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District includes: Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth |
Robert Hedlund
incumbent, Republican, Weymouth |
Stephen A. Lynch
Democrat, Marshfield |
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No previous donations reported |
AGE: 45
ADDRESS: 54 Longwood Road, Weymouth
OCCUPATION: State senator.
EDUCATION: Attended Quincy Junior College, Plymouth Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIENCE: State senator, 1991-92, 1994-present.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES: Weymouth Elks; Sons of Italy.
FAMILY: Single |
AGE: 50
ADDRESS: 69 Central Ave., Marshfield
OCCUPATION: Owner, Marine Engine and Gear
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in political science and social psychology, University of Massachusetts at Boston, 1995; licensed Merchant Marine officer.
GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIENCE: Former member of Marshfield Waterways Bylaw Committee.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES: Board of directors, Brant Rock Village Association; board of directors, Marshfield Commercial Fishermen's Association; Marshfield Elks; past member of Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association and South Shore Lobstermen's Association.
FAMILY: Partner, Michelle Faubert; four children, Adam, 12, John, 9, Ashley, 7, Heather, 1. |
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Hedlund taking new course
By JOHN ZAREMBA
The Patriot Ledger / Nov. 8, 2006
HULL - State Sen. Robert Hedlund had just given his victory speech at The Red Parrot in Hull when he turned his thoughts to the work he will do on Beacon Hill over the next four years.
One of them was just about staring him in the face.
“It’s right outside that window,” he said, pointing to the beach below.
Renourishing Nantasket Beach, a project that could cost as much as $30 million, will be one of many tasks Hedlund, a Republican, has promised to undertake in his fourth consecutive term in the Senate.
Voters in Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth provided the Massachusetts GOP possibly its only shred of good news last night, sending the veteran Weymouth legislator back for another four years.
Hedlund glided to victory over Democratic challenger Stephen A. Lynch of Marshfield, winning by a 65-35 margin.
But taking into account governor-elect Deval Patrick’s win, Beacon Hill will be markedly different for Hedlund, who has worked only under Republican administrations during his time in office.
“It’s uncharted territory for me,” Hedlund said. “Patrick has a great opportunity to really distinguish himself, if he doesn’t get caught up in some of the games on Beacon Hill.”
Lynch, a marine-parts salesman from Marshfield’s Brant Rock neighborhood, has previously run unsuccessfully for selectman three times.
He scored his first election victory in September with a surprise primary win over Matthias Mulvey of Weymouth.
Many, including Hedlund, speculated that voters had confused Lynch with U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston, who won his re-election bid last night.
“He had a name that helped him, and his timing was good,” Hedlund said.
Lynch, who based much of his campaign on the public’s discontent with Republican rule nationwide, told radio station WATD that he has not ruled out running again.
First, however, he said he will tend to some personal business he has neglected during the campaign.
“I have to go home and finish building my new house,” he said.
John Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@ledger.com.
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Hedlund hasn’t
elected to tap
campaign fund
The Patriot Ledger / Nov. 2, 2006
Robert L. Hedlund of Weymouth, state senator for the Plymouth-Norfolk District, has amassed a $158,714 war chest for his campaign to win an eighth term, but his campaign spending would seem to indicate that he does not consider his Democratic opponent a significant threat.
Hedlund’s latest campaign finance report shows that the incumbent has yet to do any spending.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Stephen A. Lynch of Marshfield has reported spending $1,284 in the last two months. He raised $2,595 from Sept. 2 to Oct. 20, including $1,095 he gave his own campaign. As of Oct. 20, he had $1,284 available.
Candidates for statewide office and the Legislature were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports this week, for the Sept. 2-to-Oct. 20 period.
The Plymouth-Norfolk Senate District consists of Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth.
The following people and organizations donated $100 or more to the candidates’ campaigns between Sept. 2 and Oct. 20:
HEDLUND
$500 - Raymond Kasperowicz, Cohasset; Thomas Carroll, Quincy; Darrell Crate, Beverly; John Hopey, Weymouth; Carl Rauschenbach, Long Beach Township, N.J.; Ann Romney, Belmont; Willard Romney, Belmont; Robert Sullivan, Hingham; I.B.E.W. Local 103, Boston; NFEB-MA, Washington, D.C.
$300 - Donald Mullaney, Braintree; Donald Mullaney, Weymouth.
$250 - J. Gerson Bloch, Hull; Alan Cousin, Cambridge; Alan Cousin, Malden; David Gianferante, Hingham; Richard Hoffman, Scituate; William Hoffman, Scituate; John Spurr, Scituate; Marianne Yuskauskas, Weymouth; Cohasset Republican Town Committee, Cohasset.
