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Pressley beats Capuano; Lynch barely breaks sweat to stay in office
By adamg on Tue, 09/04/2018 - 9:31pm
In a major upset in one of the most progressive congressional districts in the country, Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley is beating longtime incumbent Mike Capuano, WGBH reports.
Pressley, who has no Republican opposition, will become the first woman of color to represent Massachusetts in Congress.
Her victory in the Seventh District means that perennial candidate Althea Garrison will become an at-large city councilor because she came in fifth in the 2017 city elections.
Capuano had been in Congress for 20 years.
In contrast to the Seventh District, Steve Lynch is coasting to victory in the Eighth over game designer Brianna Wu and some other guy.
Unlike Pressley, Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim won't be moving up - he lost, pretty convincingly, to incumbent Secretary of State Bill Galvin.
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Comments
We'll be well served...
I admit to voting for Capuano, because he's been reliably with me on every single issue I care about since the day I moved here 18 years ago. I also think that we'll miss his seniority, especially if the dems retake the house this fall.
But I've met my share of city councilors and Pressley is better than most. I'm neither black nor a woman, but I'm happy to give someone who doesn't look like me a chance and I'm especially happy to have someone close to my own age representing me for a change.
Congrats to councilor Pressley on a well fought victory, and thanks to Capuano for 2 decades of exemplary service.
Same here. I always liked
Same here. I always liked Capuano, but I think Pressley is going to do a fantastic job as well. This frees Capuano up to run for something else in the future, too. I wouldn't mind at all if he took a shot at governor after Baker's next term is up.
Great comment. If only your candidate had the same grace
Capuano bails on the unity event after losing.
Give her a chance since she won
But you didn't vote for her so it's not really giving her a chance is it?
I've voted for her several times
Like I said, I've met her and generally like her. I voted for her every time she appeared on the ballot for city council, and I was disappointed that she didn't run for Mayor when the seat was open. I think she would have made a great mayor. She might also have made a great governor, but she needed a stepping stone. So yes, I did vote for her - just not this time. She was not the better candidate in this particular election.
YOU GO GIRL !!!!!!!
So Happy to see a Woman .....JUST DO IT !!!!!!
#metoo
This is a huge lurch to the
This is a huge lurch to the left.
Yep
Ain't it grand?
I'm happy for you
Now you get to have another open borders, socialist whackjob standing for election as a Democrat. It'll do wonders for GOP turnout in November.
I keep telling you, Bernie Sanders is the one person who could have gotten me to vote for Trump two years ago. I'm not the only one.
GOP turnout in November
Won't they be surprised when they see that the Republicans literally couldn't even find anyone to run in this race
You really think a Republican could win MA-07?
That's pretty stupid even coming from you.
You think MA 7 is the only district there is?
That's pretty solipsistic, even from a Massachusetts liberal.
"Legitimate Rape" Akin wasn't on the ballot here, but he sure as sugar was trotted out in Democrat campaign messaging six years ago. Believe it or not, Democrat stupidity is also used to gin up GOP votes among fence-sitters in other districts who might want balance, or at least be wary of open borders and socialism.
Socialism
Fun fact: We have that too. They take your money already to give to other people, except those people aren't starving checkout girls, they're executives of companies which make warplanes.
Ya sure
You don't know socialism. If we really had socialism, them everyone except a conspicuous few would be starving. Not just the mythical checkout girl, who upon my last trip to the grocery store looked rather well-fed.
I don't know socialism?
Dude, I'm from Burlington, Vermont.
Luv U Man!
You are rapidly exceeding the performance of a stopped clock! Keep it up!
yup, the fine folks in
yup, the fine folks in Scandinavia and Canada are all starving to death. their socialist policies are really crippling these countries, and their people are miserable and in open rebellion against their autocratic dictators.
but hey, if you lose your job - don't accept any unemployment benefits, and certainly don't spend your social security checks when you're in your golden years, and pay for all your medical expenses out of pocket instead of letting medicare help you out. those darn socialist policies aren't for you, right? Or perhaps if you are in a trade union you can rally your coworkers to disband and the company will treat you right!
just imagine living in a
just imagine living in a country where the wealthy control the vast majority of the resources...
just imagine living in a
just imagine living in a country where the wealthy control the vast majority of the resources...
Open borders?
