Many choices before Bedford voters

By Meredith McCulloch

Bedford primary election voters will not see a routine ballot this year and may need to pay close attention.

Two factors make this an unusual year. First of all the State Primary will be held on Thursday, September 6, not the first Tuesday as it usually is. Second, candidates for Representative of the 21st Middlesex District (Bedford, Burlington and part of Wilmington) do not appear on the ballot.

The only candidate on the ballot for either party is that of the current representative, Charles Murphy of Burlington. Murphy has announced that he will be resigning as of July 31 after 16 years in office and will not accept a nomination for reelection

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Candidates wishing to run for State Representative must run a write-in or sticker campaign. There is no candidate on the Republican primary ballot, so the candidate that wins the majority of votes from Republicans will be their nominee.

A Democratic candidate must win more votes than any other candidate including incumbent Murphy. It is possible that Murphy could win the primary election even though he announced in June that he is resigning. Should Murphy win, he plans to refuse the nomination and a candidate will be selected though a process designated by Massachusetts Democratic Party rules. (Click here to read about the process.)

Known write-in/sticker candidates at this time are Democrat David Fionda and Republican Walter Zenkin. Other candidates are considering the race and may jump in at any time up until the primary on September 6.

Bedford voters have more choices to make this year than those in any other Massachusetts town. There will be competitive races for State Representative, State Senator, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator in addition to other state offices and President.

The Bedford Citizen has posted a list of declared candidates (Click here to view the information) including their websites, telephone numbers and a page for each of the candidates that includes materials submitted by each of them.

Candidates and their supporters are invited to send press releases and letters of support to [email protected]. In addition the League of Women Voters of Bedford is planning a candidate questionnaire for State Senate and State Representative candidates that will be published in The Citizen late in August.

The Bedford Citizen is committed to assisting voters by providing information on all candidates on a non-partisan basis.

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