There will likely be socialists on the statewide ballot next year in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — and not just in the Democratic Party.
While a few Democrats in the state legislature identify as democratic socialists — including state representatives Michael Connolly (D-Cambridge), Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville), and Nika Elugardo (D-Jamaica Plain), a party to the left of the Democratic Party plans to run a slate of its own socialists.
The Workers Party of Massachusetts plans to run at least five candidates in the November 2022 general election for the Massachusetts Legislature election.
They are:
Jake Zawalich of Oxford, running for state Senate in the Worcester and Norfolk District (currently represented by state Senator Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton))
Laura Saylor of Mansfield, running for state Senate in the Bristol and Norfolk District (currently represented by state Senator Paul Feeney (D-Foxborough))
James Weckbacher of Plymouth, running for state representative in the First Plymouth District (currently filled by state Representative Matt Muratore (R-Plymouth))
Brandon Griffin of Whitman, running for state representative in the Seventh Plymouth District (currently filled by state Representative Alyson Sullivan (R-Abington)
Nick Giannone of Weymouth, running for state representative in the Fourth Norfolk District (currently filled by state representative James Murphy (D-Weymouth))
“The Workers Party of Massachusetts stands for political independence of the working class and against support for the parties of capitalism,” the party wrote in a press release issued last week. “The capitalist ruling class already has two political parties of their own. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are organizations built to uphold the unjust capitalist system. Members of the Workers Party of Massachusetts believe that until the working class develops a party of our own we will continue to be used and betrayed by parties that rule against our interests.”
While the party is socialist, it supports gun rights.
Of the five candidates, Griffin is the only one who currently holds elected office. He is a member of the Whitman board of health and planning board.
Giannone is the founder of the Workers Party of Massachusetts and has experience running for office. Most recently, he ran for state representative with the Workers Party affiliation and got 5 percent of the vote. His run came before the Workers Party was granted an official political designation by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the party achieved official political designation earlier this year by presenting the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office with signatures from 50 registered voters pledging to join the party. The Workers Party did this on March 28, 2021.
A political designation is not the same thing as an officially recognized party. To achieve official party status, a party must have a candidate run for statewide office and get at least 3 percent of the vote. That gives the party the right to have an official statewide primary in the next election cycle. Meanwhile, political designations cannot have primaries. For the purpose of primaries, voters who belong to a certain political designation are treated as unenrolled voters who can take whichever ballot they want.
Of the 200 seats in the Massachusetts Legislature, there is one current member who is neither a Republican nor a Democrat: state representative Susannah Whipps (U-Athol). First elected as a Republican in 2014, she unenrolled from the party in August 2017; she now caucuses with the Democratic Party.
Workers Party of Massachusetts candidates will need 150 signatures to make the November 2022 ballot. Since the Workers Party is not currently an official political party, it will not have a primary election, as the Republicans and Democrats will have. (The primary election is currently scheduled for September 2022.)
New to NewBostonPost? Conservative media is hard to find in Massachusetts. But you’ve found it. Now dip your toe in the water for two bucks — $2 for two months. And join the real revolution.