You mean those things we have now? AIRPLANES CAN FLY OVER WALLS.
If we're not deporting people to the Mariana Trench, the borders remain effectively open. Emigration problem, not immigration problem.
Too bad there's no such thing as
Customs checks at airports. Or Visa restrictions. Or any way to enforce borders.
Too bad Trump is cutting the Coast Guard
Because we all know that bad hombres don't know how to make a boat work or hide one in thousands of miles of coastline.
Makes me wonder who he is favoring - perhaps some of his Latin American casino investors - given the kind of work my nephew was trained to do.
Trump is cutting the Green Line Extension too
Trump dangled the GLX money in front of Capuano for months. Its why Cap pulled his punches. Once Trump sees a tape of Pressley's victory speech, say goodbye to the GLX.
Conjecture
Pure conjecture.
Calling cutting the extension
Calling cutting the extension "conjecture' is being exceedingly nice.
It's a done deal.
HATE Trump? That's your right.
But, you have to be rational.
Yup
That’s exactly what will happen, even though the grants have already been awarded. Your knowledge of how federal funding to local transit projects once again is spot on.
The one thing they will be able to do is to tear down the Broadway bridge, since they’ve got the money for that. No money for the new bridge, yet. Too bad, eh.
Stop attacking people. You clearly don't know how things work
Payments come in intervals. You need to submit for each interval. The feds can also take back money. Stop attacking.
Attacking people?
I'm just pointing out that it would be difficult for the FTA to revoke approved funding. But if you want to provide examples of the US DOT asking for money back after construction has begun on an approved project, please enlighten us. On the other hand, do some research on Big Dig financing. The worst I could see is the budget going up and Elaine Chao saying "you'll get the money we promised you, but not a penny more," which is what happened with the beloved megaproject of the 1990s and 2000s.
We usually don't agree
But Waquoit is correct: a contract is a contract and an agreement is an agreement.
I've worked with federal contracting money for over a decade. You are the one who lacks a clue here.
You're both wrong
Cancellation happens all the time. Missed deadlines, faulty data, project overruns, changes in political support, etc.
Still waiting for examples
If you have any? Otherwise, it doesn't happen without a problem with the project.
LOL
LOL.
My federal agency money for a very much in the gunsights science topic is still coming in according to the 5 year authorization.
You are a complete fraud.
Big deal
It does absolutely nothing to change the balance of power in Congress. A liberal district went from super liberal to crazy liberal.
What impresses me are places like the 18th Congressional District in Pennsylvania that shifted from Republican to Democrat and push us towards having a majority by electing Conor Lamb, a former marine, and a moderate. We gotta start winning general elections folks.
Is it?
You must be reading different position papers than I have. I didn't see much difference on the major issues between Capuano and Pressley.
Pressley is to Capuano's Right
There are major policy differences between the two; well, there were at least until Pressley's flipflops on domestic policies. She attacked Bernie in the primary for free college tuition and Medicare for All, positions which she now adopts. She also thinks that Citizen's United wasn't a big deal.
Capuano was one of the strongest voices for anti-interventionism in Syria, Libya and Yemen. Pressley was silent on these issues.
She did stake out stronger positions on ICE and Black Lives Matter, but that really points to what her campaign was about - identity.
Please read this article for more information:
https://theintercept.com/2018/08/18/mike-capuano-ayanna-pressley-massach...
Congress lost one of it's progressive leaders. Capuano's voice will be missed. I hope that Pressley can fill it.
Yes, I voted for Capuano
Yes, I voted for Capuano solely because of his stance on international war/conflicts. I'm sad to lose him, but hopeful Pressley will step up to the plate.
She will fill it. And will learn from Capuano's mistakes
Multiple wards in Somerville, SOMERVILLE, voted for Pressley over Capuano. Capuano lost his way. Raking in billions for his Winter Hill neighborhood and giving pennies to everyone else
As a resident of Winter Hill,
As a resident of Winter Hill, where do I sign up to receive my billions?
Pressley focused on the ENTIRE District. Capuano did not
Capuano didn't even step foot in my neighborhood on his own. He tagged along in parades with Walsh, and it was awkward every time. Capuano only cared about his neighborhood, and it showed. Pressley will not try to build a $2 billion Green Line streetcar in Dorchester, will not ask for a school to be named the Pressley School, and will not threaten and berate District citizens outside her neighborhood. Rachelle Cohen should do a D7 Capuano followup after her excellent North-South Dukakis takedown. The Dukakis-Capuano plans should be tossed en masse. A new BALANCED regional plan should take its place. Pressley is the perfect leader for this effort, because she cares about the entire district.
