Pro-Choice Group Applauds Re-Election of Pro-Choice Leaders, Newcomers Who Captured Key Seats Held By Opponents of the Right to Choose
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts announced that early returns indicate that pro-choice incumbents, challengers, and other newcomers made a strong showing across the Commonwealth in yesterday’s primary elections. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17, 2008 CONTACT: Andrea Miller
(617) 556-8800, ext. 12 PRO-CHOICE GROUP APPLAUDS RE-ELECTION OF PRO-CHOICE LEADERS, NEWCOMERS WHO CAPTURED KEY SEATS NOW HELD BY OPPONENTS OF THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE Boston, MA – This morning, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts announced that early returns indicate that pro-choice incumbents, challengers, and other newcomers made a strong showing across the Commonwealth in yesterday’s primary elections. Overall, at least 11 out of the 17 pro-choice state Senate and House candidates endorsed by the organization and facing opponents in the primary were victorious, while another 9 pro-choice newcomers are expected to advance to the November elections. The result will be a turnover of – at a minimum – three seats currently held by legislators who are not pro-choice. "The pro-choice majority in Massachusetts understands that we need to elect leaders here in the Commonwealth who will stand up and safeguard a woman’s right to make personal, private decisions about pregnancy and childbearing," said Andrea Miller, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. "In yesterday’s primary election, they did just that – making clear that Massachusetts will remain a beacon of fundamental American values of privacy, freedom, and responsibility." For the Senate, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts endorsed 3 successful candidates in contested elections: Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) and open seat hopefuls Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington) and Rep. Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) – with the latter beating out anti-choice former Rep. Brian Knuttilla to pick up the seat being vacated by anti-choice Sen. Robert Antonioni. On the House side, there are already 8 victories among the organization’s endorsed candidates in contested races: Reps. Willie May Allen (D-Boston), Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley), Pam Richardson (D-Framingham), Carl Sciortino (D-Medford), Steven Stat-Smith (D-Everett), and Ben Swan (D-Springfield) beat back challengers. Newcomer Jim Dwyer (D-Woburn) will be unopposed in November to take over a seat not previously held by a pro-choice leader, and primary victor Jason Lewis (D-Winchester) will advance to the general election. There is a slim pro-choice majority on Beacon Hill, with only 26 out of 40 Senators and 89 out of 160 Representatives committed to protecting privacy and promoting reproductive health. Three pro-choice state Senators and seven pro-choice state Representatives are not seeking re-election, making this primary cycle especially critical to maintaining – if not growing – the pro-choice margin at the State House. NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts is the driving force behind the election of many pro-choice state legislative candidates. The organization provides direct assistance to candidates, trains candidates, campaign staff, and volunteers, mobilizes its pro-choice grassroots base in targeted districts, and conducts voter identification and get-out-the-vote activities in key races. The Pro-Choice Voters’ Guide is distributed to the 20,000-plus supporters of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts across the Commonwealth. # # #
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