Three candidates are vying for the open Massachusetts state senate seat in greater Springfield, held by Gale Candaras for the last eight years. While the two major party candidates have lobbed some personal attacks, they agreed on many issues in a roundtable debate.
MORE: New England Public Radio’s election voter guide
Democrat Eric Lesser immediately distanced himself from his own party, declaring support for a ballot question to stop the gas tax from increasing automatically along with inflation. Lesser, a law student and former White House aide, says it’s an unfair tax to western Massachusetts families.
“We drive more than families in eastern Massachusetts, and when the price of gas goes up, there’s less public transportation alternatives for us,” Lesser says.
Republican Deb Boronski of the Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce wants to repeal the automatic gas tax increase as well. The two also plan to vote against the ballot initiative to repeal the casino law. Boronski cautiously supports bringing a casino to Springfield.
“I know what it’s like downtown, and I know how desperate Springfield is for an answer,” says Boronski. “While this is an answer, I don’t think it should be the whole solution. It needs to be part of the puzzle.”
Boronski and Lesser also both support medical marijuana, and campaign finance reform.
Despite their agreements on policy, this campaign has turned personal. Boronski dug up an article Lesser wrote about his work on President Obama’s 2008 campaign, in which he claimed to have broken into a car wash to check on campaign vans. Meanwhile, Lesser shamed Boronski for failing to properly disclose campaign contributions she made as a lobbyist.
The outlier in this race is Mike Franco, running under the America First party. He supports the casino repeal, and is against medical marijuana and a high speed rail link from Springfield to Boston. That’s a project both Lesser and Boronski support to varying degrees. In Franco’s words, he represents a ‘silent majority’ in the district.
“I’m like the Joan Rivers of candidates because I say things people think but won’t say because of political correctness,” says Franco.
Franco is a perennial candidate, and a long shot compared to the two major party candidates, with significantly more money in their campaign accounts.
Candidate roundtables are part of a collaboration between The Republican newspaper, CBS3 and New England Public Radio.