Kristen Hughes wins MA GOP Chair in Tight Race – 41-39 in Long Night in Boston – Opponent Rick Green, Announces Chair. Top Mass Dem Congratulates Media on Twitter

The New Mass GOP Chair, Kristen Hughes – image from Mass Live (Springfield, MA Republican)

In a late night in Boston, the Massachusetts GOP chose a new leader, Kristen Hughes, a , the former Deputy Finance Director for Scott Brown’s campaign and grassroots organizer who had brought more state seats to Beacon Hill in the 2010 elections. She has the experience and, obliviously, the fortitude to meet a challenge.

What is most interesting about this particular GOP State Chair contest is that – there was a contest for Mass State GOP chair. The fact that there may be so-called “division” in the State Party, is being touted by the media as some sort of problem, however, it appears that to have a robust party, one must have an exchange of ideas, rather than a dictatorship or, “cronyism”, the later being prevalent in Bay State politics. In past years, there was little to no “news” on the Mass GOP chair position and very few either cared or knew who was being elected, and to what position within the State Party – things changed in 2009 and 2010. Those being referred to as the “right” of the MA GOP – are the fiscal conservatives and yes, Tea Party members, who were elected to State Committee Seats. Without a doubt, one might suggest that if this were the Democrat Party, there would be “blue dog” Democrats a la Stephen Lynch, MA Congressional Representative, recently announcing a bid for the Senate Seat open via John Kerry’s rise in status as Secretary of State, versus, Ed Markey, also a Congressional Representative and a screaming Progressive, who also is vying to the Senate Seat.

Enter the media, and what was left out of the story as “tweets” coming through last night suggested the following, that there was a “crowd” in attendance to support either one of the State Chair candidates, and that Boston P.D. was brought in for ”crowd control! With the long night and extremely close race, the Mass GOP is seen as marginal, rather than evolving and merging into a competitive party from the ground up. The general consensus among Mass. Politico’s is that “experience” (i.e. the longer one is in a particular elected position) trumps all. In most years it is unusual for a Democrat to have any competition at all, in 2010 there were over 200 Republican’s running for State and Federal offices, a stunning amount. Massachusetts needs good, solid competition going into elections, a two, or three party governments would help shift the Bay State towards reality.

Over at the Boston Globe, , reporter, Stephanie Ebbert, who was in attendance at the GOP Chair election, and “tweeted” throughout, writes about the division and saw the race for Chair as a boost for Scott Brown, should he decide to run for Senate, which is looking likely. “The contentious fight over leadership had further divided the state’s minority party, which is still reeling from its losses in November and is preparing for an upcoming special election to fill John F. Kerry’s seat in the US Senate. Many thought that a loss for Brown’s candidate would leave him looking weak as he potentially positions himself for another ¬political move.” Ms. Ebbert speaks about the Mass GOP chair position being less than valued, as it has had volunteer, temporary chairs, etc (this alone makes it huge that there was an actual fight for the position). She closes by pointing out that the Democrat Chair, John Walsh, has held that position since 2007. (Boston Globe).

John Walsh, on Twitter, returns the favor, by giving a “shout out” to Ms. Ebbert, “Great Work this time, you didn’t even get kicked out!” (Paraphrased, see Screen Shot). Walsh also congratulates Kristen Hughes, and announces Scott Brown’s candidacy for the Senate Seat (which may or may not be premature). Of note, the AP had run a story on the 30th noting that Brown as leaning towards a run, which, if that is the case, Walsh will have his hands full with a primary between a Blue Dog Lynch, and a Progressive Markey, both unknown outside of their own districts. His job, once the dust clears and Markey wins the primary, is to manufacture enough votes to beat Brown a second time. The problem with most special elections is turnout, which will be, honestly, harder for Hughes without the backing of those on the “right” who had backed “Green”, but not impossible, given the 2010 results.

Walsh and the media know that is the case.



Above Screenshot - speaks volumes

What is a treat to watch, as a Massachusetts resident, is the fact that there is actual news about a party other than the Democrat Party! In previous years, a mention maybe on page 57 of the Globe versus this morning’s offering by the Massachusetts Press.

Congratulation to the new Mass State GOP Chairwoman, Kristen Hughes, one two counts, one for being elected and putting up a fight for the position, and two, for making the Democrats and the Globe a bit nervous. Congratulations to Rick Green, who ran a robust campaign, and his commitment to fiscal sanity in the Bay State. The fact that both factions of the Party had a “favorite horse” in the race for the Chair, speaks volumes about the import of the seat and the State GOP. The MA State GOP has always been dismissed in the past, should over the next ten years, one see more Republican State Legislators and State Senators, and City Councilors and Mayors, then those leading the State GOP would have done their job. It’s a long process to the top of the heap, and it starts at the bottom, ward by ward, precinct by precinct – long and arduous but not impossible.

The Bay State needs division rather than one party rule.



Highly recommended insight into Massachusetts Politics

Massachusetts Politics: Special Election – Stephen Lynch (D-MA) Jumps In – No Republican Candidate, Mass GOP – New Chair to Be Elected Today

Politics, in the two-party system - image bostino blog

From The Boston Globe Congressional Representative, Stephen Lynch, announced his candidacy to fill the Senate Seat being vacated by John Kerry, now Secretary of State. The other announced candidate is Democrat Ed. Markey, another one of the nine Congressional representatives in the Commonwealth. Lynch, is possibly a moderate, who had a faced primary challengers from progressive Democrats in the past, and has been noted by the Blog “Buzzfeed” as being “too Conservative” for Massachusetts Lynch is pro-life, voted against the Iraq War and the Obama Health Care Reform Act.

