Region’s influence in state government and politics to grow

Western Massachusetts is poised to have considerably more influence in state government and politics in the coming months.

State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, a Democrat from Amherst, announced in late July that he has the votes among his fellow senators to succeed Sen. Therese Murray when she steps down as Senate president. It could be as soon as a few months, if she leaves the Senate before her current term expires, or in early 2015 when leadership term limits will force her to give up the presidency.

When he takes over the reins of the Senate Rosenberg will be the first Western Massachusetts legislator to serve in the top spot of either chamber since 1975, when Rep. David Bartley of Holyoke left as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Rosenberg is steeped in grassroots politics and frequently has been asked to take on especially difficult assignments.

A longtime political progressive, Rosenberg is the current Senate majority leader and has successfully managed major initiatives like the controversial casino legislation and the most recent legislative redistricting after the 2010 Census. The prior redistricting was tainted by scandal when former House Speaker Thomas Finneran admitted he lied to federal authorities about his role in it.

There’s no such whiff of impropriety about Rosenberg who, interestingly, will also become the first openly gay Senate president and, as far as it is known, the first Jewish one as well.

Meanwhile, another Western Massachusetts resident is attempting to lead a statewide political organization.

Nicole LaChapelle, a Democratic state committeewoman from Easthampton and director of a school for special needs children, is running for chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

If successful she would replace John Walsh, the longtime party chair and confidante of Gov. Deval L.Patrick. Mr. Walsh is stepping down this month to lead the governor’s political action committee, together PAC.

Unlike Rosenberg who sewed up an early victory against another state senator, Ms. LaChapelle has a tougher race. She’ll also be competing against a state senator, Thomas M. McGee of Lynn, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation and son of the late House speaker Thomas W. McGee.

Mr. McGee will likely have the support of other state legislators who serve on the Democratic State Committee and is much better known than Ms. LaChapelle.

Powerful legislators have had mixed records as party chairs

Other sitting, powerful state legislators have served as Democratic Party chair with mixed results.

Former state Rep. Joan Menard of Somerset, then majority whip, served as party chair during much of the 1990s and served with few problems.

And former state Sen. Chester Atkins of Concord headed the party in the 1980s.  At the time he was also chair of the influential Senate Ways and Means Committee and an acolyte of William Bulger, of Boston the iron-fisted Senate president who served in that position for nearly 18 years.

Atkins is perhaps best known among party activists for unfairly disallowing Democratic state convention consideration of proposed legislative rules changes as part of the state party platform. This prevented the party from embarrassing Mr. Bulger and the elder McGee, who ran their respective branches like feudal lords.

It was a case of a powerful legislator using his party position to protect his and his cronies’ interests.

The younger McGee may avoid such conflicts, but many Western Mass activists are still hoping Ms. LaChapelle wins it.

Neither Mr. Rosenberg or Ms. LaChapelle is from Berkshire County, but having both a Senate president and Democratic Party chair from our neck of the woods (WMass) would do nothing but improve our region’s influence.

For a state where most of the political power lies east of Rte. 495, that’s no small feat.

Posted by Bruce Garlow on September 5, 2013. Filed under Berkshire Beacon Hill Spotlight,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry