By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
1/14/10
Although the state next week will elect its first new U.S. senator in 25 years, a light voter turnout is forecast for Milton. Town Clerk James Mullen Jr. predicts just 35 percent of town voters will turn out on election day, Jan. 19, when voters in a special election will choose a successor to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Mullen’s similarly low projection for the December primary turned out to be slightly optimistic, as only 33.8 percent of town voters showed up. Meanwhile, Miltonians on both sides of the political aisle are weighing in with their thoughts about those vying for Kennedy’s seat. Democrats in town like Martha Coakley’s experience and tested leadership ability while Republicans see Scott Brown as key to balancing political power and keeping tabs on liberal spending in the Senate. Massachusetts voters will decide at the polls Jan. 19 who will fill the seat of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died in August. Kennedy, a Democrat, had held the seat since being elected in 1962.
The three candidates are Coakley, Brown and Libertarian Joseph L. Kennedy, no relation to the late senator.
As is the case in many Massachusetts communities, Milton is largely Democratic. According to the town clerk’s office, around 8,100 of the roughly 17,800 town voters are registered Democrats, compared to 1,500 Republicans. Around 7,000 are registered as unenrolled.
Most of the elected town officials are Democrats.
Selectmen Chairman John Shields, for many years a member of the Democratic Town Committee, said he plans to vote for Coakley for the Senate because of her track record, which he feels is more accomplished than those of her two opponents. Coakley, who has served as the state’s attorney general since 2007, formerly served as a district attorney. Brown, currently a state senator, also has served as a state representative and a selectman in Wrentham.
“I think Martha is by far the most experienced candidate. That’s why I intend to vote for her,” said Shields. “I like her perspective on things.”
Shields said he wants to “keep the tradition of Democrats in the Senate.” He said crime fighting has become Coakley’s forte as attorney general.
“If anyone knows about that stuff, it’s Martha,” he said.
State Rep. Walter Timilty, also a Democrat, said he knows and has worked with both candidates and finds them “very decent” and capable.
But he said he endorsed Coakley, like Shields, based on her experience. “She knows the people. She knows the cities and the towns,” Timilty said.
“She has well thought-out positions, she will be responsive and fair and she already knows local officials from her job here,” Selectman Marion McEttrick said in support of Coakley.
Republicans say Coakley is in “lockstep” with the majority-ruling Democrats and out of touch with public sentiment on things like spending and health care reform.
Republican Town Committee Chair Bob Hiss said his vote will go to Brown, who he calls “an effective communicator” who will “focus on tax cuts and not more stimulus spending.”
“I’ve seen him speak to large and small groups. He can communicate what the needs are,” said Hiss, who added that the country “can get in trouble if it swings too far one way” politically.
A big concern for Republicans is health care reform. Brown is opposed to the current health care bill, which recently passed a Senate vote without a single Republican.
Former Republican Town Committee chairman Richard Pilla, now the chairman of the Norfolk County Republican Club, said a vote for Coakley is simply “a rubber stamp” for the bill.
“There is a disconnect between [the government] and what’s really happening on Main Street,” said Pilla. “I feel [Brown] is a much more independent individual. At least he will take the message from the people back home.”
“I think people are afraid. They don’t know what’s in [the health care bill]. I think you need someone who understands what’s going on…to challenge and debate,” said Republican Town Committee member Dotty Fahey, who feels Brown would bring “transparency” and “challenge” to the health care debate.
Regardless of who is the state’s next senator, it won’t immediately change the nation’s economic plight.
“It’s a worldwide problem we are dealing with. It’s a problem we cannot tax our way out of,” Timilty said.
Shields said whomever wins will be faced with the problems that currently exist, including finding ways to “increase our manufacturing base.”
“There are three major issues: jobs, jobs and jobs,” he said. “The stimulus plan in my opinion was a failure because there weren’t enough jobs in it. I don’t think we should be in two wars and domestically be spending what we’re spending.”
Polls open at 7 a.m. on election day and close at 8 p.m. Call the town clerk at (617) 898-4859 or visit the town’s Web site at www.townofmilton.org to find polling locations. Absentee ballots are available at Town Hall.