P.O. Box 13: 'A great campaign' ending (Part 5)

The latest part of our look at campaign mailers in the 13th Worcester House District race. Also see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

As you'll recall, we received solid mailers from each of the front-runners on Thursday. Two of them sent more the next day. Here's what we received Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11.

Gina DiBaro
"Have You Heard?"
Gina DiBaro checks in for the first time this month with four testimonials -- half of them from Paxton (!), all from "regular people" and not government or political officials. That's either a good thing or a bad thing. The reverse (not pictured) says DiBaro will bring "a New Voice, New Vision and New Results ... my priorities are job creation, public safety and fiscal responsibility. It is time for Full Time Representation!" Not sure I like the capitalization, but I'm definitely detecting an attack on state Rep. Robert Spellane, who's leaving this seat. That would make this the first mailer (or the first since we started keeping track) to mention Spellane, even in a veiled fashion.

John Mahoney
"You're Getting Soaked"
Say what you will about Joff Smith's "silhouette" mailer, but this is the first entirely negative mailer of the campaign: the only mention of its sender, John Mahoney, is in the return address. In a mailer that complains about negative attacks, the text begins with: "Under Joff Smith's failed leadership ..." (the reverse, aside from address information, shows a man being drenched, with the legend: "Feel like you're being soaked? You are.").

Another question: Since all of Worcester's woes are attributable to Smith's "leadership," is Mahoney conceding that Smith is a leader on the council? One attack that does hit home: Mahoney mentions Smith's vote to grant city councilors a pay raise.

Joff Smith
"My Name is Joff"
With a bare minimum of decoration, Joff Smith rehashes his résumé in a letter to voters. Do voters see an inconsistency in his arguments? "Government has neglected taxpayers ... can't fix problems by sending political insiders" ... but ... "I am the only candidate with experience governing through a fiscal crisis." So Smith, the only current elected official, is not a political insider? Overall, though, this mailer is a winner. He gets his message across and cites some specific votes and actions.

John Mahoney
"A Great Campaign"
The only mailer to arrive Saturday, and though John Mahoney has my full attention, he doesn't have much to say. The reverse (not pictured) is simply "John Mahoney - State Representative - September 14" in huge letters and a photo of him with his son. The phrase "this has been a great campaign" makes this seem a valedictory mailing -- will Mahoney be absent from what I assume will be a massive mailer crush on Monday?

This is the fifth in a series of "P.O. Box 13" blog posts about campaign mailers in the 13th Worcester House District race. The opinions expressed are those of a 13th Worcester District voter and not necessarily those of CMassPolitics.com. The series will continue.

CMassPolitics.com Interview: Gina DiBaro, 13th Worcester House District

CMassPolitics.com spoke with Gina DiBaro (D-Worcester) about her campaign for state representative in the 13th Worcester House District.

13th Worcester: Barnet leads in fundraising, cash on hand

Buoyed by a $10,000 personal loan to her campaign, Margo Barnet (D-Worcester) led all of her Democratic challengers in fundraising for the 13th Worcester District House seat.

Barnet raised just over $33,000 in the reporting period from January 1 through August 27. She also has more cash remaining in her campaign account, reporting $14,694 left to spend in her quest for the open seat being vacated by Bob Spillane (D-Worcester).

However, a closer look at Barnet's report with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance indicates that she could be in for more criticism from fellow candidates over her perceived ties to special interests.

In last week's debate, Barnet came under fire for the endorsements she has received from Political Action Committees across the state. Campaign records show that Barnet has benefited from those PACs to the tune of $2,700, more than any other candidate in the race.

Her main critic at the debate, Mike Perotto (D-Worcester), has also been a top beneficiary of PAC money. Perotto's take from PACs was second in the district, with $1,900 logged from the organizations. No other candidate in the race has received more than $550 from PACs and two candidates, Gina DiBaro (D-Worcester) and Joff Smith (D-Worcester) reported no PAC money at all.

Barnet has also raised more money from out-of-state and out-of-district sources than any of the other candidates. 58% of the $23,159 she has raised (outside of her personal loan) have come from donors outside of Worcester or Paxton, with over $4,600 of that coming from outside of Massachusetts.

Despite leading all candidates in fundraising, Barnet has raised the least money from Worcester and Paxton, bringing in only a tick over $7,000 from the towns in the district. The best local fundraiser was DiBaro, who pulled in $10,420 from local donors.

(Smith only logged $6,975 in itemized receipts from the district, but logged over $3,000 in small, un-itemized contributions. While his verified contributions were less than Barnet's, he undoubtedly brought in more than $50 in small contributions from the district. Barnet itemized all of her receipts, claiming zero un-itemized contributions)

Smith and Don Sharry (D-Worcester) find themselves in a strong position to make a late push, each of them having over $12,000 still in the bank. Despite raising nearly $20,000 in the period, DiBaro has spent nearly all of it, leaving her campaign with just over $3,000 to spend in the last week of campaigning. Perotto's campaign is also nearly broke, with just $1,330 left out of nearly $17,000 raised.

