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Randolph Democratic Candidate Virtual Forum: Sunday May 22, 2022

    We'd like to invite voters to a "candidate forum" for every Democrat running at the Democratic Convention and/or on the September 6 ballot in Randolph.

    Below is the Zoom link for the Randolph Democratic Town Committee's virtual forum to be held on Sunday May 22 at 1:00 PM. No registration needed!

    Candidates will introduce themselves with a five-minute speech, then some Q&A. We'll send some questions in advance, for which candidates can reply in writing too (and we'll post those responses here).

    Details of our caucus event are below -- it's the same format as then, with the same Zoom link, but candidates can speak for longer! There's a "Contact List" at the bottom of this page that you can contact candidates directly, if you like. And a video of our caucus where a dozen statewide candidates came and spoke!

      We have prepared questions for the candidates on topics of interest to Randolph voters and also to the ret of the South Shore. Candidates are invited to respond in writing (which we'll post here), and/or address the questions in their five-minute speech.
    1. Our tri-town area has excessive PFAS in our drinking water, like reservoirs across Massachusetts. What can you or the Commonwealth do to help with paying for filtering to remove PFAS, and running outside testing to identify PFAS sources?
    2. Our town government has been promised ARPA money and infrastructure money, like municipalities across Massachusetts. But the money is slow in coming, especially through Norfolk County. What can you or the Commonwealth do to help expedite this "emergency funding" so we can actually spend it on emergency needs?
    3. Randolph qualifies as an "environmental justice community" and might qualify as a "gateway city" and numerous other special designations. But we have trouble finding applicable grants through MAPC and other state agencies, while other wealthier towns and larger cities seem to always beat us to every grant. What can you or the Commonwealth do to help with "municipal equity" in state programs?
    4. Randolph always seems to be on the losing end of every state-based formula, too, compared to other wealthier towns and larger cities. For example, we lose millions in Chapter 90 road repair funds because we cannot afford to get our streets "accepted". What can you or the Commonwealth do to help?
    5. The worst formula for Randolph is the Chapter 70 education funding formula. We have huge expenses due to our high immigrant and ESL population, which results in high local real estate taxes despite poor scores for our schools. What can you or the Commonwealth do to update the formula to get communities like ours more state funding for our schools?
    6. In the wake of overturning Roe, what can be done in Massachusetts to prevent further erosion of reproductive rights?
    7. What can be done in Massachusetts to protect same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights if the "right to privacy" is eroded?
    8. What are your views on the Fair Share Amendment ballot initiative?
    9. What are your views on the November ballot initiative concerning Rideshare working conditions?

    We made a video of the caucus and played it repeatedly on RCTV. For this virtual forum, we will record and offer the video to RCTV as well as to surrounding South Shore towns (we're inviting county candidates and state senate candidates as well as statewide candidates). The new candidates since our caucus:

  • Robert Jubinville for Governor's Council: Click for website; Email: jubinville@comcast.net (617) 698-8000 Address: 487 Adams Street, Milton, MA 02186 (district includes most of the South Shore). Mail: 487 Adams Street Milton, MA 02186

  • Kathleen Crogan-Camara for State Senate Click for website; Email: Kathleen@KathleenCamara.com (Norfolk/Plymouth/Bristol "District 33" includes North and Central Randolph; Milton; Stoughton; Braintree; Easton; Bridgwwater; and West Bridgewater) Mail: 52 West St Randolph MA 02368

  • Walter Timilty for State Senate Click for website; Email: Walter.Timilty@masenate.gov 617-722-1643 (incumbent for District 33, which is redistricted to only central and North Randolph this year). Mail: State House, Room 213-B Boston, MA 02133

  • Katrina Huff-Larmond for State Senate Click for website; Email: Katrina@KatrinaForSenate.com ("District 34" includes eastern and South Randolph; Avon, Brockton, Wast Bridgewater; Whitman; Hanson; and Halifax). Mail: 141 Memorial Parkway P.O. Box 221 Randolph, MA 02368

  • Mike Brady for State Senate Click for website; Email: bradybrockton@aol.com 508-586-6992 (incumbent for District 34, which added eastern and South Randolph this year).

