Tri-Town prepares for the primary

Feb 25, 2020

Tri-town voters head to the polls Tuesday, March 3, to help select candidates for next November’s presidential election.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all three of the towns. In Rochester, polling will take place at the senior center at 67 Dexter Lane. Mattapoisett will hold its polls at Old HammondtownSchool, and Marion voters will go to the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center.

In all three towns, each voter will be given a ballot for the party in which he or she is registered. Voters with no registered party affiliation will select a contest and change their status back to “unenrolled” when leaving the polling place.

Early voting has already started in the Tri-Town. In Rochester, voters can visit Town Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from Feb. 24 through Thursday, Feb. 27 to cast votes.

Mattapoisett early voting will take place at its Town Hall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Feb. 24 to Feb. 28.

Marion voters can visit the Town House while it is open from Monday Feb. 24 to Friday, Feb. 28 to vote early. The Town House is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

On the ballot in the hard-fought Democratic primary are active presidential candidates:

  • — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
  • — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
  • — Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
  • — California businessman Tom Steyer
  • — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
  • — Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard
  • — Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • — Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg


Also appearing on the ballot will be candidates who have already dropped out of the race: 

  • — Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
  • — Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet
  • — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
  • — Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro
  • — Former Maryland Congressman John K. Delaney
  • — Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
  • — Author Marianne Williamson

  • On the Republican ballot are:

  • — President Donald J. Trump
  • — Former Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld
  • — California businessman Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente
  • — Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, who has dropped out of the race

Vying for the Green-Rainbow Party nomination are: 

  • — Lawyer and Rabbi Dario Hunter
  • — Activist and anti-capitalist Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry
  • — Climate change activist Kent Mesplay, and 
  • — Co-founder of the Green Party Howard Hawkins


The Libertarian ballot includes a number of candidates: 

  • — Anarcho-capitalist and opponent of public schools Arvin Vohra
  •  Performance artist and activist Vermin Love Supreme
  • — Lawyer Jacob George Hornberger
  • — Software engineer and Sunday School teacher Samuel Joseph Robb
  • — Software engineer Dan Taxation Is Theft Behrman
  • — Kimberly Margaret Ruff, who advocates shrinking the federal government
  • — Former Coast Guard Officer Kenneth Reed Armstrong
  • — Adam Kokesh, who wants an “orderly dissolution of the federal government”
  • — Psychology professor Jo Jorgensen
  • — Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Max Abramson  
  • In Mattapoisett, Charles C. Motta and Lisa M. Lemieux are running for the state Democratic Committee. Twenty-five have thrown their hats in the ring for the Town Committee, for which up to 35 people can be chosen. Jill Marie Ussach is running for the Republican State Committee, and there are no candidates for the town’s Republican Committee.

 

In Marion, Mark E. Townsend and Brian Kennedy are running for one seat on the Republican State Committee. Kim M. Palmer and Maria S. Collins are also running for one seat on the State Committee. Fourteen candidates are running for Marion’s Republican Committee, for which there are 35 seats available. Dennis C. Gallagher is running for the state Democratic Committee, and there are no candidates for the Marion Democratic Committee.

In Rochester, Kevin J. Costa, and James J. Pimental are running for one seat on the Democratic State Committee, while Debra A. Fastino is running for the other. 13 people are running for positions on the Town Committee, for which there are 35 positions available. On the Republican side, Patrick Thomas Stanton, and David L. Steinhof are running for one position on the State Committee, and Nancy C. Stanton-Cross, and Melissa M. Terra are running for the other. Nine people are running for the Town Committee, for which there are 35 positions available.