As the Democratic field to replace State Senator Ed Kennedy appears to have solidified at two, State Representatives Vanna Howard and Rodney Elliott, the field of unenrolled candidates is growing.
As Gerry Nutter reported on November 16 and November 23, Sam Meas previously announced himself as an unenrolled candidate in the race. Today, InsideLowell learned that Joe Espinola has also filed paperwork to enter the ranks of unenrolled candidates in the race.
Espinola, a Dracut resident and Greater Lowell Technical High School School Committee member from 2013-2018, had run as as Republican for the 2nd Essex and Middlesex State Senate seat in 2018. He lost that race to Barry Finegold in a district comprised at the time by the towns of Andover, Dracut and Tewksbury, along with Lawrence. Dracut was moved to the 1st Middlesex District after the 2020 census redistricting.
“The candidates running for the seat have already voted for legislation that directly, negatively affects the residents of the District, such as pro MBTA communities, against Second Amendment rights and against the Legislative Audit approved by 72% of the state’s voters in 2024,” Espinola told InsideLowell when contacted this afternoon. “All the while, giving away billions of dollars to illegal migrants and leaving the voters in this district fighting against each other for local tax dollars teetering on needing an override. The two current representatives vying for this seat have voted “lock stock and barrel” with this current administration and there is no doubt they will do the same when it’s time for the state to go after Proposition 2 1/2 and the so called Community Empowerment Act.”
Should Meas and Espinola return the required number of certified signatures by the December 23rd deadline, both will have their names appear on the March 3, 2023 General Election ballot along with the winner of the Democratic Primary and any potential Republican candidate.
7 responses to “Unenrolled Enroll in State Senate Race”
Save your money
Joe Espi-NO-la
Sounds like a MAGA.
Why don’t these Republicans run for the Republican nomination? They’d get an actual ballot line and everything.
One of the issues with a special election is that state election law dictates that September 30, 2025 is last day for a person running in the State Primary to enroll in a party or for a person running only in the State Election to unenroll from a party, except for newly registered voters. So anyone registered as unenrolled cannot run for a specific party’s nomination. The vacancy itself wasn’t created until after that date, and the election dates weren’t set until October 20.
I’ve heard enough of him on the radio to know that he’s “unenrolled” in name only.
Keep voting for those self-serving Democrats and get the same results. Higher taxes!