Vineyard voters head to the polls on Tuesday to weigh in on races at the federal, state and local level, some of which are hotly contested.
In the most visible contest of the season, Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Charlie Baker vie for the governor’s seat.
With the race too close to call, strong voter turnout is expected across the state. Perhaps as an indicator, Islanders have requested absentee ballots in unusually high numbers, town clerks said this week.
“If I can judge by the number of absentee ballots requested, I think it’s going to be a good turnout,” said Oak Bluffs town clerk Laura B. Johnston this week. She said she’d sent out about 237 absentee ballots, a number that rivals presidential elections.
The ballot is long for voters in all towns, and includes many statewide contests and ballot questions.
Both gubernatorial candidates made trips to the Island early in the campaign.
Ms. Coakley, who has personal ties to the Vineyard, highlighted her accomplishments as Attorney General, such as challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and fighting big banks and foreclosures, during a visit in November 2013.
During his visit to the Vineyard in July, Mr. Baker, a former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and state Secretary of Finance and Administration, said he would like to foster political and economic competition if elected governor. He also zeroed in on the issue of opiate addiction, which has had devastating effects statewide and on the Vineyard.
Opiate abuse also has emerged as a central issue in the Cape and Islands district attorney’s race.
Rick Barry, a Barnstable defense attorney and former assistant district attorney, said this week that the crisis of opiate addiction and overdose motivated him to run against incumbent Michael O’Keefe.
“I am concerned about our kids,” Mr. Barry said, speaking to the Gazette by telephone this week. “That is my primary reason for running.”
In discussion with law enforcement across the region, he discovered that 90 per cent of crime involved some form of substance abuse. Still, many drug cases are dismissed in court for a lack of evidence. Mr. Barry said the current DA is not doing enough to address the issue of substance abuse.
But Mr. O’Keefe, who has held the position since 2003, told the Gazette that his opponent had overlooked his many achievements, including the creation of a drug court, a system where nonviolent drug offenders are diverted from incarceration and instead receive treatment.
Recently, he has facilitated the distribution of Narcan, an anti-overdose drug, to police officers in his district. “It has the police stepping out of their traditional role, but if we can save a life we should definitely do that,” Mr. O’Keefe said.
Drug abuse has also taken center stage in the congressional race for the 9th district.
Republican John Chapman, an attorney, is challenging William Keating, a congressman who was first elected in 2010.
Mr. Chapman, who said he had become motivated to run because of high health care costs, said he’d like to help the state become part of a majority in Washington.
In his campaign, he’s so far heard a lot of concern about drug addiction in the district, which he says has a higher number of drug overdoses than any other area of the state.
Overall, he said he’d like to be more visible than his opponent. “We need someone to listen to the district and I don’t feel that has been going on with my opponent,” Mr. Chapman said.
Incumbent William Keating, who owned property in Edgartown for 10 years, seeks a third term.
He said he has stayed on the Island during the off-season, when he got to know the “real Vineyard,” he said. “I understand the challenges that people had economically, so many people had seasonal jobs, how important it was to make a living in the summer,” he said.
He said the experience of riding the ferry to work informed his understanding of the challenges Vineyard veterans faced getting VA health care. He worked to create an exchange that allowed Island veterans to have their health care needs met on the Vineyard. “I worked very hard to have a model agreement that will be replicated around the country,” Mr. Keating said.
On the issue of FEMA funding, which Oak Bluffs has long fought to obtain for several damaged areas of town, Mr. Keating said he had personally engaged in efforts on the town’s behalf.
Also at the federal level, junior Sen. Edward J. Markey faces Republican Brian J. Herr, a former Hopkinton selectman, in a race for U.S. Senate.
Mr. Markey, a Democrat, served the remainder of the term vacated by John F. Kerry, who became Secretary of State. Prior to that, he served from 1976 to 2013 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
During a special election in 2013, 69 per cent of Island voters supported Mr. Markey over his opponent, Republican Gabriel Gomez.
Mr. Herr has mounted a valiant campaign against the career politician, but lags in most polls by a 15 to 25-point margin. Reached Thursday, he said most state voters are frustrated by the hyper-partisan nature of politics in Washington.
