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Date: 10/27/2016
EAST LONGMEADOW – United States Sen. Elizabeth Warren officially endorsed state Sen. Eric Lesser’s bid for reelection on Oct. 22 at the American Legion Post 293 to the cheer of Lesser’s supporters.
Lesser will face off against Republican opponent James “Chip” Harrington, a Ludlow resident and a member of the Ludlow School Committee, during the Nov. 8 election. Lesser previously defeated Harrington during the 2014 Democratic primary for the seat, which was being vacated by then-state Sen. Gale Candaras, who unsuccessfully ran for Hampden County register of probate.
“When it’s about infrastructure and how it is that we get the funding so that this part of Massachusetts can grow and flourish as the people make it grow and flourish … when we talk about a little equity and a little fairness in this state and in this country I am proud to say that I stand with the people behind me [and] I stand with Eric Lesser because I believe this is how we build a future,” Warren said to a group of at least 100 people on the front steps of the American Legion Post.
She continued, “It ain’t easy to run for office, but Eric Lesser gets out there every single day and works for us. What we can do over the next few weeks is we can get out there and work for Eric.”
Lesser said he believes he’s shown his constituents during the 20 months he’s served in office that their voices matter in the political process.
“With a little bit of work and a little bit of focus, we can move the needle for our communities here in Western Massachusetts – whether it’s the Springfield police and fire departments that now have Narcan at a third of the price that they used to because of a new bulk purchasing or whether it’s the new programs we’ve done with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office to combat substance abuse; to close the pharmacy shopping loophole; crackdown on the trade of illegal narcotics, and to move our criminal justice system towards treatment and prevention rather than locking them up and throwing away the key,” he added.
He also praised manufacturing and technology companies in Western Massachusetts, including Hampden Engineering Corporation as well as Cartamundi in East Longmeadow, Hoppe Technologies and Dielectrics Inc. from Chicopee, and FloDesign Inc. of Wilbraham.
“We make things in Western Massachusetts,” Lesser said, which resulted in applause and cheers from audience members. “We make good things and we are creating more jobs and more opportunity for our communities close to home by leaning into those important things like job training, more [vocational education] in our high schools, investments at [Springfield Technical Community College] and at [Holyoke Community College] to open up new training options for young people and for our returning vets, which has been a key signature element of the job training programs that we’ve worked to secure.”
He added high-speed rail connecting the western part of the state with the eastern half would be an issue he would continue to support if elected to a second term.
“We cannot have a modern interconnected economy without a modern interconnected infrastructure and that includes high-speed reliable east-west rail service from Springfield and Boston, and frankly, increased and high-speed north-south between New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, and up into Vermont and Canada as well,” Lesser said. “We can reestablish Western Massachusetts and Springfield as the crossroads of New England. That’s why George Washington put the armory here. We can have that again, but it’s not going to happen if we don’t think big about our future.”
Congressman Seth Moulton, a resident of Salem who represents the Massachusetts 6th District in the United States House of Representatives and served four tours of duty in Iraq as a United States Marine, also spoke in support of Lesser’s campaign for a second term in office.
“East-west rail connected to the north-south rail lines means you cannot just get to Boston, but get to the entire Northeast corridor,” he added. “That will make a huge difference for the state and it matters that you have a senator that is fighting for big projects like that because that gives access to jobs, access to housing, and access to economic development.”
Local elected officials from various communities also attended to the event to show their support for Lesser, which included Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, Hampden Selectman John Flynn, East Longmeadow School Committee member William Fonseca, Wilbraham Board of Selectmen Chair Susan Bunnell, state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, Springfield City Councilor Bud Williams, Chicopee City Councilor Adam Lamontagne, Hampden County Superior Court Clerk of Courts Laura Gentile, newly-elected state Rep. Solomon Goldstein-Rose of Amherst, and Granby Select Board Chair Mark Bail.