Not unlike his senate run
He could have been a senator if he only realized that he was running for statewide office! He was gunning for the Senator from the State of Sommmuvuh.
Not a good look. Chokely won, then lost to Scotty Barncoat Redtruck. Cap could have had all of it had he just bothered to pull up a map on Teh Google!
No it is not a huge lurch to the left
Both candidates acknowledged they would vote the same. Voters are replacing one progressive candidate with another. But one is experienced and knowledgeable and has a long list of accomplishments. The other talks a lot but hasn't accomplished anything. Oh I'm sorry, the liquor licences... how could I forget such an important accomplishment.
Lets not forget that Pressley criticized Capuano for voting FOR the Affordable Care Act because it was not perfect. So if we take her at her word, she would deny health care to millions because the ACA was imperfect. How is that a good thing?
JP Morgan
Has a quantitative analyst with a respected track record. He made two predictions today:
1) there will be significant disruptions in the financial markets due to structural liquidity issues (after mid 2019).
2) there will be social unrest unlike any we've seen in 50 years.
I tend to agree with him on the first issue for technical reasons, mostly high government debt and some side effects of market indexing now popular with retail investors.
As we move further left and further right, I can't disagree with number 2 either. Not exactly prepper level stuff, but this coasts v middle America/ far left and extreme right is very unhealthy.
One nitpick
It's not the extreme left versus the extreme right. It's the extreme left against the normal majority, some of whom radicalize into an extreme right.
Eight years of sycophantic media fawning over our previous dear leader and making excuses for his excesses will do that. Remember: the bathroom bills and the mens rights garbage didn't pick up steam until the Obama mandated transgender bathrooms in the schools and kangaroo courts for a non-existent rape epidemic in the colleges. And the supposed anti intellectual streak in the GOP as measured by opinion of universities in general didnt really starr going south until it became obvious that crap like Ward Churchil and Evergreen State weren't just a fluke.
I don't know what you're talking about ..
Have you considered getting a blog or posting to medium? Or, waking your parents up early?
Here's a clue...
...watch the Kavanaugh three ring circus. In the end, all the fury will be signaling nothing. He's in. Then about fifteen more judges get approved, then everyone goes home to politic in their districts.
Next couple of months will be interesting.
Might want to check your timelines there
On the bathroom bill - that entire furor was in response to the North Carolina law, started and passed by Republicans in March 2016 - months before Obama or the federal government took any kind of action about it.
Also, the GOP has been attacking universities for decades. In particular, the move to court the religious right involved a ton of anti-science and anti-intellectual rhetoric.
15% of women in this country
In an article about Ayanna Pressley, who was raped at college, you say there isn't a problem with men raping women at universities. Good job, genius.
15% of women in this country have been raped but sick conservatives like yourself say it isn't a problem. Then you bring up transgenders in bathrooms. Give us one example of that ever being an issue? You are ignoring the actual rape victims and attacking people who just want to use the god damn toilet. All because you hate women and LGBT. The words and actions of conservatives show it.
Obama and his excesses? Who started the Iraq War for no reason? Who just added hundreds of billions to the national debt by giving it away to millionaires and billionaires? Who was in office during the worst financial crisis of the last 70 years? Not Obama. He left the country in better shape than he found it and anyone who argues otherwise is not interested in facts.
With a broad enough definition
of rape, you and I are both being raped right now.
Disingenuous AND pig-ignorant,
all at the same time. Impressive mental gymnastics.
Now kindly take your rape apologia and fuck right the fuck off.
Gladly
Just as soon as you give a definition of 'rape' that
1. You can stick with
2. That doesn't give incredible numbers like '40 pct of women have been raped' when applied with a dispassionate eye.
Oh really
You get to tell people whether they were raped or not?
Who the fuck do you think you are to be able to decree these things on your own?
Rape is a huge problem in this country - for men and women. Of course, that gets back to all those nasty statistics and other factual reality thingies that you are fundamentally unable to grok.
Sorry, but whining white male snowflake feels are no basis for a system of government!
Non-existent rape epidemic?
