Date: 10/14/2016
Many Massachusetts voters are planning to stay home this election, knowing that Democrat Hillary Clinton will beat Donald Trump by at least 20 points in this ultra-liberal state. And they know Nick Cocchi will be the next sheriff with or without their votes. But that would be a mistake.
There are local races, too, and they will help set the tone for the coming years on Beacon Hill. Chip Harrington, a small business owner, School Committee chairman, part-time police officer, and youth sports coach from Ludlow is running against an incumbent who won election two years ago by falsely smearing his female opponent, and drowning the airwaves with ads paid for by more than $350,000 raised from outside his district – mostly from Washington DC. Harrington draws his support from Ludlow, Chicopee, Springfield, and other local towns. Harrington has volunteered in his community for nearly 25 years; his opponent is still in law school in Boston.
Gov. Charlie Baker has praised Harrington for his fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, and looks forward to working together to help grow jobs in the state. Harrington’s opponent, by contrast, disagrees with Baker on almost everything, and loves to spend money the state doesn’t have. Most recently, he proposed you be taxed to support a $700,000 “study” of high-speed rail from Springfield to Worcester.
Please cut out this letter, and go online to see Harrington’s positions on the issues. And be sure to vote for Harrington on November 8th if you want representatives who will work with Charlie Baker rather than against him.
R. Patrick Henry Jr.
East Longmeadow