$200 - Tom Bradley, Weymouth; Gordon Carr, Hingham; Marcia Curtis, Hull; Marcia Feeley-Dyment, Hingham; Thomas Fogarty, Cohasset; Mildred Hamaty, Hingham; Gregory Hargadon, Weymouth; Jeff Hedvig, Weymouth; L. McGonnigal, Inverness, Fla.; Susan Oliverio, Milton; Walter Packard, Duxbury; Robert Pineau, Duxbury; Dennis Smith, Milton; Charles Tretter, Dedham.
$150 - Karen Young, Hull.
$125 - Lisa Battista, Hingham; Robert Felton, Weymouth; Noreen Flanagan, Weymouth; Paul Losordo, Hingham; Wilfred Mathewson, Weymouth; Declan Mehigan, Hingham; Scott Peterson, Hingham; Robert Semonian, Watertown.
$100 - Daniel Affsa, Weymouth; Raymond Bean, Weymouth; Kathleen Benson, Weymouth; Peter Brown, Cohasset; Kathleen Callahan, Weymouth; Richard Carroll, Weymouth; Paul Casale, Duxbury; Edward Cassidy, Quincy; Joseph Clancy, Milton; Sandra Dapprich, Duxbury; Charles Dirk, Norwell; Ralph Dormitzer, Cohasset; George Dowd; Weymouth; George Ford, Hingham; Charles Garabedian, Scituate; Patricia Gardner, Braintree; Janet Gordon, Weymouth; De Guan Zheng, Boston; Peter Guild, Hingham; Cynthia Haigh, Milton; Peter Maich, Cohasset; William Malloy, Norwell; Margaret McArthur, Hull; MIchael McConnell, Hingham; Michael Muse, Wellesley; John Perrone, Canton; Glenn Pratt, Cohasset; Jana Reed, Boston; Richard Roberto, Duxbury; Joseph Rosano, Cohasset; Brian Saluti, Weymouth; Richard Schmidt, Weymouth; Albert Schofield, Hingham; Gerald Sullivan, (town not available); Francis Tarantino, Marshfield; Lois Taylor, Weymouth; Phyllis Thompson, Weymouth; George Wilkinson, Hingham; Lawrence Young, Hull.
LYNCH
$1,095 - Stephen Lynch, Marshfield.
$500 - Massachusetts Laborers District Council, Hopkinton; Plymouth County Democratic League, Wareham; Robert Tobin, Marshfield.
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Hedlund, Lynch rail against housing law
BY JOHN ZAREMBA
The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 24, 2006
WEYMOUTH - The state’s affordable-housing law is clearly ineffective and must be changed, candidates for the Plymouth and Norfolk District state Senate seat said.
Squaring off at a debate at Weymouth Town Hall last night, incumbent Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, and challenger Stephen A. Lynch, a Democrat from Marshfield, said the state’s affordable-housing law has done little to enable lower-to-middle-class people to buy homes in Massachusetts.
The law, which allows developers to sidestep local zoning laws if a certain percentage of the homes they build are sold or rented at below-market rates, has “done nothing to create affordable housing,” Hedlund said. “This law has been in place since 1969, and it doesn’t work.”
Lynch, whose hometown of Marshfield has grudgingly ceded to a 90-unit condominium project that won approval through use of the law, said the law is only a cash cow for developers.
“The developers are taking advantage of (the law),” he said. “To make profit, at the expense of local contractors.”
Debating at a forum held by the League of Women Voters, Hedlund and Lynch were answering a question as to how they would stem the exodus of people from Massachusetts, as residents flee the state for more affordable homes and livelier job markets.
The candidates in general gave similar answers to written questions that were presented by former Weymouth Town Moderator John Reilly.
Reilly, asking Hedlund whether he advocates legalized casinos in the state, hadn’t even finished the question by the time Hedlund responded with an emphatic “opposed.”
“I know it’s tempting to look at the revenues,” he said, “but I’m not convinced about the social ills that would come out of it, or the revenue projections,” he said.
Lynch said he too opposes casinos, but said he would consider them if the financial incentives were strong enough.
The candidates disagreed strongly on how the state should distribute lottery proceeds.
Lynch said towns should be paid according to how many lottery tickets are sold there. Hedlund said that idea is faulty, and that the method used to dole out lottery money is “the most equitable formula we have on Beacon Hill.” Suburban towns such as those in the district, he said, “would be penalized incredibly” in comparison to more-urban areas of the state.
Hedlund and Lynch are running for the seat that represents Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth.
Last night’s debate was especially important for Lynch, who is facing a 14-year incumbent who comes from the district’s largest town. Lynch had a decisive victory in the primary election, beating Matthias Mulvey in every town except Weymouth, where Mulvey lives.
