The Massachusetts Democratic Primary is in less than 2 weeks. For what it's worth, here are my choices for Massachusetts, Bristol County, and Dartmouth.
Governor: Maura Healey
Sonia Chang-Diaz is still on the ballot but sadly dropped out. But I also remember Maura Healey standing up to Nazi gun nuts at a public meeting at the New Bedford Unitarian Church several years ago, and I respect her fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, even in other states. I also recall a number of "know your rights" meetings that immigrant support groups organized in New Bedford, to which Healey sent her own staff members. Although Sonia was my #1 choice, Maura ain't bad neither.
Lt. Governor: Tami Gouveia
Tami Gouveia is strong on public health and environmental issues, and got a rather rare "A" on the Progressive Mass scoreboard.
Attorney General: Andrea Campbell
On paper Quentin Palfrey's positions on paper are better than anyone's, and I am unhappy with Campbell's support for charter schools. But in the end what I want most from an Attorney General is a commitment to fight against racism and for police accountability. I think a woman of color from Boston rather than a white guy from Weston is better-suited to fight for them.
Secretary of State: Tanisha Sullivan
Sullivan is the "real deal" whereas Bill Galvin is encumbered by a number of bone-headed decisions on ballot signature collection and same-day voting.
Auditor: Christopher Dempsey
Dempsey wants to do more than simply issue performance audits. Also, I was turned off by Donna DiZoglio's smears, falsely claiming Dempsey made no statements about George Floyd's murder and insinuating that he is a racist. Worse, as a state senator DiZoglio voted for subsidizing lobby groups, charitable deductions and tax breaks for the wealthy, and against a study to analyze the costs of the 2020 police reform bill. DiZoglio voted against increasing the frequency of reviews for adjusting education funding, actually voting to steer more school funding to affluent districts, voted against the plastic bag ban, for an amendment that attempted to paint the state Climate Policy Commission as a shady group, for a bill to expand surveillance of school children, for a bill to disallow counting ballots after 5PM, and against a provision to create a commission on the use of force in juvenile facilities. DiZoglio also voted for a Republican amendment to neuter police accreditation and decertification procedures. If we are really interested in making sure the state operates in the people's interest, Donna DiZoglio is not who we want conducting half-hearted, corporate- and police-friendly audits of state agencies.
Ninth Bristol District: Cameron Costa
What else is there to say? Costa is a Democrat who supports the MassDems platform, whereas Chris Markey would be a registered Republican if he could.
Bristol County DA: Shannon McMahon
McMahon has a certain amount of baggage but incumbent Tom Quinn is a right-wing Democrat who thinks denying bail in almost all circumstances is justified and has lobbied for the Republican governor's "dangerousness" legislation. The DA's office has whitewashed several high-profile police murders and has done nothing to explore police culpability. Quinn also has the state's highest level of pre-trial detainees in his county — as well as a correspondingly high percentage of jail deaths. Quinn's office also has a racism problem. 20 years ago Frances Choy was railroaded by Plymouth County prosecutors Karen O'Sullivan and John Bradley, who exchanged racist emails caricaturing Asians. Karen O'Sullivan now works for Quinn, who continues to defend her. Quinn needs to go and the Bristol County DA's office needs a vigorous house cleaning.
Bristol County Sheriff: Paul Heroux
Nick Bernier may make a big deal of his testimony against Fall River mayor Jaziel Correia, now serving time in federal prison for wire fraud, but Bernier was the CEO of Correia's shady company for several years before he could no longer ignore the fraud. Bernier thinks Hodgson is a nice guy and would keep a number of his non-existent programs. Bernier also agrees with Hodgson that jail must be made to be as miserable as possible — even if it ends up killing people. But most of all, Bernier is a former prosecutor, not a corrections expert. And neither is George McNeil, who seems to be a much nicer human being than Bernier but who is simply a former police chief. Massachusetts sheriffs do two things: serve papers and run jails. It's time we elected someone who knows how to run a jail. Heroux is the best-qualified.