Three Republicans and two Democrats are set to fight it out April 30 for their respective party’s nominations in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (8th District), who represents a portion of Jamaica Plain, and U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (5th District) are running for the Democratic nomination.
Lynch, who has not campaigned in JP, was the source of some contention during the latest congressional redistricting efforts in 2011. Some residents, including Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) chair Ben Day, opposed the eventually-enacted plan to give a larger portion of JP to Lynch’s district.
“The JPNC and me have generally tried to keep JPNC in the same district, regardless of whether it puts us in a more conservative or a more progressive district,” Day said in an email to the Gazette as to why he opposed the plan. “We managed to keep almost all of JP in the same City Council district, for example, but that involved keeping us in the same district as West Roxbury, which is certainly not as progressive as JP.”
Meanwhile, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan; Gabriel Gomez, a Cohasset resident and former Navy SEAL; and state Rep. Daniel Winslow (9th Norfolk District) are competing for the Republican nomination.
For more information on the candidates, visit their campaign websites: Lynch (stephenflynch.com), Markey (edmarkey.com), Winslow (danwinslow.com), Gomez (gomezforma.com) and Sullivan (mikesullivanforsenate.com).
The general election will be June 25. Interim Sen. William Cowan holds the seat in the meantime.