One question was particularly salient to last night’s Weymouth crowd - what to do about the larger-than-expected traffic influx on Route 18 that will accompany the building of more than 2,000 homes on the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station. The developer had predicted about 20,000 additional car trips a day, but more recent estimates have shown that number to be three times that amount.
Hedlund, who has a place on the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, said the developer’s plan is logistically poor and leaves little room for reasonable traffic solutions.
“I don’t know how this is smart growth,” he said. “It’s not smart growth when you plop a new city into a small geographical area.”
Lynch said the air base development is emblematic of a larger problem across the South Shore.
“Overdevelopment of cities and towns is out of control,” he said. “It has to be reasonable. I don’t know what the answer is.”
The two disagree on abortion rights. Hedlund, though he does not expect any attempt to change the law, said he is “comfortable” being considered pro-life. Lynch said “you would have to kill me” before he would allow legislators to interfere with what he believes is a private choice.
Both agreed that the state’s heavily regulated auto insurance system needs to change in the interest of enticing more companies to do business in Massachusetts. State-set rates have empowered the insurance carriers in the state too much, they said.
“We have a very strong lobby that wants to enforce the status quo,” Hedlund said. “The governor defines it correctly when he says it is a Stalinist system.”
Lynch said the relatively small number of auto insurance carriers willing to do business in Massachusetts has made the companies complacent.
“There’s no way any common citizen has a chance against any insurance company,” he said.
John Zaremba can be reached at jzaremba@ledger.com
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Hedlund, Lynch spar
on Cape Wind, illegal immigrants
By LANE LAMBERT
The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 20, 2006
MARSHFIELD - Away from the campaign trail, Republican state Sen. Robert Hedlund of Weymouth and his Democratic challenger Stephen A. Lynch of Marshfield sound like the best of friends, with Lynch joking that he’d probably vote for Hedlund if he weren’t running against him for the Plymouth-Norfolk seat.
That didn’t stop them from sharing spirited exchanges over illegal immigration, the Cape Wind alternative-energy project and other issues during a local-access cable TV debate last night.
Hedlund, a seven-term incumbent, opposes allowing children of illegal immigrants to attend Massachusetts colleges at in-state tuition rates, while Lynch favors the policy.
When Lynch spoke of the hypothetical case of “Maria, who’s been here since she’s 2, and graduates from Marshfield High and doesn’t know she’s illegal,” Hedlund shot back, “We’re a nation of laws, not emotions.”
Lynch, a marine-supply salesman, said he favors wind projects in principle, though not the Cape Wind venture, which he said would “betray our fishermen.”
Hedlund supports the Cape Wind project. “It’s time we step up and make a sacrifice for the greater good,” the senator said.
Lynch took a couple of shots at Hedlund’s voting record, noting the low ratings he’s gotten from the AFL-CIO and environmental groups, but Hedlund volleyed back with a list of his trade-union endorsements and a commendation from the South Shore Recycling Consortium.
“I’m not exactly an enemy of the working man,” Hedlund said.
They also waded into the controversy over Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick’s past support of convicted rapist Benjamin Leguer and the ads Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey has aired to attack those actions.
“Those commercials are a disgrace,” Lynch said, referring to a new Healey ad that features a lone woman walking through an empty parking garage. “They’re an outrage to our justice system. It’s the politics of fear.”
“All Deval did was get in with the elitists who took this guy on as a cause celebre,” Hedlund responded. “Don’t paint him as some guardian of virtue.”
Along the way, he and Lynch found considerable common ground on a range of other issues that would more directly affect the district, which includes Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth.
Both say the state’s Chapter 40B affordable-housing law should be scrapped and rewritten. Both say they’ll vote no on Question 1, the ballot initiative that would expand wine sales in supermarkets and food stores, and neither thinks illegal immigrants should get driver’s licenses.
As Hedlund recounted some of his past breaks with Republican administrations over the Big Dig and other issues - and his opposition to the Iraq war - Lynch said, “Gee, Bob, maybe you’re a Democrat.”
“I don’t think so, “ Hedlund replied.
Lane Lambert may be reached at llambert@ledger.com.
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Lynch believes he can unseat Hedlund
Incumbent may try ‘fun’ way to prevent voter confusion
By JOHN ZAREMBA
The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 13, 2006
Few gave political newcomer Stephen A. Lynch of Marshfield a shot of winning the Democratic nomination to become the Plymouth-Norfolk District’s representative in the state Senate.
After all, the marine-parts salesman had run for selectman three times and lost. His campaign advertising had essentially been limited to a couple of signs he painted and mounted on his truck.
