McCarthy: SouthCoast Political Intelligence

The first Democrat to announce a run for Governor of Massachusetts is Jay Gonzalez. He was the Sec. of Administration and Finance in Gov. Deval Patrick's administration and the CEO of the health insurer CeltiCare. He and his wife Cyndi live in Needham and have two daughters.

We will discuss Jay's campaign and beliefs this Sunday on 1420 WBSM's "Sunday Brunch" when he joins us. The "Sunday Brunch" program runs every Sunday from 10am to 1pm.

The Ward 3 race in New Bedford is becoming a run away for Hugh Dunn the former staffer to Cong. William Keating for two main reasons. The first reason is Dunn is campaigning, raising money and collecting endorsements like a serious candidate. The second reason is his opponents have been lackluster as of now. Only Beth Fauteux has bothered to open a campaign account with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance however she is yet to name a treasurer for her committee. Dunn is alone in having appointed a treasurer and raised money for his campaign. Today was the first day of Dunn's radio campaign on WBSM with a spot highlighting his endorsements from George Smith and Henry Bousquet, both former Ward 3 councilors. It looks like for now the others are willing to hope for a second place in the preliminary election on March 28th.

Former Mayor of New Bedford Fred Kalisz is the new Register of Deeds for Southern Bristol county as was accurately predicted in this column last week. "Dr. K" was able to put together the votes and hold those votes against intense lobbying pressures from the supporters of other candidates. The County Commission was looking for a candidate who had the administrative experience to run the office and the political skills to win reelection in a few years. Will any of the just bested candidates oppose Fred or a County Commissioner at the ballot box in 2018?

Long time political operative Michael Lima told "The Ken Pittman Show" on WBSM Saturday that was "seriously looking" at running for the Ward 2 city council seat should incumbent Steve Martin decide to move on in politics. Mr. Martin is rumored to be considering a run for the Board of Assessors and he is sitting on a war chest of nearly $50,000.