Vinnie deMacedo has been my town's Massachusetts State Senator for 10 years, though I only have been here for 4 of them. In that time he voted against MA Gay Marriage, has been given a rating of 0 from NARAL Massachusetts in 2005, and was given a 0 from "Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts" an advocacy group for low-income and working class communities for 2005 and 2006. Massachusetts NOW rated deMacedo with a 29/100 for 2005. On the other hand the Gun Owners' Action League gave him a A+ and the Citizens for Limited Taxation and Government gave him a 95/100. In other words, he's straight down the Republican Party line. Odd enough, he has had it pretty easy getting elected here, in the heart of the Democratic stronghold, running unopposed in 2006 and getting 63% of the vote in 2004. On the other hand, my county is fairly Republican, giving Kerry only a 53% win in 2004, the smallest margin in the state.
Originally it looked like deMacedo was going to be unopposed this year as well. But by Massachusetts rules, if a candidate obtains enough write-in votes on the primary ballot, their name will be placed on the general election ballot. So Jay Ferguson ran a write-in campaign and got enough votes to get on the ballot.
Our local political blog BelowBoston.com had a write up about his write-in campaign.
Democratic write-in candidate Jay Ferguson of Manomet received twice the number of votes necessary to qualify for the placement on the general election ballot for the 1st Plymouth District against Republican Vinnie deMacedo.
And talked a bit about what Ferguson is running on.
Ferguson pledges to seek property tax relief by pushing the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant to pay its fair share of taxes. He also supports more renewable energy projects like Cape Wind and supports the right of Native Americans to build a casino in Massachusetts.
Jay Ferguson has been endorsed by the Massachusetts AFL_CIO and is supported by the Plymouth Democratic Town Committee.
I've met Jay a couple of times and he seems a very smart guy. I can't wait to vote for him. If he and Obama win, I'll be able to say I am represented by Democrats in every position at every level of state and federal government. How cool would that be!