John Mahoney (D-Worcester) raised the smallest amount in the period, banking just over $15,000, however he started the period with over $15,500 from his city council campaign coffers.

Here are some raw numbers:

Total Fundraising (1/1/10-8/27/10)
Margot Barnet...$33,159
Joff Smith...$19,714
Gina DiBaro...$19,430
Don Sharry...$17,245
Mike Perotto...$16,716
John Mahoney...$15,165

Cash on hand (as of 8/27/10)
Barnet...$14,694
Smith...$12,944
Sharry...$12,455
Mahoney...$9,117
DiBaro...$3,310
Perotto...$1,330

District Contributions*
DiBaro...$10,420
Sharry...$9,745
Mahoney...$9,250
Perotto...$7,550*
Barnet...$7,017
Smith...$6,975*

Out-of-District Contributions (Out-of-State in parentheses)*
Barnet...$13,442 ($4,621)
Smith...$9,700 ($550)*
DiBaro...$9,010 ($600)
Sharry...$7,250 ($900)
Mahoney $5,365 ($500)
Perotto $3,850 ($450)*

Political Action Committees
Barnet...$2,700
Perotto...$1,900
Mahoney...$550
Sharry...$250
DiBaro...$ 0
Smith...$ 0

*--"District" includes all contributions from Worcester and Paxton. Many contributions from Worcester may have been from parts of the city outside the district. Smith and Perotto each reported over $3,000 in un-itemized contributions, which are not included in the District and Out-of-District totals.

Thursday, the 13th

Last night was a night for the Democratic candidates in the 13th Worcester House District to shine, as a standing-room only crowd filled The Willows in Worcester to hear the six contenders face off in a spirited debate. We start the coverage with an original report from CMassPolitics.com:

If Margot Barnet and Joff Smith weren't already the frontrunners in the 13th Worcester House race, they were certainly treated as such Thursday night at the Willows in Worcester. In a debate where all six Democratic candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other, Barnet and Smtih were the two with targets painted on their backs.

Smith was repeatedly called upon to defend his record on the Worcester City Council, while several candidates made veiled -- and outright -- critiques of Barnet's endorsements by teachers and nurses unions.

Jeremy Shulkin of Worcester Magazine was also there and noted that more often than not, when candidates went on the attack, they were the ones to lose the battle:

Any kind of attack on a candidate’s record or position rarely worked last night (and on two specific occasions it backfired on the attacker).

It’s no secret that Barnet has been endorsed by some heavy-hitting unions, including nurses and teachers. As Perotto pried into those endorsements, calling them “special interests,” Barnet asked if he sought endorsements as well. He answered that he did, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re “trying to control you.” (After the debate, a source from another campaign said the correct response would have been “Yes, we met, but I wouldn’t agree with their demands.”)

The other gaffe was a Mahoney attack on Smith for using his political power to get a road paved that raised the value of his family’s company, Goldstein Scrap Metal. Mahoney’s mistake? His source was a publication that, as Smith pointed out, recently smeared a Worcester firefighter. He then got the audience on his side by mentioning that certain writer’s feud with Dianne Williamson. When Mahoney clarified to mean Harding Street, Smith pointed out that his family’s business isn’t located there.

The writer and publication cited by Mahoney was Roaslie Tirella of the In City Times who, in her own inimitable way, ripped Smith for his defense in a post this morning:

Wow! We had wanted to mention Joff Smith in our blog about moron’s (see below) because he embodies everything that is creepy about America: Joff Smith thinks he is a TV/movie star! Smith, who is in his late 20s, actually has an agent! Someone who tries to get him into the movies! Someone who actually makes calls on the behalf of Smith’s acting career.

(One could argue that calling someone a moron in print loses its effectiveness when the writer incorrectly uses the possessive tense "moron's" instead of the plural "morons.")

The Telegram also covered the debate, and their coverage has drawn criticism from candidate Gina DiBaro. On her facebook page, she notes:

Please see [the] article that was posted last evening after the debate. Where my name was mentioned. For some reason it was not published this am in the telegram & gazette !!!!!

Specifically, she is noting that while the original online version of the story included three paragraphs on DiBaro, the version that hit newsstands and doorsteps left her comments on the cutting room floor. The missing links:

After the back and forth between Mr. Perotto and Mr. Smith, Ms. DiBaro, a former assistant district attorney and one of the quieter voices at the debate, chimed in.

“Can we weigh in on why we wouldn't vote for either of them?” she said.

Asked about Worcester County Sheriff candidate Thomas J. Foley, who retired from the state police with full medical disability, Ms. DiBaro said that since Mr. Foley has said he will not collect his full salary if he becomes sheriff, he would, in a sense, save the state money.

Those paragraphs have been tacked onto the end of the latest online version.

Barnet, Smith targeted in 13th District debate

If Margot Barnet and Joff Smith weren't already the frontrunners in the 13th Worcester House race, they were certainly treated as such Thursday night at the Willows in Worcester. In a debate where all six Democratic candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other, Barnet and Smtih were the two with targets painted on their backs.

