When state lawmakers set about reconfiguring legislative districts last year, one of their goals was to create more “minority-majority” districts around Massachusetts.
One of the results: the boundaries of the Hampden State Senate district, now represented by Sen. Jim Welch (D-West Springfield), were altered to include more precincts with large numbers of black and Latino residents. Previously, the district included all of West Springfield and Agawam and parts of Springfield and Chicopee; the redistricting committee removed Agawam, which has a largely white population, and added more precincts from Springfield and Chicopee that have large black and Latino populations.
The new district is 41 percent white, 37 percent Hispanic and 18 percent black—figures that, in theory, improve the odds that a candidate of color could win the seat.
This fall, that theory will be put to the test. Last week, Springfield City Councilor Melvin Edwards, who is African-American, announced his candidacy for the Senate seat. He’ll face Welch, who is white, in the September Democratic primary.
While Edwards has been an engaged and responsive city councilor, his electoral track record makes it hard to predict how he would do in the Senate race. The Hampden Senate district has a population of roughly 158,000 residents; in the 2010 election, 35,000 voters cast ballots in that race, which saw Welch beat Republican Robert Magovern handily, 61 to 39 percent.
In contrast, Edwards’ Ward 3 Council seat covers a much smaller area, and has low voter registration and participation rates. In last fall’s election, 1,197 Ward 3 voters came to the polls; 711 voted for Edwards—who faced no opposition—while 14 voted for write-in candidates and 472 cast blank votes. In 2009, the year Edwards first took office, he beat Martin Loughman 62 percent to 37. That year, 1,080 Ward 3 voters turned out.
Edwards might not be the only Springfield candidate in the race. His former City Council colleague José Tosado has said he’s also considering running. (Tosado left the Council last year to run, unsuccessfully, for mayor.) Last week, the Springfield Republican’s Pete Goonan reported that Tosado is also considering running for the 9th Hampden state rep seat now held by Democrat Sean Curran.
Tosado was beaten soundly in the November election by incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno, who won 72 percent of the vote. As an at-large city councilor, however, Tosado drew strong city-wide support and was consistently a top vote-getter.
Welch’s challenger—or challengers, as the case may be—no doubt hope the first-term senator has not yet solidified his hold on the seat. Welch was a state rep for the 6th Hampden district before he won, in 2010, the Senate seat previously held by Stephen Buoniconti. (Buoniconti vacated that seat to run, unsuccessfully, for district attorney.) Indeed, Welch’s political career has followed closely in Buoniconti’s footsteps; once upon a time, Buoniconti was the 6th Hampden state rep, and Welch was his aide.
