Well, so much for Sen. Puppolo: state Rep. Angelo Puppolo Jr. has announced that he’ll be running for re-election to his 12th Hampden seat—not jumping into the race to succeed state Sen. Gale Candaras, who will leave the 1st Hampden and Hampshire seat to run for Hampden Register of Probate.
There had been lots of chatter about the possibility that Puppolo would jump into the race for the Senate seat, and he would have been an awfully strong candidate. But in an announcement made today via social media, the former Springfield city councilor said he’s staying put.
“While there has been much speculation this election year, and I have been overwhelmed with support from across the area calling on me to run for State Senate, I have decided to do what’s best for my family and constituents of the 12th Hampden District and to continue the strong, effective, leadership for Wilbraham and parts of Springfield and East Longmeadow in the House of Representatives,” Puppolo said.
Puppolo, who has two school-aged daughters, said that family reasons played a big part in his decision; in recent weeks, he said, he’s “missed too many of their basketball games and other family functions contemplating a campaign for Senate.” He also talked about the satisfaction he finds in his work in the House of Representatives, where he’s vice chair of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
Two candidates have already entered the 1st Hampden and Hampshire Senate race: Debra Boronski, a Republican and Select Board member from East Longmeadow, and James “Chip” Harrington, a Democrat and Ludlow School Committee member.
While Puppolo—assuming he wins re-election, which he likely will—will remain in the House for the time being, I think we can assume he still has his eye on a higher office, given the fat campaign war chest he’s sitting on: $225,394.81.
And speaking of former city councilors, I’m waiting to hear more about one-time Council President (and 2011 mayoral candidate) Jose Tosado’s campaign for the 9th Hampden state rep seat, being vacated by incumbent Rep. Sean Curran’s decision not to run for re-election. As far as I can tell, news of Tosado’s campaign was broken late last month by Matt Szafranski, at Western Mass Politics & Insight, who noted that Tosado had changed his campaign finance account to reflect a run for the Statehouse. Last week, my Twitter feed notified me that I had a new follower: Jose Tosado, “Candidate for MA State Representative 9th Hampden District.” But as of yet, there’s been no official word from his campaign (as least, not any I’ve received), nor (this being 2014 and all) any tweets from his account. Staying tuned, then.
School Committee member Peter Murphy is also in the running to succeed Curran. He announced his candidacy back in December.
