Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Worst SSM Foe Tumbles

Ding. Dong.

The only incumbent legislator to lose the primary yesterday was Marie J. Parente. She lost resoundingly to John Fernandes, 59% to 41% in the Tenth Worcester.

She has been a hangnail on the finger of government as State Representative since 1981.

Parente is a fellow traveler in the caravan of Emile Goguen and Phil Travis. They are the old-line anti-gay, anti-same-sex-marriage gang. Fortunately their retiring or losing reflects what we see statewide among voters. The public as a whole wants to get on with real legislative business, considers SSM a closed matter, and does not want to punish homosexuals for being homosexuals.

For Goguen's Third Worcester seat, Stephen DiNatale won the Democratic slot (66% of the vote). For Travis' Fourth Bristol spot, Steven D'Amico beat three others in the primary with 38% of the vote. Both face Republicans. More on these later.

Fernandes skunked Parente throughout Mendon, Milford and Upton. He goes against Republican Robert P. Burns come November.

While there might have been much to make of Parente's stances, Fernandes "said he won by staying positive, talking about real issues and showing voters he has the right vision for the district’s future," according to the MetroWest Daily. "I rejected the idea that the way you set out to defeat an incumbent is to attack their record and tear it apart," said Fernandes. "People said I could not win a campaign by running by her, and said I had to run at her."

Parente is 78 and had talked about retiring as Travis and Goguen are. The seats of the latter two will also have SSM-friendly Democrats running in November, further reducing the anti-SSM gang size.

Parente has long been one of the most conservative DINOs in the legislature. We can't imagine many will miss her.

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1 comment:

Ryan said...

Great news! Soon we'll have the rug pulled on the anti-SSM forces; they won't be able to swing 25% as hard as they try.