Congressional Roundup: Golnik's DNV

In basketball, a player who suits up but does not appear in the game is shown in the box score as a "DNP" (Did Not Play). According to a report this weekend in the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Third Congressional District candidate Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) has been quite the bench warmer, as he did not vote at all from November, 2008 to March, 2009:

"It's one of those things you're certainly not proud of and wish you could change," Golnik said of his voting record. "I fell into a trap and I got disillusioned. I got frustrated...."

"I was an activist. And then I stopped," Golnik wrote on his campaign website under the header "My Political Journey." "What happened to a young activist like me and a lot of others after 2000 that made me make the active decision not to vote? It wasn't because I didn't care. I felt that I upheld my end and that my party didn't uphold its end. I felt betrayed. I believe Republicans lost their way after Bush's 2000 election."

Not only is Golnik being criticized for his DNV (Did Not Vote), an area blogger and strong supporter of Sam Meas (R-Haverhill) is suggesting that the fire that destroyed Golnik's headquarters may have been started by the candidate (or one of his supporters). The Lowell Sun reports:

Mike Farquhar, who writes on the blog rabidrepublicanblog.com, asked "Could this be a narcissist's criminal bid for attention?"

"Maybe it's just my suspicious nature, but with three honorable candidates in this race, and one proven liar ... could this be a self-inflicted wound?" Farquhar wrote.

The Golnik camp was appalled.

"Thirty-six hours after the fire that destroyed the Golnik office, we are fully functional and not focused on ridiculous accusations from anonymous people and blogs," said campaign spokeswoman Alicia Preston.

As you can imagine, Meas has distanced himself from Farquhar, saying he "doesn't condone anything Mike has said."

Elsewhere in the races for Congress...

Third Congressional District
Michael Stopa (R-Holliston) gets the full treatment from the Telegram today. To sum up:

“I am frustrated by the condescending stubbornness of the Obama administration, and I am scared by the complete cluelessness of what to do about it,” he says bluntly.

Martin Lamb (R-Holliston) got to be part of The Hark Stolz Experience. Unfortunately you won't be able to get the full experience, as only the first segment of the show has been published.

Audio of Brian Herr's (R-Hopkinton) radio ad has also been posted to You Tube.

In talking about the effort to restore cuts to food stamp programs, Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) said "Let's not rob Peter to pay Paul." Any old saying that reminds me of former Red Sox G.M. Lou Gorman warms my heart.

McGovern also attended the reopening of a Jiffy Lube in Westborough to laud the company's charitable efforts. He was joined by current Selectmen Timothy Dodd (D-Westborough), who is running in the Ninth Worcester House District, and George Thompson (R-Westborough), who is campaigning for the Middlesex and Worcester Senate seat.

First Congressional District
Bill Gunn (R-Ware) will be out of the district and in Washington, DC this week to fulfill his community service obligations. According to a press release, Gunn was arrested on March 21 and charged with disruption of congress for yelling "Kill the Bill" from the House gallery during debate on the Affordable Care Act. Gunn was subsequently sentenced to 40 hours of community service, to be completed this week at the Greater Capital Area Food Bank.

Last week, Gunn appeared on the "Politically Speaking" show on Fitchburg Access Television.

Michael Engel (U-Southampton) announced that he has accepted an invitation to debate Gunn at a Tea Party event in the coming weeks. No definitive date has been set.