Five Dems Line Up to Succeed Barrios

The Cambridge Chronicle has the list of candidates who submitted enough signatures to get on the ballot in the race to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex Senate District. The final list looks to be Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, Tim Flaherty, son of former House Speaker Charlie Flaherty, Chelsea City Councilor Paul Nowicki, Cambridge resident Jeff Ross, and Laurie Leyshon, also of Cambridge. Bob over at BMG had more information on all of them and a few that didn't make the cut. Bob also subtly urged me to attend a forum this Monday in Charlestown. I'll make every effort to get out there and report back.

The Chronicle does not mention, however, that all of these candidates are Democrats. That means for the third time in four legislative special elections, there will be no Republican on the general election ballot. If you count the special election in East Boston to replace now-Senator Anthony Petruccelli where a GOP candidate has yet to emerge, that makes four out of five special elections that the state Republicans have conceded. You could argue that most of these have been in areas unlikely to be friendly to a Republican candidate, but it's not like there's that much else going on for them to focus on. In any event, this means the election will be decided in the Sept. 11th primary. That means August 22nd will be the last day to register if you want to participate and haven't already.