Smith was repeatedly called upon to defend his record on the Worcester City Council, while several candidates made veiled -- and outright -- critiques of Barnet's endorsements by teachers and nurses unions.

The candidates are running for state representative in Paxton and several precincts of Worcester, to replace the retiring Robert Spellane (D-Worcester). The winner of the Sept. 14 Democratic primary will face Paul Franco (R-Worcester) and Ronal Madnick (U-Worcester) on the November ballot.

The knock on Smith: "I don't think he's distinguished himself on the City Council. He's been a follower, not a leader" -- John Mahoney. "He just didn't get it sometimes. You need experience. He let 25,000 trees be cut in his district. Unfortunately, he didn't take the leadership role" -- former colleague Mike Perotto. "Joff is trying to have it both ways. I'm not sure what we should be doing [about taxes]. Joff's saying it like it's an easy answer. I think he's pandering" -- Barnet.

Smith painted himself as the taxpayers' advocate on the council, saying he'd stood up to the administration in voting against tax increases, but Perotto and Mahoney took him to task for supporting the lowest residential tax rate -- and thereby maintaining a higher tax rate for businesses, driving businesses out of the city and ultimately increasing the share that must be borne by homeowners.

Late in the debate, John Mahoney tried to pin Smith on a charge of using his political influence to ensure that his family's business's road was repaved. Smith said Mahoney was mistaken.

"You've got to take a look at your source -- InCity Times, which is known for not always reporting the facts," Smith said. His family's business is "on a cobblestone road," not on busy Harding Street as Mahoney had alleged.

Barnet declared herself "proud to have the support of the people who teach our children, the people who take care of our ill." She had a quick rejoinder for Perotto's charge that she was "beholden to special interests."

"Did you seek any of those endorsements?" she asked. He admitted he had. "Then why are you attacking me for having received them?"

"They want to control you, Margot," Perotto replied. Other candidates, later in the debate, emphasized their "independence" from "special interests."

Late in the debate, both Barnet and Perotto pulled insider moves on Don Sharry, quizzing him on health care. Perotto asked him for his opinion on "Chapter 58." Sharry floundered a bit before admitting he didn't know what Chapter 58 is. It's the state health insurance law, Perotto responded; Sharry said he'd like to see the cost of care cut.

"We're both in the health care industry and we both understand this," Perotto said, "but at least I understand what Chapter 58 is."

Barnet asked Sharry what committees he'd like to join, if elected; he said he'd worked in health insurance for 20 years, so he'd like to serve on that committee.


"Which committee is that?" she asked.

"That would be the health insurance committee," he said, admitting he didn't know its exact name.

Barnet's only clear misstep was an overreliance on prepared statements; both her opening and closing statements ran over the alotted time, and she hesitated and dithered before answering a question in the middle of the debate that she had planned to address in her closing remarks. It's hard to say anyone "won" the debate, although Smith and Gina DiBaro managed to avoid making any mistakes.

State House Roundup: Prickly debate in 13th Worcester

The six candidates for the Democratic nomination in the 13th Worcester District squared off in a 90-minute debate yesterday at Anna Maria. From the looks of the Telegram photo, the event was a greuling one for the participants. According to the report the dialogue became testy at times, with more than one tart exchange between dueling candidates:

The most heated exchanges came at the end of the session. Ms. [Gina] DiBaro, assistant district attorney in the Worcester district attorney's office on a leave of absence to run for the seat, asked Mr. [Mike] Perotto, who spent 14 years on the Worcester City Council, if he would support a move toward making state legislators part time.

Mr. Perotto did not support such an effort.

“You get what you pay for, Gina,” Mr. Perotto said. He said people need to be paid for the work they're doing.

Ms. DiBaro said states such as New Hampshire and New Jersey use part-time legislators, but Mr. Perotto cut in.

“They have no roads; they have no schools,” Mr. Perotto said, as the audience started clapping and chiming in.

In another exchange, Worcester City Councilor Joff Smith defended his vote to raise his councilor's salary by nearly double in response to a question from John Mahoney (D-Worcester). Smith reminded Mahoney and the audience that Mahoney had run and lost a recent campaign for councilor.

Not discussed last night (or at least not mentioned in the article) was the attendance of retiring Rep. Bob Spellane (D-Worcester). Shaun Sutner reported that Spellane missed 52% of the votes cast in the House this year. Two other retiring representatives, Chris Donelan (D-Orange) in the Second Frankliin District and Bob Rice (D-Gardner) also missed around 10% of the votes cast. It will be interesting to see if attendance at the State House becomes an issue in the last few weeks of the Democratic Primaries for those three seats.

Second Franklin House District
Speaking of the Second Franklin, video of the Tuesday debate in Greenfield has been posted to the Greenfield Community Television Web site.

37th Middlesex House District
Kurt Hayes (R-Boxboro) will be hosting an open forum at the Thayer Memorial Library in Lancaster tonight at 7:00 p.m.

Worcester and Middlesex Senate District
Sen. Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) recently touted her bill to "establish the Johnny Appleseed Trail Association as a Regional Tourism Council."