Small Republican caucus in state Senate takes another hit

Even a partisan Democrat these days can’t help but feel a little sorry for the hapless Massachusetts Republican party.

On Monday, state Sen. Michael Knapik, a Westfield Republican well regarded by senators on both sides of the aisle, announced he is resigning his Senate seat to take a job at Westfield State University.

This will reduce GOP ranks in the upper chamber to only three members in the forty member Senate, with Knapik’s open seat to be filled at a special election later this year.

Knapik, who’s usually opposed to new taxes, sent a mild shock wave through the Legislature two weeks ago when he broke with Republican Party orthodoxy and voted to override Gov. Deval Patrick’s veto of a $500 million tax package for transportation.

All the other Republican legislators supported the governor’s veto, but not because they agreed with the governor that the tax package should have been even higher. They oppose any new taxes and dislike the bill’s provision to tie future gas tax increases to the Consumer Price Index.

One legislator wasn’t satisfied with just voting against new taxes.  He held a modest anti-tax rally right in the State House.

Rep. Daniel Winslow, an ambitious state representative from Norfolk who finished last in the Republican primary to succeed Sen. John Kerry, held a protest with a few of his GOP colleagues outside the House chamber before the vote.

Playing off the British tradition of a town crier who announced the birth that week of Prince George, Winslow fashioned a mock gold-framed message decrying the impending $500 million tax increase as no more than “taxation without representation” by the “Democratic monopoly” in the Legislature.

And just this week Republican Martin Lamb, a former Congressional and legislative candidate, announced he’s spearheading a 2014 ballot initiative on the new tax. At least one current Republican state representative has already said he’s on board with the measure.

There was a time when Democrats and Republicans at both the national and state level could agree on something as simple as providing funds for infrastructure repairs and improvements. Back in the 1950s Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, with Democratic support, created the interstate highway system, one of the largest public works projects in the history of the nation.

Former Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were also able to forge alliances with Democratically controlled Congresses and even raised taxes for needed national initiatives.

And in Massachusetts political leaders from both parties until recently have been able to work together on some initiatives and this has sometimes included raising taxes.

Republicans are anti-tax

But the modern Republican Party has now devolved into the anti-tax party, plain and simple.

These Republicans will say that they must vote against taxes because their constituents demand it. And it’s true that most voters do not like tax increases and more than once have voted in referenda to oppose or repeal taxes when offered a choice.

But when it comes to electing Republicans, especially to the Legislature, Massachusetts voters usually say “no thanks” and continue to elect Democrats.

To be sure, there are many reasons for this, including the state’s changing demographics, relative strength of the political parties, union influence, and educational attainment, among other factors.

But adamant and single-minded opposition to taxes without offering viable alternatives to fund government functions has become the Republicans’ trademark. In most of Massachusetts it’s a prescription for electoral failure.

Candidates from both parties are considering entering the race to replace Knapik and a Democratic candidate could take this seat away from the Republicans in the special election.

The legislative “Democratic monopoly” will get stronger. And the remaining Republicans in the state Senate will be able to comfortably caucus in a phone booth, if such a thing still exists.

Posted by Bruce Garlow on August 8, 2013. Filed under Columns,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry