Republican Candidates Travel to Brooksby for Political Discussion

By Robert Doherty
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Many of the major Republican candidates in Massachusetts, everyone from the governor, lt. governor, and attorney general to U.S. congressmen all recently came to Brooksby Village. Why? Because the people who live there asked them to.

The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate reported that 60.7 percent of the people voted in the 2004 Presidential election, a number that translates into the highest turnout since 1968. Typically state and local elections have a much weaker turnout—but not at Brooksby.

“We have over 1,900 people here now. And our voter turn out is over 70 percent. All the candidates come whenever we call. We are highly respected and we feel proud of that,” says Loretta Tenaglia, chairman of Brooksby’s Political Ooutreach Group.

Republican Hopefuls
The candidates that were present for the recent forum were Kerry Healey and Reed Hilman, candidates for governor and lt. governor; Larry Frisoli, candidate for attorney general; Jason Harding, candidate for state representative; Kevin Scott and Rick Barton, candidates for Congress. Ken Chase, a candidate for U.S. senator, had a previous commitment and was the only major candidate who was not in attendance. “He sent a representative,” says Loretta.

During the forum, all candidates got a chance to speak about important issues that concern their constituents including education, health care, immigration, and the Big Dig.

More to Come
“This is not something unusual. For the last five years I've been involved with this Political Outreach Group. We have had city, state, and federal forums here. We already had the Democrats here and now we have the Republicans,” says Loretta.