Feeley-Knuuttila endorses O'Neill-Laperriere, shuns fellow Democrat

Democratic Party unity is dead along the Mohawk Trail, as yet another fallen Democrat has declined to endorse the winner of a state house primary.

Colleen O'Neil-Laperriere (U-Gardner) announced on her website this afternoon that she had received the endorsement of Democratic runner-up Amy Feeley-Knuuttila (D-Winchendon) in her quest to win the representative's seat in the Second Worcester District.

Feeley-Knuuttila lost Tuesday's primary to Pat Gerry (D-Gardner) by a nearly two-to-one margin, despite winning three of the five towns in the district. Gerry won Gardner overwhelmingly on his way to the nomination.

Earlier today, Lee Chauvette (D-Athol) in the neighboring Second Franklin District announced that he would not be supporting nominee Denise Andrews (D-Orange).

Second Worcester District: Brother can you spare a dime

According to campaign finance reports filed earlier this week, the two candidates for the Democratic nomination in the Second Worcester House District had so little money in the bank at the end of the reporting period that the candidates couldn't get together for dinner without bankrupting their accounts.

Pat Gerry (D-Gardner) and Amy Feeley-Knuuttila (D-Winchendon) combined to report $114.90 in cash on hand as of August 27, the end of the reporting period.

The two combined to raise just over $6,000 in the period from January 1 to August 27. Nearly all of that money was Gerry's, as the Gardner city councilor pulled in $5,670 during the reporting period. Of those contributions, over $1,700 was provided by Gerry himself. All of his itemized contributions before August 27 came from inside the district.

Gerry also listed a $300 donation from outgoing State Rep. Robert Rice (D-Gardner). The donation came from Rice's personal finances, not from his campaign account, which explains the large gift. Donations from one campaign to another are capped at $100.

Gerry's coffers were boosted after the reporting period with an additional $1,500 from Boston donors. As reported by CMassPolitics.com on Tuesday, $1,000 of that money came in the form of two maximum donations from members of popular Boston band, The Dropkick Murphys. The other $500 donation came from the owner of a tattoo parlor, who listed the same address as one of the musicians.

Gerry had just $62.93 left in his account before the influx of money from the Boston rockers.

Feeley-Knuutila reported just $369 in total receipts for the period. Her one large donation was from Richard Dumont of Winchendon, who gave $199 to the campaign. The other $170 in receipts were un-itemized.

Feeley-Knuutila ended the reporting period with just $51.97 in the bank.

Incredibly, the two Democrats were still in better financial shape than one of the two unenrolled candidates. Carolyn Kamuda (U-Gardner) reported a negative final cash balance, at $336.14 underwater.

CMassPolitics.com Interview: Amy Feeley-Knuuttila, 2nd Worcester House District

CMassPolitics.com spoke with Amy Feeley-Knuuttila (D-Winchendon) about her campaign for state representative in the Second Worcester House District.

Tuesday Roundup: Rock the boat (don't rock the boat, baby)

Let's start our Tuesday spin around the region with the Congressional race in the Fifth District, where Sam Meas (R-Haverhill) rocked John Kerry over the recent controversy surrounding Kerry's yacht:

In a press release issued last week, Meas said the "nautical and tax-dodging misadventures of our aristocratic Senior Senator, John F. Kerry, firmly solidify his reputation as being total out of touch with his constituents."

Kerry, of course, has come under heavy fire for registering his new, $7 million, 76-foot yacht "Isabel," in Rhode Island instead of his home state of Massachusetts, ostensibly to avoid paying taxes on the costly craft.

At its core, this story illustrates the need to scrap our oppressive, unjust and obscenely complex tax system and replace it with something simpler and more fair..."

Of course, Kerry has been accused of docking his boat in Rhode Island to avoid paying state--not federal --taxes, so should he be elected to Congress, Meas wouldn't have any standing to change the tax system he accuses Kerry of dodging.

Poweline followed up The Weekly Standard's profile of Meas with a note from a reader touting Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) as the best challenger in the field.

Second Congressional District
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) traveled to Lee's Summit, Mo. to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Social Security at a series of town hall meetings with Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.

Third Congressional District
Robert Chipman (R-Plainville) wrote to the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle describing his side of a dispute over lawn signs in Plainville.

Michael Stopa (R-Holliston) and Brian Herr (R-Hopkinton) attended a Tea Party event in Northboro to hear arguments against granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Second Worcester House District
Three of the five candidates for the open seat--Rich Bastien (R-Gardner), Carolyn Kamuda (U-Gardner), and Amy Feeley-Knuuttila (D, Winchendon) were endorsed by Citizens for Limited Taxation.

13th Worcester House District
Sean Dacey at Unfashionable Sentiments takes stock of the number of lawn signs in his neighborhood.

Middlesex and Worcester Senate District
37th Middlesex House District
In a surprise to no one, the Young Democrats of Massachusetts endorsed Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). Previously, the YDMA announced their support for Rep. Jen Benson (D-Lunenburg).

Finally, thanks to Shaun Sutner of the Telegram, who had nice things to say about this blog in his online daily ElectionNet column on telegram.com.