  • Chris Alexopoulos for Norfolk Sheriff Click for website; Email: (District is Norfolk County, which includes all of the South Shore from the Rhode Island border to Boston Harbor, north of Brockton) Mail: 9 Oliver Street Randolph, Massachusetts 02368

  • Patrick McDermott for Norfolk Sheriff Click for website; Email: folsson@NorfolkSheriffMA.org 781-751-3451 (incumbent for Norfolk County, which includes all of Randolph) Mail: 200 West St. P.O Box 149 Dedham, Massachusetts, 02027

  • Bill Driscoll for State Rep Click for website; (District incluides western North Randolph plus South Randolph, and Milton) Mail: T PO Box 530 Milton, MA 02186

  • Bruce Ayers for State Rep Click for website; Email Bruce.Ayers@mahouse.gov (District incluides eastern North Randolph plus eastern Randolph, and Quincy) Mail: 24 Beacon St. Room 254 Boston, MA, 02133

Randolph Democratic Caucus Feb. 5 2022

Summary: What's a caucus?

Details: How's it all work?

    Randolph is about to have a well-hidden exercise in democracy -- in which you can participate and make it less well-hidden. During February, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will hold caucuses across the state, including one each in Randolph, at which delegates to the statewide conventions will be selected. Those delegates will then decide which statewide candidates will appear on the September 20th primary ballot. The winners of the primaries will then appear on the General Election ballot on November 8.

    The Randolph Democratic Town Committee will hold a virtual caucus on Saturday February 5 at 11 AM (Zoom link below), to decide who Randolph will send to the Democratic State Convention. The Randolph Republican Town Committee will hold their caucus at a time and place to be announced shortly -- contact for the GOP chair is below.

    The Massachusetts Democrats will hold a "hybrid Convention" (in-person and also virtually) on June 3 and June 4 (Friday evening and Saturday morning) at the DCU Center in Worcester. The Massachusetts Republicans will hold their convention in Springfield on May 21.

    The caucus and convention process traditionally favors "party insiders" who know about the caucus and who attend with their friends to vote for them as delegates to the convention. But knowing the rules -- outlined here -- allows anyone to attend, and could make the process more "grass roots."

    To be eligible to attend the Democratic caucus, you must be a registered Democrat on the day of the caucus. Similarly, for the Republican caucus to be held later, you must be a registered Republican. You can change your party registration, including from unregistered or independent status, up until the day before the caucus, online in advance or in-person at the Town Clerk's office at Town Hall.

    This year the caucuses will be "virtual" (some towns will hold "hybrid" in-person plus virtual) but traditionally the caucuses are held at Town Hall or other public locations. The doors at the caucus are traditionally locked at the appointed hour, so you must arrive on time – for the virtual caucus, just Zoom in on time, and announce yourself to the Zoom host so your party registration can be checked.

    "Last year we held virtual caucuses for a Platform Convention where delegate seats were open for the asking," says Randolph Democratic Town Committee Chair Jesse Gordon. "This year's caucuses are for the Nominating Convention so we expect higher attendance and competitive delegate seats -- we'll actually count the vote at the caucus. It's fun! -- and call me if you have trouble registering as a Dem, or joining on caucus day." The Randolph Dems will have a "Zoom master" to ensure against technical troubles, and two Democratic State Committee members present to ensure that everyone possible can participate.

    This is how the Democratic caucus elects delegates: Half of the delegate seats are set aside for men and half for women. Anyone can nominate themselves or someone else to be a delegate. There is no limit on the number of people who can be nominated. Once the nominations are finalized, every registered Democrat attending the caucus votes for delegates, by a list in the Zoom chat, or by texting the Chair (votes are public, not secret!). Randolph is assigned 25 seats at this year's Democratic Convention, so you can vote for up to 25 delegates, plus 5 alternate delegates who can attend the Convention if an elected delegate cannot attend. Randolph residents who want to run for delegate, but cannot attend the caucus because they are in the United States Armed Forces and stationed out of town, may contact the Chair in advance and can then be nominated in absentia.

