Yesterday there was a parade and celebration of Southboro Massachusetts Heritage Day. During the festivities I had a chance to meet two of the outstanding candidates running for office in Massachusetts--one running for a state office, one running on a more local level.
Jim McKenna is running for Massachusetts Attorney General against incumbent Martha Coakley. Jim McKenna was a write-in candidate in the Republican primary on September 14th, where he received more than 25,000 votes. That number is historic in write-in campaigns. Jim McKenna has 10 years experience as a prosecutor. He prosecuted public corruption and organized crime in Boston for three years while serving as an Assistant District Attorney in the Organized Crime Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.
Jim also served for six years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Worcester County District Attorney's office, which work included two years as supervisor of the Grand Jury Unit. He began his work as a prosecutor by serving in the Civil Division of the Franklin County [Ohio] Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
In addition, for the last 17 years, Jim has taught courses on law and ethics as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the part-time MBA program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Department of Management. Last year, BusinessWeek ranked that program 9th nationally. This year, BusinessWeek ranked that program 1st - with UCLA, UC (Berkeley), Nebraska and Michigan rounding out the top five.
For the last 5 years, Jim has served on the Board of Trustees of Quinsigamond Community College.
His platform includes restoring trust in government by prosecuting wrongdoing, enforcing illegal immigration laws, and bringing honesty and integrity to the office of State Attorney General. He definitely has my vote.
Lew Evangelidis is running for Sheriff in Worcester County. Lew Evangelidis graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Economics. He later graduated from Temple University School of Law. He has worked as an Assistant State Prosecutor in Miani-Dade County in Florida. Later Lew returned to Massachusetts where he was an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County. He then returned to the private sector.
Lew Evangelidis is committed to reducing the number of repeat offenders to save taxpayers' money. He will create programs to develop crime, drug, and cyber bullying prevention programs for public schools. His goals are simple--keeping people safe, ending patronage, saving taxpayers' money and being a community partner and educator. Lew Evangelidis is not part of the Worcester County political machine and will bring a breath of fresh air to the office of Sheriff. I don't get to vote for Lew Evangelidis--I don't live in his district, but he is an example of the kind of qualified, knowledgeable candidate running for office in Massachusetts this year. If you live in Massachusetts and are tired of the 'old-boy network' running things, this is the year your vote could change things.
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