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Cambridge Day does not endorse candidates or positions. Views expressed in this column are those of the writer.
I’ve been in community with Evan MacKay for years, we have friends in common, and I’m supporting their campaign for state representative. I also used to live in the same conservative part of Florida as Evan and find it perfectly reasonable that a progressive activist would be registered as a Republican. Florida is a “closed primary” state where you can only vote in your party’s primary. In the part of Florida where we used to live, Democratic primaries often didn’t happen because no Democrats would run.
The Republican primary often determined local elections, as Democratic primaries often do here. Progressives, liberals and moderates registered as Republicans to vote in the Republican primaries, where they could occasionally help stop the election of hard-right Republicans.
These details are covered on Evan’s website.
Some people living in Cambridge choose to vote in other parts of the country where they feel their vote might make a bigger difference to stopping Trump and Republicans. I respect that decision — in fact, I know many Cambridge neighbors who wish they could vote in swing states. Rep. Decker is trying to make people think that Evan was a Republican in Massachusetts, which isn’t true. In fact, Evan was elected to a leadership position by the members of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee.
The experience of living in a conservative part of the country and building coalitions for progressive change is an important perspective that I want represented on Beacon Hill. There are so many parts of the country that are doing more to stand up to Trump than Beacon Hill, where they pass the fewest bills. I’m excited to support a progressive organizer and hope our community will join in supporting Evan MacKay for state representative.
Shelley Rieman / Franklin Street, Cambridge
A stronger
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