As of 2:30 p.m., only 44 people turned out to cast their vote in the Special Primary Election to replace Steven Tolman, who left the Senate to become the president of the AFL-CIO of Massachusetts union. That's out of approximately 2,809 registered voters in Ward 5, Precinct 9, the section of Back Bay included in the Second Suffolk and Middlesex District - which includes all of Watertown and Belmont, as well as parts of Cambridge and Boston — including Brighton, Allston, the Fenway and the Back Bay. The candidates, all Democrats, are Watertown State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, former state …

  Tuesday, voters in Watertown, Belmont and parts of Cambridge and Boston - including Back Bay - will select the Democratic candidate for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat. There are no candidates from the Republican or any other parties. Patch sent all the candidates the same set of questions to provide voters with some more insight into who they are, and why they are running. Read the candidates responses: Belmont State Rep. Will Brownsberger Former state firefighters union president Bob McCarthy of Watertown Brighton Attorney Tim Schofield Watertown State Rep. Jonathan …

Four Democrats seek to fill the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat vacated by Steven Tolman. The special preliminary election will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patch asked all four candidates a set of questions, the same set, to find out more about them. 1 - What areas of the state budget could be altered to make it more efficient, and how? Massachusetts currently collects $20 billion in taxes and allows $24 billion in tax breaks. I sponsored an amendment to last year’s budget that mandates a top to bottom review of every tax break. We need to…

Four Democrats seek to fill the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat vacated by Steven Tolman. The special preliminary election will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patch asked all four candidates a set of questions, the same set, to find out more about them. 1 - What areas of the state budget could be altered to make it more efficient, and how? The Commonwealth regularly faces a budget deficit and has taken numerous steps to reduce waste and reform government. It is now clear, however, that we cannot cut our way out of this economic crisis and we …

Four Democrats seek to fill the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat vacated by Steven Tolman. The special preliminary election will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patch asked all four candidates a set of questions, the same set, to find out more about them. 1 - What areas of the state budget could be altered to make it more efficient, and how? Waste and inefficiency is marbled into state agencies. One has to attack the problems on a job-by-job basis, so the challenge really belongs to managers in the executive and judicial branch, not legislators…

Four Democrats seek to fill the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat vacated by Steven Tolman. The special preliminary election will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patch asked all four candidates a set of questions, the same set, to find out more about them. 1 - What areas of the state budget could be altered to make it more efficient, and how? Local aid should be increased — it is an investment in our future while preventing future layoffs and service reductions. After job creation, I think our first order of business is to focus our attention …

Belmont State Rep. Will Brownsberger received endorsements from the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald in the race for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex State Senate seat, while Watertown State Rep. Jonathan Hecht received the blessing of the Cambridge Chronicle. The election to replace Steven Tolman in the senate will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13, and the district includes Watertown, Belmont, parts of Cambridge and Boston (inlcuding Brighton, Allston, the Fenway and the Back Bay). The Globe said Brownsberger "has a progressive record on social and environmental matters - but also a history of …

It appears that Robert McCarthy won't get all the high-profile endorsements in the four-way race to be state senator from the Second Suffolk and Middlesex. Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced today, Dec. 6, that he is backing Brighton Attorney Tim Schofield in next week’s special election to replace former State Senator Steve Tolman on Beacon Hill. "I’m supporting Tim Schofield for State Senate because he will put peopleahead of politics," Menino said in a press release from the Schofield campaign. The endorsement comes days after McCarthy, the former head of the state's professional …

Saying that "(t)here is no better person to send to the Massachusetts Senate," former US Rep. Joseph Kennedy has thrown his support to former state firefighters union president Robert McCarthy in the upcoming Tuesday, Dec. 13 Democrat primary to fill the seat held by long-time State Sen. Steve Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. "This is a man who has the heart and courage of a lion. He has fought his entire life to make things better for working men and women, for those who play by the rules," said Kennedy in a press release from the McCarthy campaign.  "Bob and I stood side by …

The four Democrats running for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex State Senate seat sounded off on issues such as jobs, the economy, taxes and in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at Tuesday’s candidate forum. The four senate hopefuls — State Rep. Will Brownsberger of Belmont, State Rep. Jonathan Hecht of Watertown, former state firefighters union president Bob McCarthy and Brighton attorney Tim Schofield — shared their views with a packed house at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown. Jobs, Taxes and the Economy While he opposes fees to parents for their kids to play sports or …

In a race with no incumbent, the four candidates running for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex State Senate seat split into two, with current state representatives Will Brownsberger of Belmont and Jonathan Hecht of Watertown touting their experience on Beacon Hill, and former state firefighters union president Bob McCarthy and Brighton attorney Tim Schofield talking about ways they would shake up things in the Senate. The candidates got their first chance to face each other in public Tuesday night at a candidate forum run and hosted by the Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown. McCarthy …