    "We have rules for gender balance and also provisions for gender-nonbinary individuals," notes Gordon. "We also have additional 'add-on' delegate seats available for diversity representation at the Convention -- the diversity criteria are: under-represented race; sexual orientation; disability; and youth." If the nominations exceed 25 candidates, each person will have the chance to make a two-minute speech, to state their qualifications. If there aren't 25 candidates, the election will be by acclamation instead of by voting, and the remainder of the caucus will focus on how the Convention works, and on speeches by any statewide candidates who make an appearance.

    Delegates will vote at the Convention on statewide candidates for the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Attorney General, State Treasurer, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and State Auditor. For each office, nominees must receive 15% of the delegate votes on the first ballot to qualify to appear on the September primary ballot. Multiple rounds of balloting are held if needed, until one candidate for each office exceeds 50% of the vote, which then qualifies that candidate to be listed first on the Democratic primary ballot.

    Democratic Convention candidate events will take place on the evening of June 3, and all votes will be held on June 4. The Republican Convention runs by the same rules, but with fewer candidates expected for each office -- the Republican state convention will be held on Saturday, May 21, two weeks before the Democratic state convention.

    This is democracy at work. You can earn yourself the right to complain about the system for the next few years by spending one morning on it in February, then one day on June 4, and maybe the process can become more grass-roots and participatory while we're at it. Contact for the Randolph Democrats is Jesse Gordon at 617-320-6989 or jesse@jessegordon.com. The Randolph Republicans will hold their caucus at a time to be announced shortly – contact Jean Riguel Ulysse at 508-649-0971 or ulyssejeanriguel@gmail.com. For readers outside of Randolph, check MassDems.org or MassGOP.com for when your caucus will be held. The Randolph Dems Zoom link is:

    Randolph Democratic Caucus
    Saturday Feb. 5, 2022;
    Virtual Meeting opens at 10:45; must arrive by 11:00 to participate
    To Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9633988959


    Meeting ID: 963 398 8959
    Dial-in: +1 312 626 6799


    Information about all the statewide Democratic candidates

    Democratic candidates for Lieutenant Governor:

  • CEO Bret Bero: Click for website; email: info@bretbero.com Mail: PO Box 146677 25 New Chardon St. Boston, MA 02114
  • Mayor Kim Driscoll: Click for website; email Juan@kimdriscoll.org Social media: facebook.com/votekimdriscoll Mail: P.O. Box 8111 Salem, MA 01970
  • State Rep. Tami Gouveia: Click for website; email: info@tamigouveia.com Mail: P.O. Box 2471, Acton, MA 01720
  • State Senator Adam Hinds: Click for website; email: adam@adamhinds.org Mail: P.O. Box 2762, Pittsfield, MA 01202
  • State Senator Eric Lesser: Click for website; email: info@ericlesser.com Mail: 137 Lewis Wharf, Boston, MA 02110

    Democratic candidates for Attorney General:

  • Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell: Click for website; email: info@andreacampbell.org Mail: 124 Washington St. Suite 101, Foxboro, MA 02035
  • Shannon Liss-Riordan: Click for website; email team@shannonforAg.com Social media: Shannon for Senate YouTube Mail: 8 Ridgehurst Circle Weston, MA 02493
  • Quentin Palfrey: Click for website; email: hello@quentinpalfrey.com Mail: PO Box 541416 Waltham, MA 02454

    Democratic candidates for Secretary of the Commonwealth:

  • Secretary William Galvin: Click for website; email: info@billgalvin.org Mail: 444 Washington Street, Brighton, MA, 02135
  • NAACP President Tanisha Sullivan: Click for website; email: info@tanishasullivan.com Mail: P.O. Box 320008 Boston, MA 02132

    Democratic candidates for Auditor:

  • Chris Dempsey: Click for website; email: info@dempseyforauditor.com Mail: P.O. Box 15, Boston, MA 02137
  • Diana DiZoglio: Click for website; email: diana@dianadizoglio.com Social media: facebook.com/Diana4MA Mail: 30 Olive Street Methuen, MA 01844
Committee to Elect Jesse Gordon, 52 West St, Randolph MA 02368

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