It’s the best time of the year: election season

Date: 2/28/2022

So, it has begun: the most wonderful time of the year.

What’s that you wonder? Is it Christmas, the football play-offs or when the kids go back to school? No, it’s election season!

Get out the election tree, the ornaments and the plan for Election Night festivities!

For ink-stained wretches such as myself, political junkies and policy wonks, there are few times better than election season. My spiritual journalistic mentor, the late, great Ambrose Bierce, once defined the word “politics” as “A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”

I just love Bitter Bierce.

Oh, wait, there is something better than election season. It’s an election season with open seats!

That’s right, the domino effect is operational. Open seats mean that folks who have considered running for office but who didn’t want the uphill battle of running against an established incumbent now feel the playing field has been leveled and they have a chance.

Yes, you can run against an incumbent and win, but campaigning against another person who isn’t an incumbent is easier.

Why is an open seat election so much fun? Because you have new personalities trying to attract the ears and eyes of the electorate. There is an opportunity to see some great stories and witness some drama.

State Sen. Eric Lesser started this cascade of falling dominoes when he decided to run for lieutenant governor, and wham, there is an open seat. At this count we have two Democrats that are running for that position. I expect a Republican candidate or two, as well.

One of those candidates in the state senate race is state Rep. Jake Oliveria, who has decided to end his stint as a state representative after one term, and that means another open seat! I know there will be at least one Democrat running for that spot, and perhaps a Republican or two.

What makes that state rep. race interesting is that it is redistricted and there are towns north of Amherst that are lumped alongside of Belchertown and Ludlow. These candidates will be very new to them.
State Rep. Joe Wagner is calling it quits after a long and distinguished career, and that means, yes, another open seat. So, far we have one candidate, City Councilor Shane Brooks, but I’m sure there will be another Democrat and probably a Republican, as well.

Agawam City Councilor Cecilia Calabrese has announced her intent to challenge incumbent state Sen. John Velis. Although that’s not an open seat, it will be an interesting race.

It’s early in the season and I know there will be more candidates stepping forward.

Of course, we will have state-wide drama with the governor’s race, etc. Hey, how long do you think it will take before Maura Healey actually comes out here to campaign? Should we start a pool? Think she will make herself available for media? We will see.

Allow me to offer some advice to all who are running.

First, if you are doing something outside, make sure the weather is good. There isn’t a reporter I know who enjoys standing outside in bad weather. I don’t care about the optics for TV.

Be aware of deadlines. Understand that this group of newspapers reaches more than 300,000 readers every week. We need your press releases ahead of time from our daily media colleagues. If you have a question, feel free to contact me.

Make sure if you want us to come and cover you there is actually a real story there.

Please understand that even our daily news colleagues have trouble going to events with little notice. We weekly folks need time to plan.

Don’t be offended, but yours is not the only story we need to cover. The news staff here may not be able to get to every event.

I don’t make endorsements. Sorry. Our goal is to give the readers information they can use to decide what they are going to do. Making endorsements is an exercise of ego, nothing more. It’s not our job to tell you which candidate is the best.

Are you excited? I know I am!