Lack of debates a sore spot in battle for state senate

The Massachusetts State Primary Election is fast approaching, and to help Canton voters better familiarize themselves with their potential choices for state senate in the Norfolk, Bristol & Plymouth District, the Canton High School Chapter of the Junior State of America and the Blue Hills Civic Association have teamed up to sponsor a “senatorial debate night” on Tuesday, August 30, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall.

There’s only one problem: Just one of the two candidates on the Democratic primary ticket has agreed to show up.

Continuing a trend that started earlier this summer with the Tucker Neighborhood Association forum, Nora Harrington, a political newcomer from Milton vying for the seat long held by Brian A. Joyce, will again be front and center at the August 30 event. She will be joined by Independent candidate Jonathan Lott of Stoughton, while Harrington’s Democratic opponent, Walter Timilty, will again be absent, citing a prior engagement.

Timilty, the longtime state representative from the 7th Norfolk District, has also declined to appear at similar events with Harrington planned in Milton, Stoughton and Randolph, and he has yet to debate his primary opponent in any setting despite a public challenge issued in July by Harrington and a recent public plea signed by 68 “concerned citizens,” most of whom are from Milton.

In the letter, which appeared in last week’s Canton Citizen, the signers called on both Democratic candidates to appear in joint debates prior to the September 8 primary. The purpose, they said, would be to “provide the public with the opportunity [voters] deserve to make an informed decision about whom to elect to this important state senate seat.”

The Citizen made multiple attempts to reach Timilty for this story, but telephone messages and a follow-up email left with his campaign were not returned.

However, in a statement given to the Patriot Ledger last month, Timilty campaign manager Jay O’Brien described the initial debate challenge issued by Harrington as a “little puzzling” and an apparent “political stunt to garner much-needed attention.”

“Walter is more than happy to embrace a debate and would be willing to participate in a debate or forum provided the hosting and moderating organizations are fair and impartial,” O’Brien told the Ledger at the time.

He added that Timilty has been going door to door throughout the district and “having face-to-face conversations and listening to what voters are thinking about.”

Yet Harrington stressed that she too has been busy knocking on doors, and while her public debate challenge certainly seemed ambitious — calling for a live debate in each of the 10 towns in the district — she made it clear that she has not had a hand in the scheduling or organization of any debate or forum.

“Various organizations have requested this; it’s not just me saying this should happen,” Harrington said via telephone last week. “We’re trying to bring to light that again, six different organizations representing voters in four different towns have requested this and my opponent has refused to attend any of them to date.”

“It’s sort of like applying for a job and refusing to go to the interview,” added Harrington. “These are our bosses, the residents of these towns, and we’re asking them to send us to Beacon Hill and give us a job. And I feel it’s my responsibility to go and talk to them and explain why I’m the best person for the job.”

Lott, who will face the winner of the Democratic primary in the November 8 general election, said that he, like Harrington, has attended every candidates forum that he has been invited to and has yet to see Timilty.

The 24-year-old Stoughton native said debates are particularly important during the run-up to an election as they are the “best means to show which candidate is really working for you and who aligns best with your priorities.” He added that he intends to challenge the winner of the Democratic primary to a debate a few weeks before the November election.

As for the August 30 debate in Canton, Jeremy Comeau, advisor for the CHS Junior State of America Chapter, said the candidates were first notified of their plans in July and were presented with more than a dozen possible dates. Still, he said, organizers were unable to secure a commitment from Timilty’s campaign and did not receive a response until several weeks after a date had been set.

In a lengthy statement posted on his Facebook page last week, Comeau, who also happens to be the co-chair of the Canton Democratic Town Committee and a member of the Democratic State Committee, blasted Timilty for his lack of cooperation and formally rescinded his support for Timilty in the upcoming state primary.

“Originally, I was supporting Walter F. Timilty, but I feel if he cannot handle debating issues raised by high school students, how can he take on tough issues on Beacon Hill?” Comeau wrote. “If Timilty can’t devote a few hours in various towns throughout the district to answer questions from panels representing the citizens, how can we expect him to answer to us when he has been elected to the senate?”

Comeau said the debate will still go on as planned and the students will save a seat at the table for Timilty in the event that he changes his mind. “I guarantee you they will have tough questions,” he said.

In an email to the debate’s organizers, Janet Irwin, the scheduling coordinator for the Timilty campaign, said that Timilty had expressed interest in attending but had already committed to a “large group” at the same time as the August 30 debate.

“I know he appreciates and genuinely enjoys an opportunity to engage with young people, particularly with a civics lesson,” Irwin wrote, adding that Timilty was “disappointed and truly sorry he can’t be there.”

Timilty, to his credit, has clearly been busy on the campaign trail, as evidenced by an active Facebook timeline that shows him meeting with various groups across the district, including local veterans at Wampatuck Country Club, the Friends of the State Theatre in Stoughton, and Norfolk County RSVP volunteers at a recent luncheon in Randolph.

He also has a strong base of support built up over his 18 years as a state rep and has racked up dozens of high-profile endorsements, including from the AFL-CIO, Mass. Teachers Association, Mass. Nurses Association, and the State Police Association of Massachusetts. In Canton, Timilty backers include state Rep. William Galvin, Selectman John Connolly, and School Committee member Meg Gannon.

Harrington, meanwhile, has positioned herself politically left of Timilty and believes she is the only viable Democratic choice for those who value “women’s reproductive rights, LGBT equality, economic fairness, and educational opportunity for all.” Key endorsers of the Harrington campaign to date include Planned Parenthood, the Mass. Women’s Political Caucus, the Sierra Club, and state senators Linda Dorcena Forry and Sonia Chang-Diaz.

The August 30 senatorial debate in Canton will be broadcast live by Canton Community Television. For more information on the senate candidates in the Norfolk, Bristol & Plymouth District, visit www.timilty4senate.com, www.electnoraharrington.com, and www.lott2016.com.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Aug 19 2016. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.