But Lynch’s decisive victory in the Democratic primary last month has emboldened him to the point where he believes he can upset state Sen. Robert D. Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican in his seventh term.
“I think I’m probably the front-runner,” Lynch said this week. “People have had enough of the Republican Party, and when people think about me, they think about someone who is willing to fight for change.”
Among the major issues on which the two disagree is in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. Lynch favors it; Hedlund does not, and he is pushing legislation that would allow screening of affordable-housing applicants to ensure that they are in Massachusetts legally.
The two also are at odds over the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm. Lynch said the turbines would interfere with commercial fishermen and damage squid populations. Hedlund said the location is as good as any, and he touts his support for Hull’s two wind turbines.
Lynch said he would author a bill to decriminalize marijuana and all other drugs, saying it is more important to rehabilitate drug users than to simply imprison them.
Hedlund supports decriminalizing the medicinal use of marijuana and thinks current anti-drug strategies are inefficient.
Voters’ appetite for change - in evidence this spring when incumbents were ousted in local elections across the South Shore - is one of two major obstacles Hedlund is facing in his bid for re-election.
The other is Lynch’s name.
After the primary, people wondered how a little-known guy from Brant Rock so handily defeated Matthias Mulvey of Weymouth, who hails from the biggest town in the district and had the support of several local Democratic organizations.
They hypothesized that voters got Stephen A. Lynch of Marshfield confused with Stephen F. Lynch, the congressman from South Boston.
Hedlund says his campaign staff may come up with a way - a whimsical way - to distinguish between the two.
“There’s one thing we’re thinking of doing just to have a little fun with it, but we don’t know definitively if it’s something we’re going to do,” he said.
The Plymouth-Norfolk District consists of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate and Weymouth.
John Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@ledger.com.
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Hedlund, Lynch try to draw distinctions
Senate candidates offer their opinions in broadcast debate
By KRISTEN WALSH
The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 3, 2006
MARSHFIELD - At first glance, state Sen. Robert Hedlund and Stephen A. Lynch, his challenger in the November election, seem to agree more than disagree.
Hedlund, a Republican from Weymouth, and Lynch, a Democrat from Marshfield, are against the death penalty, neither wants casino gambling to come to Massachusetts, and both of them are against a liquefied natural gas storage port on Outer Brewster Island off the coast of Hull.
Hedlund, who is running for his eighth term in the state Senate from the Plymouth-Norfolk District, has small-business background similar to his opponent’s. Lynch has run unsuccessfully for the Marshfield Board of Selectmen three times.
The district consists of Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Cohasset and Weymouth,
In a debate last night on WATD radio in Marshfield, the candidates tried to differentiate themselves.
Lynch described himself as a plainspoken man of the people who believes the U.S. Constitution should be applied equally to everyone. He said he wants the opportunity of higher education and health care to be available to everyone.
Lynch criticized the Republicans on Beacon and Capitol hills for unsuccessful attempts to combat illegal drugs and for foreign policy that makes the world dangerous for children.
Hedlund agreed with Lynch that the status quo at the State House needs to change, but he insisted that he is not one of the legislators who has an inside-the-building mentality or who has forgotten where he came from.
Hedlund chose his work on Melanie’s Law, which toughened the state’s penalties for drunken driving, as his biggest accomplishment in his most recent term.
“We shamed Democrats who tried to conspired to kill that bill,” Hedlund said. “I led that fight, and the law has worked in the short time it’s been in place.”
Lynch said preventing drinking and driving is more important than punishing drivers after the fact.
“We should be helping,” he said. “We should be enforcing laws involving bartenders and localities who serve alcohol.”
Both men agreed that Chapter 40B affordable-housing policies need to be changed. Hedlund sees the program as a profit tool for local developers, and he blamed Democratic leaders for stalling reform attempts.
Both candidates believe that MCAS testing system is flawed and does not accurately gauge students’ performance, but they disagree on legislation that would allow illegal aliens and their children to receive in-state tuition to state colleges or be given affordable housing.
“I will not vote against children,” Lynch said. “Illegal or legal, all children in Massachusetts must attend school. These are people who work in the state, pay rent, and the property taxes from their rent goes towards schools. They wouldn’t be able to afford out-of-state tuition, but if they attend college they will build a better society in the future.”
Lynch said that if he is elected, he will author a bill to decriminalize possession of marijuana and other drugs, because law enforcement should be focusing on other things while substance abusers should be rehabilitated.
Hedlund said he supported legislation to decriminalize medicinal use of marijuana and thinks current strategies for the war on drugs need to be changed so more resources are not wasted in the future.
Kristen Walsh may be reached at kwalsh@ledger.com.
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