Warren, Gillibrand make it clear: Coakley’s the one

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand listen as Marty Walz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Massachusetts and a former state representative, talks about growing up with parents who did not have paid sick time on Sunday afternoon in the SEIU offices in Dorchester.    Photo by Lauren DezenskiSen. Elizabeth Warren, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand listen as Marty Walz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Massachusetts and a former state representative, talks about growing up with parents who did not have paid sick time on Sunday afternoon in the SEIU offices in Dorchester. Photo by Lauren Dezenski

In the second floor of the SEIU offices in Dorchester on Sunday, US Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York threw their support behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley.

“Martha Coakley is on the side of women who are trying to raise families,” Warren told the media. “She’s on the side of women who work hard and play by the rules and that’s why I’m here with her.”

The three women were joined by 18 representatives from labor and advocates for women, including Marty Walz, a former state representative who is the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, for a roundtable discussion on earned pay for sick time – Question 4 on the November ballot – and an all-around show of support for the party’s gubernatorial candidate.

Coakley, Warren, and Gillibrand hammered away at GOP candidate Charlie Baker’s initial reaction to the Hobby Lobby decision, which allows companies to restrict employees’ access to contraceptives, telling The Boston Globe “it doesn’t matter” while applauding the attorney general’s support for earned sick time and universal pre-kindergarten education.

The next day, Coakley unveiled a proposal for a $150 million annual program to eliminate the waiting lists for early education programs statewide over the next four years, earning her the endorsement of the educational and social service providers union SEIU, Local 509.

Gillibrand, noting that she was not involved in any other gubernatorial races around the country, said she knew Coakley from earlier races and from her support for other female candidates. “We worked together in the trenches of a lot of women’s advocacy organizations and I think she’s going to make an extraordinary governor,” Gillibrand said. “I’ll be so proud to work with her in Washington.”

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Warren and Gillibrand came to the event fresh off a stop on the New Yorker’s book tour at the John F. Kennedy Library where Warren was the moderator. The two discussed women in leadership, ambition, the role Hillary Clinton played in inspiring Gillibrand to run for office, and Gillibrand’s most hated question: How does she have it all?

“I hate that question. What are we having? We’re not having anything. Women are doing it all and have been doing it all for a very long time,” she told the packed auditorium, which filled with applause at her response. “What about no flexibility? All those women with low wage jobs with no sick days, who will be fired or never eligible to be promoted if they take the day off. I call it the sticky floor.”

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Another woman on the ballot in November is getting a shot of support from higher-ups: 5th Suffolk Republican candidate Claudette Joseph, who is running to unseat short-term state Rep. Evandro Carvalho, victor over Althea Garrison in the primary.

Second Suffolk GOP committeewoman Rachel Kemp came on as Joseph’s campaign manager over the summer, coaching the candidate and working to mold her into fighting shape. “The Massachusetts GOP has always wanted to have a candidate in the city and we have, from our perspective, a viable candidate in someone that is able to communicate with everyone,” Kemp told the Reporter. “Dorchester Avenue will say ‘Claudette Joseph for state rep.’”

Though Joseph has run unsuccessfully before, Kemp hopes to use the party’s infusion of resources, including polling data and phone banking resources, to good effect. The two became close after Kemp persuaded Joseph to become the Republican Ward 13 chair.

Kemp plans to help Joseph roll out policy initiatives in the weeks before the general election, beginning with a 6 p.m. speech at Phillips Old Colony House next Wednesday. “This will make it exciting, considering she has been challenged publicly by her challenger’s people on her beliefs. It’s a time for her to become open,” Kemp said, promising the Vietnamese community would be there for Joseph in full force.

Viet-AID Executive Director Nam Pham has already begun stumping for another GOP candidate higher on the ticket: Baker. Pham attended Baker’s economic policy rollout speech on Wednesday morning.

Despite Kemp’s enthusiastic support, it’s not clear how well the party will be able to prop up Joseph against Carvalho. In double-sided fliers distributed by the campaign listing Joseph’s stances on issues, there is no mention of her being a Republican.

And in an at-times awkward interview, Joseph struggled to recall specifics of her campaign platform, and wouldn’t say whether she was more a social or fiscal conservative, telling the Reporter, “it doesn’t matter.”

The lifelong Uphams Corner resident said she most identifies with Republican views of “limited government, upward mobility, and also the economic revitalization of the community.”

Joseph, who was for many years an independent, said Democratic leadership has failed to help her traditionally Democrat-supporting neighborhood. “Our neighborhoods are still not economically vibrant,” she added. “I can look around, I don’t see a lot happening, and that’s been for a very long time.”

The Dorchester native wouldn’t go into specifics on how she would resolve issues such as the so-called school-to-prison pipeline and improve conditions in nursing homes. Kemp said it would all be addressed in the policy rollout speeches before the election.


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