Once again, I’m sending out a message to my fellow Bay Staters to get out and vote in the upcoming elections. A Senate seat, congressional representatives, the governorship, and numerous state and local positions are up for the vote this year. We will will also be voting on three ballot measures.
- Make sure to Register to Vote by October 17th!!!!
- Visit My Election Information to see the candidates on the ballot in your district and find out where your polls are located.
- Consider taking advantage of Early Voting. Early voting in Boston runs from October 22nd to November 2nd, and will be available in other Massachusetts’ communities as well.
When you get to the polls, please consider voting for Jay Gonzalez for Governor. He is a progressive and will advocate for bold ideas to challenge great amount of inequality in the Commonwealth. He is focused on supporting public education, repairing and expanding public transportation, improving healthcare (and cutting healthcare costs), and addressing serious environmental problems that contribute to climate change. As the national political scene deteriorates, it is ever more important that “blue states” mobilize to do what needs to be done to protect our people locally and be a model of progressive values.
Which is why Massachusetts definitely cannot continue under a Republican governor. Charlie Baker is often presented as a moderate and is inordinately popular with Massachusetts Democrats, but he is still a Republican whose conservative ideology benefits the wealthy at the expense of the most vulnerable. Baker has refused to take a stance against the Trump Administration’s worst offenses, and in fact continues to fund raise money for Republicans that is funneled to Trump. His “reform before revenue” plan for the MBTA has done nothing but allow public transit to further deteriorate. His Board of Education chair Paul Sagan made illegal campaign contributions to efforts to privatize public education. And Baker used taxpayer money to make a deal with General Electric, a company whose stock value is crashing and may never build their headquarters in Massachusetts, but will still cash in on Baker’s sweet deal. Baker is not good for Massachusetts, don’t vote for him!
I also encourage you to vote YES on all three ballot measures:
- Question 1 – Sets limits on the number of patients a nurse can be assigned to. It is important that patients receive quality care and attention in Massachusetts’ hospitals and that nurses are not overextended. I know a lot of nurses – some of the hardest working and compassionate people I know – and they all say to vote YES ON 1.
- Question 2 – Creates citizens commission to advocate for changes to the U.S. Constitution regarding political spending and corporate personhood. It’s vital to begin to reverse the trend toward oligarchy and make our state and national government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Vote YES ON 2.
- Question 3 – Maintains a 2016 a law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity. We shouldn’t ever have to vote on the basic human rights of any group of people, but since this question is on the ballot, I implore you to defend equality, dignity, and livelihoods for transgender people by voting YES ON 3.
Happy voting! Let’s all get out and vote for a better future for Massachusetts!
Panorama of the Mountains 