Non-existent rape epidemic? Really? I know you may not like them but there are actual facts regarding the raping of women in this country and it is a fucking epidemic whether you believe it or not. You and your uniformed ilk ARE the problem.
I'd say talk to the women in your life but i have a feeling they wouldn't be honest with you b/c you probably agree with the whole "just lay back and enjoy it" thinking.
Better watch out, I'm about to
lay down a link to The Atlantic to bolster my point here. Last time I did that, my comment was removed.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/title-ix-reforms-are-o...
Hey Roman?
Hey Roman?
You're not normal.
HTH, HAND.
"...but this coasts v middle
"...but this coasts v middle America/ far left and extreme right is very unhealthy."
There are youtube videos of left/right clashes in Portland and Seattle practically every weekend. Someone's gonna lose an eye. Maybe just rent a stadium and let them go at it until it's over, then the rest of us can go on with our lives.
Problem with the whole concept of coast v middle is that it simply isn't that cut and dry, geographically.
I can't rule out #1 happening. How bad it gets is anyone's guess. Tax revenues this year are apparently up a bit on the federal level. Spending? Not so good.
There is no plan B beyond the dollar.
The only thing that gives me hope is the fact that all my life, someone was preaching doom and gloom...1978...inflation seemed locked in at 12%. We beat that, stabilized the dollar. Hopefully we learned something from 2008.
Actually revenues are down
Every month in 2018 except January because they hadn't adjusted witholding tables and April when people were paying 2017 taxes with their returns.
The other 5 months through July are down.
As you note, spending is through the roof.
Not that this won't end well. This can't end well.
not a huge lurch to the left
I don't understand how you think this is a HUGE lurch to the left. If you watched the debates there weren't dramatic differences in the policies Pressley and Capuano espoused (probably the one that generated the most comment was Pressley advocating abolishing ICE while Capuano said he would work to reform it).
Ayanna
Congrats to her. Like Trump you have to respect her campaign and victory, she got the votes.
Yep, but ...
Unlike Trump, she got the votes.
He got them where it counted
Those would be Electoral College votes.
Yes, I know how the system works
But let's not forget Dear Leader keeps saying he really won the popular vote, too, and, no, he didn't.
It's so weird that we still have that
Imagine if we learned that some other country that thought of itself as a democracy declared that Candidate A, even though they got many more votes, lost an election because Candidate B did better in the backwards rural provinces. I think we'd make fun of that country.
Exactly
We would also make fun of them if Candidate A, midway through their term, was still whining and braying about having *really* won all the votes!
That's backwater banana republic shit.
Actually
There are several other countries that elect their head of government by single seat constituencies, meaning what has happened in the US a few times has happened. Interestingly, more mocking comes with those proportional systems where there is never a majority and far right parties get to flourish (watch the Swedish elections)
What happens in the US is that candidates that take the “backwards rural provinces” for granted lose. And I’m sure the people of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin appreciate your characterization of their states.
I'm not worried
If there's one thing I know about rural Trump supporters, it's that they're definitely not delicate snowflakes who need safe spaces from having their feelings hurt
Haaaaahahaha
You don't actually know many rural Trump supporters, do you?
Sarcasm
I think it was sarcasm.
FEW Democracies Elect the Chief Executive by Popular Vote
Very few.
Most democracies have a parliamentary system.
The Chief Executive is somewhat similar the U.S. Speaker of House. He/She is selected by the party with the most seats in the lower chamber.
The 'popular vote' is irrelevant. Usually, it's not even tallied.
The U.K., Germany, Israel and Canada are among the many such countries.
Two alleged democracies have a popularly elected Chief Executive -- France and Russia.
In both, HRC would not have won. There would have been a runoff election.
The Chief Executive must receive a Majority, not a plurality (which HRC did).
Trump received a Majority of the Electoral College, 306 of 538.
That's a Constitutional requirement.
Finally, there might not be a United States without the Electoral College. The EC was the compromise that enticed smaller states to join in forming the U.S.
That can be changed by Constitutional Amendment. But not by complaining.
Whatever you feel or type ,
Whatever you feel or type , he is the President. There are people out there , more than one , that don't disregard his views , and at the same time , disregard yours!
Cool about Pressley.
Cool about Pressley.
Bummer about Lynch. I can't fathom how that guy wins Democratic primaries. He's a Republican running with a D next to his name.
