With five and a half months left before the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, the race is intensifying, and Tufts students are increasing their involvement.
Lieutenant Governor and Republican Kerry Healey has already been named as her party's candidate, and Tom Reilly, Deval Patrick and Chris Gabrieli are all contending for the Democratic nomination.
Reilly is the current Massachusetts Attorney General. His platform attacks Gov. Mitt Romney's administration for job losses and stagnating academic performance among students. He also has stressed the ever-increasing costs of healthcare in Massachusetts and is in favor of importing prescription drugs from Canada.
Patrick has never held elected office before, but he served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under President Bill Clinton. As a political outsider, he has tried to distance himself from Massachusetts politics.
Gabrieli has never held elected office before, but he worked in Boston Mayor Tom Menino's office and also made an unsuccessful bid for Lieutenant Governor in 2002.
Independent Christy Mihos, former Director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and Green-Rainbow party activist Grace Ross are also in the race.
Despite holding 87 percent of the seats in the state legislature, the Democrats have been absent from the governor's office for 20 years. The party will hold a primary election in September to nominate their candidate.
In her Apr. 29 acceptance speech, Healey said that the state needs to re-elect a Republican in order to avoid a dangerous political imbalance.
"Who can argue - with a straight face - that [Democrats] do not have enough power as it is?" Healey said in the speech. "To every voter who wants to keep two-party democracy alive in this state and hold your government accountable: I ask you to stand with us in this election."
Major polls vary, but a CBS4 poll on May 4 showed a statistical tie between the three candidates. Of 421 likely Democratic voters polled, Reilly led with 32 percent, followed by Gabrieli with 29 and Patrick with 28. The margin of error was 4.9 percent. Other polls have Reilly leading by larger margins. According to the State House News Poll of May 3-4, a Reilly-Healey-Mihos election saw Reilly receiving 38 percent support, Healey 30 percent and Mihos 13 percent. A Patrick-Healey-Mihos match-up showed Patrick at 29 percent, Healey 31 percent and Mihos at 15 percent.
According to the Boston Globe, Reilly has been endorsed by 15 Massachusetts mayors, including Michael McGlynn of Medford.
Reilly and Gabrieli have not rejected the possibility of raising taxes to assist in funding the sweeping healthcare legislation recently passed, which drew criticism from Healey.
Senior Kevin Johannsen, outgoing president of the Tufts Republicans, said that Healey's attitude on taxes and stimulating small business growth is a key reason that the club is supporting her.
"We really like the fact that she's pro-business ... and looking to roll the state income tax back," Johannsen said. He said that her focus on keeping taxes low, controlling spending and being tough on crime are among the main reason he supports her.
Healey is, however, more socially liberal than many members of the Tufts Republicans, according to Johannsen. She has attempted to distance herself from the more conservative Romney, and, according to the Globe, planned to attend a "Republicans for Choice" event as a means of illustrating this difference.
"Our club is a little more conservative on the social issues than Healey is," Johannsen said. "We're willing to put aside minor differences."
Healey is pro-choice, favors civil unions, and is against restrictions on stem-cell research.
"More people in our club would probably be against that," Johannsen said.
Still, some members of the group have been collecting signatures and will be assisting with phone banking, knocking on doors and voter registration.
The Tufts Democrats are also gearing up for the election, but according to President Aaron Banks, they will not endorse a candidate until after the September primary as individuals within the group support different prospective people.
The group has been active, however, in raising awareness of the various Democrats seeking the party's nomination. Patrick, who has a "strong base" of support on campus according to Banks, spoke at Tufts on Apr. 8 as part of the Massachusetts College Democrats Convention.
State Representative John Lepper also spoke in support of Reilly, and Banks said that a group of students is volunteering on his campaign as well. The Tufts Democrats did not officially undertake any efforts for Gabrieli's campaign because he declared his candidacy later than the others.
Banks said that now that Gabrieli's campaign is under way, the Tufts Democrats expect to see more students involved in his candidacy as well.
"He's a genuine candidate and I think there will definitely be support for him, too," Banks said.
The Tufts Democrats have collected signatures and will be involved with grassroots campaigning in preparation for the election. Banks believes that Healey's close affiliation with Romney will hurt her chances.
"They did everything they could to block this universal healthcare, to water it down ... They haven't reformed education the way they said they would," Banks said.
One Tufts Democrat, junior Mitch Robinson, has taken a leadership role in promoting Patrick, his candidate of choice. Robinson is the college coordinator for the campaign, overseeing the efforts of Massachusetts college students who are getting involved with the grassroots campaigning. He is also the incoming TCU President
"A campaign is all about everyone making a strong effort," Robinson said. "I want to help a campaign and a candidate that I believe in."
Robinson was accepted in his junior year to the Tufts-in-Washington program, but elected not to go primarily because of his interest in working on the Patrick campaign, which he began doing in March 2005, before Patrick even declared his candidacy.
"I love the results that politics can bring," Robinson said. He expressed his goal as "bringing people out and making people feel the same way I do about this campaign."
Both the Tufts Democrats and the Tufts Republicans say they are getting ready for the campaign and are excited to be involved in grassroots politics. Though activity will slow over the summer, political action on campus will heat up again next fall.
