11th Hampden House District in Springfield, Democrat Ben Swan, Jr,. has raised more than $20,000. That’s four times as much as opponent Bud Williams. Williams, though, still has a war chest of $34,000, much of which is left over from previous City Council campaigns.

In the 3rd Hampshire House District, there are six Democrats, with Solomon Goldstein-Rose leading the way in contributions with almost $25,000. That’s double the amount of the next closest candidate Sarah LaCour. The other four Democrats combined raised about as much as Goldstein-Rose did on his own.

In the 3rd Berkshire Democratic House race in Pittsfield, incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier raised more than $29,000, $11,000 more than challenger Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg did pick up nine maximum donations of $1,000 each, including one from his cousin, the former mayor of New York.

In the region’s sole contested primary for a state Senate seat, Democrats in a Berkshire County-based district have made campaign donations a hot topic.

According to data from the state, Adam Hinds raised nearly $75,000 in the latest reporting period, almost four times a much as his closest opponent in the money race, Andrea Harrington. Hinds has drawn fire from Harrington for accepting donations from employees of energy and fossil fuel companies. Hinds tells the Greenfield Recorder he gave back one of the donations, and wasn’t aware of the others.

In Pittsfield, A Legislative Primary About Experience And Ideas

Berkshire County has just one contested state representative race on September’s primary ballot. Vying for the seat that covers almost all of Pittsfield, Democratic incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier face a challenge from Michael Bloomberg, a cousin of the former New York City mayor.

Farley-Bouvier is seeking her third full term in the Massachusetts House. At a debate last week, she emphasized her legislative experience, compared to that of her opponent.

Bloomberg is a Pittsfield native who recently returned to the area after working in New York, Connecticut and Colorado. He says political experience or not, the city needs more from Boston, and from its state representative.

“We need change because we’ve seen what happens without it,” Bloomberg said. “In cities like Detroit, all the signs were there, but still, it took bankruptcy, civil unrest, chaos, for change to happen. The signs are also here in Pittsfield and for many of our neighbors in Massachusetts.”

Farley-Bouvier also made an issue of Bloomberg’s recent return to Pittsfield, saying he came back specifically to run for office. And citing Bloomberg’s LinkedIn account, she criticized his resume.

“Mr. Bloomberg hasn’t retained any paid employment for more than eight months,” Farley-Bouvier said. “An eight-month tenure at two jobs in a row would certainly raise a red flag for me. The next red flag is that by all appearances, there’s a large gap in employment since November, 2011, until the present day.”

Bloomberg says he had “amazing opportunities,” with a start-up hedge fund and a financial firm. But he says he returned to Pittsfield because he saw a lack of opportunity for its residents. And he says, in recent months, he’s been doing his homework, literally.

“I’ve been at the University of Massachusetts — Amherst, working with professors out there studying urban revitalization around the country, visiting places like Detroit, Cleveland and Baltimore, looking at what other towns and other cities do,” Bloomberg said.

So this is a race between a political newcomer who says he’s researched what Pittsfield should do and a veteran lawmaker who says she’s already doing: working collaboratively, both in Pittsfield and on Beacon Hill.

“I’m very, very proud to be part of Team Pittsfield, where I work closely with the mayor, the (school) superintendent, city council and school committee, business leaders, cultural and non-profit leaders,” Farley-Bouvier said. “And in the legislature, teamwork is everything.”

The winner of this Democratic primary will take on independent Chris Connell, a Pittsfield city councilor, in November.