Hehe
If it weren't for the strength of machine politics in this state then you'd see something a lot closer to 50/50 numbers in the state house and Senate than the apparent blue blowout you think you have now. Hell if I were to get into politics, I might change my affiliation and run the Democrat primary just to have half a chance.
Uh-huh
People like you never run for office.
There were twice as many
There were twice as many Democratic primary votes as Republican votes cast in the primaries for governor last night. Republicans don't even bother to run candidates for half of statewide races here. You can't chalk either of those up to Democratic "machine politics".
Your imaginary close-to-50/50 split is in reality due to self-selection bias and the echo-chamber effect (both of which we're all guilty of, from time to time).
I don't think "machine politics" is the issue
Republicans have "machine politics", too - but it doesn't work unless you have solid numbers of voters to put through those machines.
In MA, the GOP doesn't have those numbers. Take a look at the MA House, which has geographically small districts. More GOP representation than the senate, perhaps, but still small numbers overall.
Check this out: even if the districts were bizarrely contorted to favor republicans, we would likely have at most 2 US Reps. Even though they are highly competitive, only one district has better than even odds of going red: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-maps/massachusetts/#GOP
Of course, strong GOP candidates can draw solid numbers of democrats in this state under the right conditions.
Maybe the GOP machine needs to start cloning Martha Coakley?
Machine politics - in the Republican party?
Can you explain how this machine is preventing these Republican candidates from even getting their names on the ballot? Because every time I go to vote, there's a ton of uncontested spots with only Democrats running - if there's actually close to 50/50 Democrats and Republicans in the state, you'd think a few of them would bother to register as candidates.
Not that hard to fathom
If you know the district.
Since, well, you can't fathom it, here's the district in a nutshell. It is full of "Reagan Democrats" who haven't fully morphed into Trump Democrats yet. Lynch fits that bill. Back in 2001, someone (perhaps some whose name rhymes with fakes) leaked an old arrest record that befell Lynch in 1980. It seemed that there were some protesters that were supporting the Iranian Revolution. Young Stephen took offense, what with 52 Americans being held by the revolutionaries in Tehran at the time, and got a bit physical. A less astute politician put this out, thinking that it would hurt Lynch. In the end, it helped him.
The average voter in Weymouth is very different than the average voter in Somerville. That's why, in my view, assuming the district boundaries stay relatively stable, Lynch's greatest threat in the next few cycles is not a fellow Democrat but a Republican who can channel John McCain.
that district though
any change it will get redrawn in 2020? Sure, it might lose a seat to the GOP but for the health of the country, we need to move away from partisan gerrymanders of ALL varieties. I'll give be fine with making that one competitive to a Charlie Baker republican for basic moral/ethical reasons.
Well, you're living in the state...
...that invented the gerrymander.
Lynch never challenged
Lynch won the first time by splitting the liberal vote. He has never, never had a serious challenge since.
Brianna Wu seemed like she might be capable of that, and she certainly had everything going for her, but somehow she managed to fade into obscurity months before the election. I checked out her webpage a couple of weeks ago, and it hadn’t been updated since spring. Plus, her identity as some kind of Gamergate victim probably left most voters in the district scratching their heads.
A campaigner like Ayanna Pressley would have tossed Lynch a lot more easily than Capuano. This district is not all that conservative.
Some Other Guy ...
Christopher Voehl, from Milton and a UPS?
He never really mounted a campaign.
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180129/milton-pilot-running-for-cong...
what a ridiculous statement
"some kind of"??
way to sneak in a little discrediting-of-a-victim, bro. proud of yourself?
the attacks made on her by the gamergate criminals were well documented and she was one of the central figures of that whole gross episode.
I just spoke to Althea, she is vey happy for Ayanna
Althea hadn't received the definitive news until I relayed it to her.. She has been out campaigning with Ayanna and Maura Healey and has been spreading the word with her people to vote for Ayanna as well.
I think objective people who give Althea a chance are going to be impressed by her hard work and honest attitude about public service.
Please give her a chance to show what she can do!
Omg, I had forgotten about this
https://www.dotnews.com/2018/althea-garrison-back-picture
I guess we’ll being seeing a lot more of Althea. I am dying to see how such a lovabley weird maverick indie-conservative shakes things up around here. Not that I have ever voted for her, but she’s an everywoman that is concerned about T fares and her neighborhood.