“We have to break that partisanship,” he said. “We have got to focus on solutions to our challenges.” A small business owner, Mr. Herr said he would fight to relieve small businesses, including fishermen, from tight federal regulation.
He said he had worn through four pairs of shoes since his campaign began in January, though he didn’t make it to the Vineyard.
Like many candidates on the ballot, he praised the Vineyard.
“I love the Vineyard,” he said. “I have been there more times than I can recall.”
Mr. Markey could not be reached for comment.
Speaking to the Gazette on Thursday, state Sen. Daniel Wolf also spoke highly of the Island. “It is really an honor and a blessing to represent the folks on Martha’s Vineyard,” he said.
The founder of Cape Air seeks a third, two-year term representing the Cape and Islands. He spoke of his work to “get Martha’s Vineyard to be a real leader on alternative energy,” and said work to bring offshore energy projects and to repair the coastal infrastructure could bring jobs to the region. He said he met with Vineyard Democrats and attended the Living Local Festival in early October.
His opponent is Ronald Beaty, a Tea Party Republican who seeks to cut taxes in the region.
“I looked at Mr. Wolf’s voting record, and I am apparently 180 degrees opposite of him on almost all issues with minor exceptions,” Mr. Beaty said. “For example, on the issue of taxes, new taxes and tax increases, he’s apparently not seen a tax increase that he didn’t like.”
He also wants to reduce the regulatory power of the Cape Cod Commission, which he says has stifled economic development on the Cape. But he reserved praise for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which unlike its Cape equivalent, is a partially elected body. He added that on the Vineyard, land is a finite resource.“It’s a different set up and it’s more positive what you have out there,” he said.
Maura Healey, a Democrat who is running for Attorney General, made it to the Island in the summer to stump alongside Mr. Wolf.
Her opponent is John B. Miller, a Republican.
William F. Galvin is the incumbent and a Democrat running for Secretary of State. David D’Arcangelo, a Republican, and Daniel L. Factor, who is with the Green-Rainbow party, are challenging him.
Republican Michael James Heffernan, Democrat Deborah B. Goldberg, and Green-Rainbow candidate Ian T. Jackson are competing for state treasurer.
Democrat Suzanne M. Bump, the incumbent state auditor, is challenged by Patricia Saint Aubin, a Republican, and MK Merelice, with the Green-Rainbow Party.
Joseph C. Ferreira, a Democrat from Somerset, is running without contest for first district governor’s council.
Cape and Islands state Rep. Timothy R. Madden, a Democrat from Nantucket, is also uncontested as he seeks a fourth term.
Incumbent Elizabeth J. Herrmann, a Republican from Edgartown, is running for register of probate. Noreen Mavro Flanders seeks re-election as county treasurer.
At the local level, the hottest contest is up-Island, where six candidates are running for five seats on the regional school committee.
And in an Islandwide contest, six candidates will appear on the ballot for the Dukes County Commission.
In another regional election, nine candidates are running for nine elected spots on the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
On the ballot in West Tisbury, Daniel A. Waters is the lone candidate for town moderator. Mr. Waters is seeking to fill the vacancy caused by the unexpected death of longtime moderator F. Patrick Gregory, who was the victim of a homicide while on vacation in California this past spring.
Aside from the many leadership decisions they will be asked to make, Island voters will also be asked to help decide several ballot questions, including one local question.
In Question 1 voters will be asked to eliminate a requirement that the state gas tax be adjusted each year according to inflation.
Question 2 seeks to expand the bottle bill by requiring refunds for most nonalcoholic and noncarbonated drinks. Question 3 seeks to overturn the state casino law approved two years ago. In Question 4, voters will be asked to allow employees to earn and use sick time. Question 5 is regional and asks to expand the emergency planning zone for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant to include all of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties.
Chilmark voters will be asked to support an override question for improvements to certain public ways.
There are 14,169 Islanders qualified to vote in the election.
Islanders seeking rides to the polls can contact their local town clerk’s office. Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in every Island town.
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