September 5, 2018 - “The fight to restore democracy in Massachusetts has not ended with the victory of William Galvin in the Democratic Party primary” declared Juan Sanchez, the Green-Rainbow candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth. “This fight is just beginning.”

Sanchez noted that William Galvin, a six-term incumbent defeated challenger Josh Zakim, whose criticisms of the incumbent echoed many of the longstanding themes of the Green-Rainbow Party. “I certainly agree with Josh Zakim that we need to challenge long time incumbents. 24 years in office as secretary and 18 as a state representative for a total of 43 years is enough for Mr. Galvin, particularly given the deterioration of our democracy during his reign.”

“The Secretary is supposed to ensure that we have a healthy democracy in which voters are active, informed, and able to cast votes that matter. But under Secretary Galvin we have seen our democracy deteriorate to the point that 70% of legislative candidates run unopposed and incumbents, running with the help of massive warchests, are almost never defeated. This takes the power of the vote away from the citizens and allows a small group of insiders on Beacon Hill to continue to rule the state without fear of what the voters might think. I’m running to give voters a chance to vote against this system.”

“The victory of Mr. Galvin is a perfect example of how incumbents in Massachusetts use the power of their offices to protect themselves and to turn away challenges. Galvin has consistently avoided debates, built up a huge campaign warchest that includes donations from persons doing business with his office, utilized state employees in his office to assist his campaign, used state resources to propagate his image, and controlled the date of the primary. These manipulations are deliberately fashioned to tilt the playing field against challengers like Josh Zakim.”

“Now Mr. Galvin expects voters to simply accept his ill-begotten victory and vote along party lines to confirm his seventh term in office. I am calling upon voters to steadfastly stand up for their values and vote for reform by voting for me, Juan Sanchez, on November 6. Let’s show the masters of Beacon Hill that voters cannot be bullied into surrendering their voice. We can bring about change if we vote for change every time we go into the voting booth. “