Really?
Exactly how much of a chance should I give a transgender woman who is adamantly against LGBT rights?
Hold her accountable
Call her office regularly and have others call her office regularly. Demand constituent services and attention. Ask tough questions. If she cold shoulders you, make sure social media knows about it. You know the drill. If she wants to do the job she wanted to have for so long, well, she needs to pay attention.
Give is the real news...
Is Stephen Murphy continuing his free ride on the MA taxpayer train or what?
Yes
Murphy won.
DAMMIT
That guy needs to teach a class or write a book. I want in on his scam!
God Bless Councilor-elect Althea Garrison
---
History tonight as we elect the first African-American woman to Congress in MA and the first African American transgender Republican (not sure if she still is) to the City Council. I don't know Ayanna but Althea was pro-life and pro-traditional marriage when she served as a Republican in the House of Representatives. Disparaging Althea as a "perennial candidate" on this site is laughable as she has now served (once sworn in) in the House and the Council and holds many college degrees.
If Capuano has any class (let's get bloody in the streets?) he will resign tomorrow and allow Pressley to take her seat and gain the extra three month seniority instead of waiting until January. It would help her on committee assignments, better office space and the like. Then Althea could be sworn right in to the Council.
That’s...not how it works. If
That’s...not how it works. If Capuano were to resign today Pressley would not automatically get his seat. Because she doesn’t have his seat yet. Granted it is a formality at this point, but she still has to win the general election in November. All that would happen in your scenario is an empty seat in Congress for four months.
god bless
I'm not sure why you keep braying that here.
Paraphrasing Jesus: God bless EVERYONE!
Not just select people that Fishy likes or wants to demean in some way.
Garrison gets her due and that is a good thing. She has put in the work and her ship is now coming in. We call it "participatory democracy" for a reason - if you don't participate, you can't be elected.
p.s. unless you are her doctor or intimate partner, her gender identity is none of your business.
Althea Gibson?
Althea Gibson?
:-)
FAULT!!!
"No, ma'am. Mayor Daly does not eat here. Mayor Daly is dead, ma'am."
Don't feel too bad about the Freudian typo - I was commenting somewhere yesterday about Liz Miranda and ended up posting "Liz Walker"
OOPS!
Nice catch - corrected!
Records Management practices of deficient Council Central Staff?
Records Management practices corrupted by deficient Council Central Staff at Boston City Council might have another chance for improvement with the new City Councilor.
a) Roll Call Votes data isn't online sortable by Topic,
b) Map with Names of Bordering Streets clearly indicated between adjacent neighboring Districts isn't online for folks nearby Bordering Streets, for upcoming Redistricting. Bad current maps obscure Names of Bordering Streets.
c) Stenographic Record public funded for Council Public Meetings, a more accurate document than inaccurate video captions is hidden from deaf folks, hidden from all folks.
There is this new record keeping software called
Omarosa. It records all kinds of shit.
I wonder what could have been
So much amazing political experience and intellectual firepower in the 3rd that it still hasn't been called.
Too bad some of the relative newcomers to that area couldn't have moved to Hingham instead of Concord. Lynch might have had to break a sweat. It would have been good for him.
Spending
Dudebros outside the district
I dunno
It seems fairly clear being a woman and/or POC is, in fact, an asset in this cycle. They're winning a ton of Dem primaries.
That's not to say that Pressley (and her fellow-travelers like AOC) didn't put in the work, or that it's not an extremely impressive achievement to knock off a popular incumbent.
But there really wasn't much policy space between Pressley and Capuano. You're left with representation/identity, and some difference in political style. It's not a value judgment... I don't actually think there's anything wrong with that.
Yes, and ...
She worked for some pretty big name politicos and was a city councilor and had been recognized as "up and coming" and "person to watch" etc. But butthurt dudebros aren't known for actually looking at such things.
What should be looked at is the degree of gerrymandering in this district and MA 9, too. The population gradients don't account for the degree of wandering.
Here's an exploration of various ways that districts could be redrawn for different purposes. The interesting thing is that none of these ways end up with a very high likelihood that MA would elect a republican US rep - but many look much better than the current brainstem-shaped mess that is the 8th. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-maps/massachusetts/
Voting Rights Act & Gerrymandering
The odd shape of the 8th district is partly a result of gerrymandering to create the 7th as a majority-minority district, and partly a result of gerrymandering to ensure that neither the 8th or 9th is likely to go R.
