Replacing Stan Rosenberg in the Massachusetts Senate is not going to be easy. Stan has been a champion for our district, as well as for the commonwealth, for 27 years.
It is also a race in which I was not planning to be involved — that is until Jo Comerford announced she was running as a write-in candidate. Jo’s announcement changed everything. I have not been so excited about a candidate since I first met Maura Healey four years ago and Elizabeth Warren before that.
Simply put, Comerford is extraordinary. No other candidate has a background that begins to compare to her 20 years of leadership. Her commitment to helping those without a voice to be heard is unparalleled.
That is why John Olver, our exceptional former congressman, said, “I see only one candidate (Comerford) who is up to the job, only one candidate who will be able to do the job on day one.” That is why David Sullivan, Northwestern district attorney, and Clare Higgins, former mayor of Northampton, have endorsed Comerford.
She came to the Valley in the 1990s and quickly became part of the fabric of its progressive community. She worked for seven years with Frances Crowe as director of American Friends Service Committee, and then as director of programs for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts focusing on food security for elders and working families.
This was followed by seven years as executive director of the National Priorities Project, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize under Jo’s leadership. For the past four years, Comerford has been campaign director for MoveOn.org.
She resides in Northampton with her wife Ann Hennessey, a member of the Northampton School Committee and public school teacher. Their two children attend the Northampton public schools, where Comerford has served on the PTO leadership board.
I hope you will join in what will be an exciting campaign, bringing together friends and neighbors in the district’s 24 towns and cities – a campaign that will make Jo Comerford the first woman senator ever in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District.
Thomas Lesser
Northampton