“Lese Wins Boston Herald Endorsement”

Reforms win or lose in Senate races . . .
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Friday, October 22, 2004

The governor proposes and the Legislature disposes . . . or something like that. Gov. Mitt Romney's reform agenda has been ignored or watered down by a Legislature dominated by one party and beholden to special interests.

Among the state Senate challengers who deserve support to add to the pro-reform ranks come January are Gail Bronwyn Lese, a Yarmouth Republican opposing Sen. Robert O'Leary (D-Barnstable) in the Cape and Islands district. Lese, a licensed pediatrician with a Harvard MBA and financial management experience, brings extraordinary credentials to the table, and a real-world grasp of the economic and health care challenges facing working families.

John C. Thibault, a Chelmsford Republican running against Sen. Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln), was once named chief executive of the year by the state's telecommunications industry. As a job creator himself, Thibault knows first-hand the importance of sound education, tax and fiscal policies to the health of the economy. Fargo's record is, to the contrary, solidly anti-employer - rife with votes and proposals for higher taxes, to weaken MCAS and maintain the state's costly unemployment insurance system. The Herald is also pleased to endorse James F. Coffey, contending to fill the seat in the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk district being vacated by Sen. David Magnani (D-Framingham). Unlike his Democratic opponent, Coffey has pledged to honor the voters' mandate to reduce the income tax to 5 percent.

David W. McCarter, a former Mansfield selectman, running in the Bristol and Norfolk district, would be a reliable vote for reform in the tradition of retiring Sen. Joanne Sprague (R-Walpole).

Among incumbents the Herald would recommend retain their seats is Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham). Brown has been a breath of fresh air in the Norfolk Bristol and Middlesex district since winning a special election to succeed retiring Sen. Cheryl Jacques earlier this year.

And two Democratic senators whose strong advocacy of charter schools merits the support of every parent who values choice in education are Sen. Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster) and Sen. Marian Walsh (D-West Roxbury.) As chairman of the Education Committee, Antonioni has passionately fended off repeated attempts to squelch the charter movement. Walsh has consistently put inner-city kids before special interests and ignored political pressure in her urban district to oppose competition for traditional schools.

Paid for by Lese for State Senate
Copyright 2004