After years of being in the tiny minority on Beacon Hill, Karyn Polito is seriously considering a run for state Attorney General this fall.
She would have to win her Republican primary in September and the General election in November.
She's been weighing her options, but yesterday she said was “trying to digest” Brown’s victory and was noncommittal on a run for the state’s top law enforcement post,
"Do I have the qualifications? I can spell pretty good," Polito cracked, taking a dig at the Coakley campaign’s misspelling of Massachusetts. "I think the constitution does not require that you’re an attorney, though I am, and I've advocated for issues that that office addresses. Am I qualified for the position? Absolutely.… Is it a position that I am interested in? I haven’t made that analysis."Polito was most recently a contender for Charlie Baker's running mate in the Governor's race, but after alienating several Republican party leaders, she was instead relegated to cheerleader behind Richard Tisei. I've also heard that she's been considering challenging State Senator Mike Moore (D) as well.
Who will run for State Representative in her wake?
Local Republicans have a deep bench with plenty of people ready to run. Selectmen Miller, Lebeaux, and Kane are all prime Republican suspects, as are many of their colleagues in appointed positions on the ZBA, planning board, and finance committee.
Democrats, on the other hand, haven't fielded a successful race in town for anything, having most recently lost the town in the Moore-Lebeaux 2008 Senate. The only prominent Democrat elected in the town is Selectman Moe DePalo, but he can't get the party's support because he endorsed Republican Lebeaux in 2008.
In Shrewsbury, Democrats are 29% of the voters, while only 16% are Republicans. Unenrolled voters make up the vast 54%. And as we've seen with Polito and Lebeaux, it's not party that wins in Shrewsbury, it's money, family, and history.
It takes four things to run a successful race: political connections, money, experience, and qualifications; unfortunately, in that order.
Stay tuned.
16 comments:
None of the above, Miller, Lebeaux, Kane, or DePaulo are attorny's. Don't you have to be one to be an AG??
As for being a senator. None of the above mentioned have even half of the qualifications to do so. Leave them be, they're having a hard enough time running our town.
You don't have to be an attorney to be State Rep. That's the question. To be state rep, you just have to show up to every event and smile for the cameras. Who's the most qualified at that??
Heaven help us!
I said Attorney General...not state rep! You HAVE to be an attorney for that.
"I said Attorney General, not state rep! You HAVE to be an attorney for that"
None of the people you referenced are running for Attorney General, they would be potential candidates if Karyn Polito (who is an attorney) left her post as a rep and ran for Attorney General. Learn how to read before you yell at others for correcting you!
I would love to see a townie like Karyn run for higher office. It should be an honor for the town to have one of their own climb the political ladder. As for what it takes to win-family,money,connections,etc. Karen has it all.
"Family, money, connections " do not make a good candidate. What about her knowledge and/or ability to succeed in higher office? We know she currently will not take a stand on local issues, where will she be on broad issues? I don't know how she would do in a bigger arena and I don't think she is known outside of the local area. Good for her is she attempts a bid at another position, but I am not sure how it will turn out.
Anon at 8:15 am stated:
"Family, money, connections " do not make a good candidate. What about her knowledge and/or ability to succeed in higher office?"
This is a common mistake. The ability to succeed is only a qualification for RE-election. A challenger does not have to run on his record in the post, and often will rely on other factors, as Mark cynically described as "family, money and connections". I would add to the list:
Appearance: You must be somewhat attractive as a starting point, and more helps. I have not seen the results on Scott Brown among women voters, but my guess is that he performed well.
Elocution: Unless your name is Tom Meneno or anything ending with Kennedy, you have to be able to speak clearly, with minimal accent, not use words that are too big, or too small.
Lack of Skeletons: Although the electorate is getting a bit more accepting of certain youthful indiscretions, you must have no big problems in your past. Candidates for re-election can have convictions (Marion Barry, Buddy Cianci, etc.) but challengers must have no criminal past. Affairs are acceptable only to a point. For example, John McCain and Bob Dole may have overlapped wives and got away with it, but Tiger Woods has no future in electoral politics.
I know the readers here like to dabble in political science, so are there any other qualifications we should list to help our locals succeed?
Karyn won't get involved in local issues, saying she wants to leave that to more local politicians. Hello - all politics are local. She'll ask for our votes but then won't concern herself with our issues??? It appears more like she won't get involved because her business is so entrenched in town affairs that she'd be running into conflicts of interest every time she opens her mouth, therefore, she shouldn't even consider higher office. She's supposed to represent Shrewsbury - Mugging for the camera every time there's a photo-op doesn't count.
I think Mrs. Polito should soon consider retirement from politics. Otherwise, her view on term limits seems both insincere and hypocritical.
She may be able to spell pretty good, but can she spell well? Or speak well?
Polito's joke at Coakley's expense reveals her own poor grammar & bad judgment.
The only position I recall Ms. Polito taking in recent time is to be against gay marriage. Politics is supposed to be about looking forward -
After 10+ years in her current job, other than the Red Sox vanity plates, what forward legislation has Ms Polito had her name attached to or proposed?
As fun as it is to bash Karyn, right off teh top of my head as I recall she was the cosponsor of Melanie's Law, toughening teh penalties on drunk driving and mandating ignition interlocks on repeat offenders.
7:38 PM, I would hope after a DECADE on Bacon Hill, there's more to show than just that. Being in the minority party may make it more difficult to get things passed, but it doesn't mean bills can't be introduced. Is there anyone who isn't in favor of tougher laws for drunks or sex offenders? Has she taken a tough stand on any other issues besides term limits? Just wondering.
To the 9:00:00PM poster
"who isn't in favor of tougher laws for drunks or sex offenders?" That would be the Massachusetts House. Most of our elected reps are defense lawyers and the majority of them defend clients who are accused of DUI's. Those reps need to keep flexibility in the DUI laws, their income depends on it.
Mark states "Who will run for State Representative in her wake?
Local Republicans have a deep bench with plenty of people ready to run. Selectmen Miller, Lebeaux, and Kane are all prime Republican suspects, as are many of their colleagues in appointed positions on the ZBA, planning board, and finance committee."
Mark, I object your comments quoted here. It is not well thought out to encapulate(is that word?)local politics which I am reminded often is nonpartisan arena then put those town leaders in a position at the state level with a political agenda. I believe this quote labels town leaders which not fair. Stop the future bending with named town officials. This leads to a blog simply becoming a rumor mill.
Democrats, on the other hand, haven't fielded a successful race in town for anything, having most recently lost the town in the Moore-Lebeaux 2008 Senate. The only prominent Democrat elected in the town is Selectman Moe DePalo, but he can't get the party's support because he endorsed Republican Lebeaux in 2008.
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