PITTSFIELD — A Democratic candidate for state Senate seat in the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden district has called on his two fellow hopefuls in the September primary to agree to a voluntary limit in their campaign spending.
The 52-community district includes Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington.
In an opinion-page column published in The Berkshire Eagle, Rinaldo Del Gallo of Lenox called on Adam Hinds of Pittsfield and Andrea Harrington of Richmond to agree to voluntary spending limits of around $20,000 in the current primary, and also to agree to limit political contributions and “independent” expenditures.
Del Gallo said having to raise “daunting” amounts to run for office discourages good candidates from entering politics, leads to owing favors and creates situations where those “politics becomes less about people and more about campaign donors, especially large campaign donors.”
“It represents too much of a theft of time. Politics should be about time with people, not raising money,” wrote Del Gallo, who like his two Democratic rivals has not yet filed any campaign finance reports with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The Democrats could also agree to raise funds for the November general election if Republican candidate, Christine Canning, does not agree to the proposed limit. Del Gallo also proposed weekly debates or forums until the election.
Harrington could not be reached for comment, but Hinds campaign spokeswoman Jodi Joseph said, “Our candidate remains focused on the best campaign he can run.”