Press Release: 2019-12-06

Secretary of State William F. Galvin and “voter suppression”

Secretary of State William F. Galvin and “voter suppression”

BOSTON — Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons issued the following statement Thursday following Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s politically-motivated attack on Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and other Republicans: 

“Secretary Galvin sees himself as the self-appointed political kingmaker, and yesterday he predictably got himself involved in a naked partisan effort to dictate the outcome of the upcoming Plymouth and Barnstable District Senate race. 

“Like an old-fashioned big-city political boss, Galvin feels the need to predetermine who gets elected to the Legislature. It’s not surprising he’d have that sense of entitlement — Galvin was first elected to a Beacon Hill taxpayer-funded office in 1975, when Gerald Ford was President, ‘All In The Family’ topped television ratings, and disco was the newest music fad.”

“Since then, a lot has changed. But it’s the same old Bill Galvin.

“The same Secretary Galvin who once told Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera ‘I made you mayor’. 

“The same Secretary Galvin who knowingly used state resources to prop up his own reelection campaign.

“The same Secretary Galvin who got caught habitually interfering with the rights of volunteers serving in the armed forces overseas to participate in elections back home. 

“The same Secretary Galvin who conveniently scheduled his own state primary election date in 2018 on the day after Labor Day. 

“The same Secretary Galvin whose office staff got caught for working for his campaign on the taxpayer’s dime.”

Lyons concluded: “And the same Bill Galvin has never once been held accountable for any of this.” 

BACKGROUND:

The election to replace Senator Viriato de Macedo, a Republican who announced his retirement last month, has yet to be scheduled. Sen Tarr. and Gov. Charlie Baker have voiced their disapproval over a Democratic scheme led by Senate President Karen Spilka to schedule the election on March 3, the same day as the Massachusetts presidential primary, a day where Democratic voters are expected to show up in high numbers to choose their party nominee for the 2020 presidential election.

Sen. Tarr has suggested March 31 as the general election date for the Plymouth and Barnstable Senate race, lining up that race’s primary with the March 3 presidential primary and satisfying the state statute requiring primaries to be held four weeks before a special election.