Check the linked map options
The stats for the optional reconfigured districts show that isn't lost. They don't have to gerrymander it to get that district at all - they just have to stop configuring things around the residences of current reps.
It may well be an asset.
It may well be an asset.
It's probably also an asset to be a non-controversial, reasonably popular, democratic incumbent.
She beat him anyway.
A word on Zakim, if I could.
I love that his central issue was day-of voter registration. Why is that a need? I know that it is done else-where in the country, but it just seems like an invitation to voter fraud. Of course that was just a sign post on the road to voting remotely and not having to go to the polls (uncool dude). An even worse idea, but one that tickles the imagination of those who should know better. They just pretend they are advocating for some blue collar worker who can't make it to the polls once every 2 years. ("Or how about the day off? Can we just have a day off to vote?") Its all about ease but let's pretend its progressive.
To sum up his constituency were people who see voting as a bother and something to be avoided. But he needed them to vote for him in the primary to get there. You gotta admit, that's pretty funny. Oh, and taking money from the people you had to regulate was a knee-slapper too.
Yeah, no
There's no evidence to support this.
Reminder: "voter fraud" is a vote or attempt to vote by someone who is not entitled to do so. Showing up without the type of ID that someone in charge likes is not voter fraud. Not having filled out certain papers x days before the election is not voter fraud.
You'll have to speak to me from the depths of your experience talking to potential voters. In canvassing, I talked to quite a few real live human beings who were unable to vote because they had to work. Not all were blue collar workers, but many of them had a lengthy commute and/or were working two jobs, with the result that they simply couldn't make it to the polls.
You believe that lie if you want to, son, but don't try to sell it to the grownups.
People do what they think is important.
I got up an hour early to vote before I went to work. If you know you can't do that you make plans for an absentee ballot. I guarantee you these people would find a way to make time for anything else they cared about. I think they can make it down to the local polling place one Tuesday night every 2 years.
But some just find that to be déclassé. My canvassing comes from watching my own various social media feeds from people who can't be bothered to vote because Tuesday is trivia night (they need me for the science questions!), and why can't I just vote by phone? Again, dangerous to democracy to do that, but it sounds cool.
Good to see..
that after I fled this place, the same incessant nonsense between the same posters arguing the same points over and over and over again still continues unabated.
Me, I'll just stick to the streets and people with a clue.
Did you try
the salted licorice?
Stick to the streets?
Maybe we should call DPW if you are sticking to the streets and no molasses spills have been reported ... unless this is your own bodily fluids causing the problem.
Goodbye without leaving
And yet here you are again. I'm sorry to report that I don't think anyone noticed you were "gone".
Congressional districts are grotesquely gerrymandered
As are other political districts in MA such as counties.
IMO she actually owes her primary win to primarily white progressives who are over-represented in gentrified JP and a few other neighborhoods.
This primary win shows Democrat's fringe who are, again, overly influentual in primaries, have lurched to the far left.
okay
you put in your GOP talking points for the day.
do they give you extra if you use the specific phrase "lurch to the (far) left"?
its sad how try-hard the right is being about making Pressley seem "radical" when she is most definitely, absolutely not.
Who said it's the right?
The far left always assumes those who challenge them are neo-Nazis or members of the alt right . Newflash: much of the criticism in this forum comes from other liberals who haven't drunk the Kook-Aid.
"drunk the kook-aid"?
how cutting edge and with it you are.
what next, you going to call me a "moonbat"?
keep up the good work.
Redistricting tactics obscure Names of Bordering Streets.
Redistricting is hampered by lack of good useful graphics and good useful maps allowing more gerrymandering in the process of Redistricting. Maps are needed that clearly indicate the Names of Bordering Streets between adjacent neighboring Districts for folks nearby Bordering Streets and for upcoming Redistricting. Current maps obscure Names of Bordering Streets either leaving out Streets' Names or including all Names making it difficult to recognize only Names of Bordering Streets between adjacent neighboring Districts.
Got numbers?
If that's so, you'll be able to show polling data of "primarily white progressives". Oh wait, you can't, because there's a secret ballot. Well, enjoy your dogwhistling fantasy!