As the leaves turn orange, red, and yellow, and the temperature drops, Malden is gripped in autumn. The month of November bears down upon the city, along with everything it brings, such as football, Thanksgiving, and early Christmas advertising. However, there is one thing that can’t be removed from the month of November, and something that has gone relatively under the radar, despite how important it is to how Malden functions.
Massachusetts will host a series of general elections in 2022, contesting many offices due to the midterm elections.
This year’s elections come off the tail of the recent strike by the staff of the Malden Public Schools, which will undoubtedly be a pointed issue in the election. Local politicians will have to find a way to echo the worries of the teachers and parents of the City.
The largest and most important thing that will be decided by this election is the new Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the state. Currently, that position is filled by Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito. Their declining to run in the 2022 gubernatorial election represents a large shift in the state’s politics, as Baker and Polito are the only Republicans in the state government that are elected statewide.
Currently, the leading governor’s candidate for the Democratic Party, and leading candidate overall, is Attorney General Maura Healey. She runs alongside the mayor of Salem, Kim Driscoll, who is running for the position of Lieutenant Governor.
Healey’s competition is in the form of the former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for Plymouth, Geoff Diehl. His Lieutenant Governor candidate, another former member of the House for Essex County, Leah Cole Allen.
As of now, most polls project that the Healy-Driscoll ticket will win handily in the elections.
In terms of other statewide candidates, Andrea Joy Campbell and James R. McMahon are running for attorney general. Campbell was a candidate in last year’s election for the mayor of Boston, and before that was president of Boston’s city council from 2018 to 2020. McMahon is the current attorney of the city of Bourne, in Barnstable County, on Cape Cod.
In the Secretary of State elections, long-serving incumbent Secretary William Francis Galvin is defending his position against Republican candidate Rayla Campbell and Green-Rainbow candidate Juan Sanchez.
For the treasurer elections, the incumbent treasurer, Deborah Goldberg, is defending her position against Cristina Crawford, the libertarian candidate.
The auditor elections sport an especially diverse roster of parties, with candidates from 5 parties listed to replace incumbent auditor Suzanne Bump. The Democrats are listing Diana DiZoglio, state senator, for the position, while the Republicans are listing security professional Anthony Amore. The Libertarians are listing Daniel Riek, the Green-Rainbow party is listing Gloria A. Caballero-Roca, and a relatively unknown party, the Workers Party of Massachusetts, listing Dominic Giannone III.
Also up on the ballot this November are the representatives of Massachusetts to the House of Representatives. Massachusetts is divided into 9 districts, each of which sends 1 representative to the House in Washington. Currently, Malden is in the 5th district, and its incumbent representative is Katherine Clark. Her seat is being challenged by Caroline Colarusso, a member of the Board of Selectmen in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
In this year’s election, there will also be 4 special questions that will be voted on statewide. The first question asks to approve the Fair Share Amendment, where a 4% income tax would be placed on all individuals earning more than 1 million dollars a year. The second proposal asks to approve the expansion of regulatory powers of the state in regards to dental insurance. The third of whichasks to approve the expansion of license availability for the sale of alcohol in the state. The fourth asks to approve the issuing of driver’s licenses to individuals who cannot present proof of lawful presence in the United States.
Even though this election might seem fairly minor as a midterm race, the impacts of proposed legislation could be much more profound, stretching out years or maybe even decades. As a result of this, it is highly encouraged for those above the age of 18 to go to a voting booth on November 8, 2022, and cast a vote.
