One More Pro Vote

A key player in the coming Massachusetts constitutional convention will be the speaker of the House. Same-sex-marriage opponent Thomas Finneran retired from that position when he did not run for reelection in the 12th District. His spot in the House is up for grabs, athough the speaker's job is not.

Tuesday, February 23, voters got an earful of the five Democrats who are trying to get the spot. Only one, Eric Donovan, a lawyer in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood claimed to be a social conservative. I suspect we know his chances.

No Republican is running.

The debate at the Mildred Avenue Community Center in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood was the first of two sponsored by MassVOTE. The nonpartisan group has detailed news coverage of the race. That neighborhood is heavily Haitian-American, and three of the five candidates are as well.

Three of the five are strongly in favor of same-sex marriage.

• Donovan claims that his Christian principles make him oppose it.
• Emmanuel Bellegarde, a real-estate developer, has said he will support the laws but personally opposes it.
• Linda Dorcena-Forry of Dorchester, a staffer at Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development, Stacy Monahan, district chief of staff to State Rep. Stephen Lynch, and Kerby Roberson, an attorney in Milton, all said they favor it.