Little-Known Democratic Challenger Emerges in Massachusetts Senate Race

The New York Times ^ | May 26, 2012 | Abby Goodnough

[abb]

MIDDLETON, Mass. — As the lone Democrat seeking to challenge Elizabeth Warren in the Senate primary in Massachusetts, Marisa DeFranco has been ridiculed, admonished and, worst of all, ignored.

But for the moment, Ms. DeFranco, an immigration lawyer with high energy and a scrappy band of volunteers, is enjoying a burst of momentum. She surprised party insiders by collecting enough valid signatures by the May 1 deadline — more than 10,000, gathered everywhere from town meetings to town dumps — to qualify for the Democratic primary on Sept. 6.

If Ms. DeFranco clears one more hurdle — winning 15 percent of the delegate vote at the state Democratic convention in Springfield next Saturday — she will secure a spot on the primary ballot, giving Ms. Warren, a nationally known consumer advocate, an unwanted distraction from her anticipated showdown with Senator Scott P. Brown, the Republican incumbent.

“I’m sick and tired of party bosses or machines telling us who’s going to be the candidate,” said Ms. DeFranco, who is 41. “The democratic process should be messy; it’s a test, it’s a gauntlet.”

Ms. DeFranco’s only other experience as a candidate was a run for the City Council in Peabody in 2001. She lost, but ended up making headlines for another reason: filing a complaint with the state after being barred from a dinner at a veterans’ post, which some of her male opponents were attending, because she was a woman.

She decided to run for the Senate after the state attorney general, Martha Coakley, lost to Mr. Brown in the 2010 special election following Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s death. Ms. DeFranco had volunteered for the Coakley campaign and watched, stricken, as the Democratic candidate conceded on election night.

snip

[abb]

Bay State waters muddied.

[abb]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/primary-opponent-criticizes-warren-over-native-american-flap_645144.html
Primary Opponent Criticizes Warren over Native American Flap

[Drango]

Warren, aka “Dances with Lies” has an opponent in the primary.LOL

[Popman]

Actually this gives me hope....that people within the dem party are fighting the established party machine like the TEA party is challenging the GOP-E

It’s a beginning.....

I’m sure the dem party bosses are pissed they have to spend time and resources fighting an upstart

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks abb. Meme-building ping, and sidebars:

• Sen. Brown demands Harvard correct record on Elizabeth Warren (Liz is not a proud Cherokee)
• Boston Globe: Documents "raise further questions" about Warren's story on ancestry
• George F. Will: Diversity politics trips up campaign to reclaim Ted Kennedy's Senate seat
• Elizabeth Warren pulls even with Scott Brown in new poll
• Unabomber submits update to alumni directory for Harvard class of '62 reunion
• Harvard apologizes after Unabomber gets entry in 50th reunion book

[Clintonfatigued]

This challenger seems like an Occupy Wall Street type. Perhaps Liz Warren’s diversity flap will get DeFranco some attention from the grass roots.