The primary is set for April, 2013 with a special election to follow in June. Markey is favored by the DNC, as a strictly reliable vote, neither man is well known outside of their own districts.

Markey has a site up Ed Markey.org To date, none found for Lynch.

Should no Republican enter the race, Lynch should be given a second look as a moderate. That said Lynch will be with former Senator and newly appointed Secretary of State John Kerry today in Western Mass. The association with Kerry may give those more conservative voters pause.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts GOP will elect a new chair today. The candidates are Kirstin Hughes and Rick Green. The 80 member Mass COP Committee members will make the selection. As of the 30th of January there was a 1 point difference in Committee endorsements per candidate with Green leading by 1. (Red Mass Group). Green is a fiscal conservative appealing to both moderates as well as the more right wing members of the Mass GOP (keep Mass GOP in mind) – Kirstin Hughes is a GOP stalwart, having worked on Scott Browns campaign. It remains to be seen if the clout of the Boston GOP’s members supporting Hughes will be enough to win the Chair for her against Green. The Mass GOP Chair Election with profiles is available hereat this blog – updated December 12th. At that time, Green was the favorite, again based on party unity.

Mass GOP Chair – Contest Update: Running for the Seat: Kristen Hughes, the Duo: Dean Cavaretta and David D'Arcangelo and Rick Green, Fiscal Conservative holds early lead.

The Massachusetts GOP Logo - from newtonrepublicans.org

The Mass GOP Chair is up for grabs in Massachusetts – which may be the most lackluster State GOP in the nation. The fact that there actually are conservatives in the Commonwealth, in varying degrees ranging from Moderate Republican’s to no-holds-barred, unforgiving –Social Conservatives, to those Democrats who remember what it meant to be a Democrat before the Progressives decided to make it their “Party”, and the Libertarians together make up enough of the electorate to push a candidate in any race over the top. The problem is the lack of cohesive ground-game and the inertia on the part of the few “troops” that are available.

Those Pointing to former State Senator and now former Senator Scott Brown’s win in 2010, as proof, is a bit disingenuous, as those manning the phones for Brown, and walking door to door, were not rank and file GOP members, they were the aforementioned Democrats (who are tops in organizational skills), along with Green Party, Libertarian’s and those Tea Party members. That was the group that brought Scott Brown the win. After the Special Election, Brown went on one of those “thank you” tours, and it was remarked, repeatedly, that one could tell the GOP regulars jockeying for position in a crowded room full of real supporters, or those who were in the trenches helping to elect Brown.

The State Chairman, whoever ascends to the least of the GOP Chairs, will have their hands full in trying to get anything done in this state, unless of course, they are some sort of activist who is so politically astute and connected that they can hand out favors to the “country-club” set at the same time. There is the regional split to deal with as well, Western Massachusetts, as one might not be aware is a hotbed of political rights, and by right, it is right wing, and not giving an inch – unless of course, the candidate is Calvin Coolidge reborn – maybe. On the other side, they have the country-club GOP set to deal with – those are the dinners and golf outings that are thrown by the “leadership” which can only appeal to fundraisers, an important aspect, except it does nothing to build a base – which said base is now at 11.5% of the State’s electorate (as of 10/17/12) . According to the Secretary of State’s office, the following is a snapshot of party enrollment in the state: 4,342,841 total registered voters: 1,551,693 of these are Democrats, 484,099 of these are Republicans, 6,507 are either Green or Rainbow Party, 17,269 of these are political designations of none of the aforementioned and a whopping 2,283,273 refused to be indented by a political party.

In the 2012 Elections there was a total vote cast of 3,184,196 in the top race for the Presidency and the Senate Race between Brown and Warren, 1,188,314 votes were cast for Romney, with 1,921,290 votes cast for Obama, and there were 1,458,048 votes cast for Scott Brown, while Warren received: 1,696,346 votes. (Secretary of State’s office). There were roughly, one million votes left on the table, and a lack of coherent messaging from a unified GOP to bring them to the right side. (Of course, those 1 million extra votes could be the dead or missing voters on the rolls).

This is the challenge that any GOP Chair would face – the ability to lead the country club set and the Conservative groups to the table, to some sort of agreement on organizing the Grass Roots, from the precinct level upwards. It’s Herculean in scope, and it’s going to take more than a few years to accomplish, unless – the individual (or individuals) as the case may be, has the ability to keep both sides in check and go in waist deep into the trenches – there is fertile ground for conservatives in Massachusetts, and for Republican’s – the problem is – no one knows they are there!!

Therefore: to Introduce the candidates that can try and drag the GOP in Massachusetts up from the netherworld:

From RedMassGroup.com (The Mass. Republican Activist Website):

The Statement of Candidacy of Kristen Hughes – also endorsed by Scott Brown for this position.

the Proposed organizational structure of a dual Chair by Cavaretta and D'Arcandelo (not a bad idea)

Rick Green, who appeals to both moderates and hardliner conservatives (the light bulb is on!).

The Candidates websites: Rick Green for Mass GOP Chair

Kristen Hughes for Mass GOP Chair

And the Duo - The New Mass Playbook, site for Cavaretta and D’Arcandelo for Mass GOP Chair.

The race for the GOP chair will also give an indication of who might better take advantage of the Tea Party (yes, that Tea Party), in Massachusetts. Those who are active on some many levels, especially inside politics, and inside the Mass GOP (and also, no kidding the Mass DNC), - Rick Green is the Chair of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which would go a long way towards getting those who would work for a GOP leader, to work for the Mass GOP in earnest.

The Mass GOP chair election takes place in January 2013.