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The race to replace Cheryl Jacques takes shape
BY ADAM REILLY
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Earlier this week, State Senator Cheryl Jacques announced that she will step down to become director of Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, DC–based gay-and-lesbian-advocacy group (see "Cheryl Jacques Goes to Washington," page 1). Senate president Robert Travaglini has yet to set the date for the special election to replace Jacques, who starts her new job on January 1. But the Needham senator has already made it clear whom she wants to replace her. "One of the things I take great comfort in is the fact that my chief of staff, Angus McQuilken, who has stood by my side and been there on every single one of those important issues for the people of my district, is running for the seat," Jacques told the Phoenix. "I fully believe that he will win this seat, and that there will be a seamless transition, and that the best interests of my constituents will be immediately met because there will be a good person in place who already knows what their needs are, who’s already been fighting for them at each and every turn for the past decade-plus." It’s an endorsement that McQuilken, a UMass Amherst alum who became Jacques’s chief of staff at the age of 22, is happy to accept. And if Jacques’s supporters heed her advice and transfer their allegiance to McQuilken, he’ll have a leg up in what should be a competitive race. Other Democrats seeking to succeed Jacques include Jim Klocke, a Wellesley resident and executive vice-president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and Dan Matthews, an attorney and chair of Needham’s board of selectmen. State Representative David Linsky (D-Natick) is also weighing a run. On the Republican side, State Representative Scott Brown of Wrentham — who was considering a run against Jacques before she announced her decision — declared his candidacy Monday. It’s no secret that Governor Mitt Romney has made bolstering the Republican presence on Beacon Hill a pet project (see "Putting Faces to the Races," News and Features, September 19), and Brown — a telegenic attorney and National Guard member — is just the kind of candidate that Romney, who’s no slouch in front of the cameras himself, is looking for. Earl Henry Sholley, a fathers’-rights advocate who employed anti-gay rhetoric in two previous campaigns against Jacques, might be less attractive to the governor. (Sholley has yet to announce his plans.) If McQuilken is going to position himself as Jacques’s heir apparent, though, he’ll be faced with an important choice. When Jacques stunned long-time Republican incumbent David Locke in 1992 by running against him — and winning — she was a moderate Democrat who emphasized her past as a criminal prosecutor. Then, over the course of more than 10 years in office, she moved left, eventually acquiring a reputation as one of Beacon Hill’s progressive stalwarts. Jacques’s Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex district is closely split between Democrats and Republicans, and has a relatively conservative bent. So will McQuilken identify himself with the newer, more progressive Jacques or the older, more conservative Jacques? Right now, it seems, he’ll do neither. While McQuilken notes that he’s been a consistent opponent of the death penalty — unlike Jacques, who shifted from a pro- to an anti-death-penalty stance — he balks at identifying himself as a liberal (or moderate or conservative) Democrat. "I wouldn’t try to put a label on myself or anybody else," McQuilken says. "I certainly have a strong set of beliefs about where this state should be headed, but my top priority would always be the individual problems and concerns that are brought to me by my constituents. I would work to pass meaningful legislation on issues I know people in this district care about, having served 11 years — job growth, education, health care, public safety." If voters respond to McQuilken as positively as they did to Jacques, the 34-year-old Millis resident could quickly emerge as the Democratic front-runner. "When you went into that district, you just felt that — I don’t want to be corny here, but voters in that district, regardless of party affiliation, really felt very strongly supportive of Cheryl Jacques," says Jane Lane, communications director for the Massachusetts Democratic Party. Whether this kind of widespread affection will transfer neatly to her anointed successor, however, remains to be seen.
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