Left In Lowell

Lynne has already informed you that tomorrow night Middlesex District Attorney candidate, State Senator Jarrett Barrios will be visiting Drinking Liberally’s weekly gathering at the Brew House in Lowell. The get-together starts around 7:30 p.m.

Lowell is playing a significant role in this year’s Middlesex D.A. election. Not only because it is the largest city in the county but because the chairmen of both campaigns, Barrios’ and Gerry Leone’s, have strong Lowell ties.

Josh Glasheen, the Barrios Campaign Chairperson, is a Lowell native. He grew up in Lowell where he attended public school in Lowell. His family still lives here.

Chris Doherty, Leone Campaign Chairperson, has quite a few “powerful” Lowell connections. Before joining the campaign, he was a prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney’s office where he served as supervisor of the Lowell District Court. Before joining the D.A.’s office, he was a senior staff member in Congressman Marty Meehan’s office. He also served on the State Democratic Committee.

This may help to explain why Leone has the backing of the entire Lowell State House delegation, the Lowell Chief of Police, the Lowell Mayor and the Lowell Sun, which is prominently featured on Leone’s web site. I do not think the Sun has officially endorsed him yet.

Glasheen has also an impressive resume (especially for a person who is only 27 years old) but quite different from Doherty’s. During the 2004 New Hampshire Presidential Primaries, he served as the Dean Campaign Deputy State Director. After that he was Field Director for American Coming Together, the voter mobilization movement.

He also is known for beating out 1,280 applicants to serve last summer as official ambassador for the Lick Global Warming campaign. His job was to tour with the David Matthews Band to educate concert goers about the environment.

So we not only have opposing candidates but we have the potential for contrasting campaign styles: you might say the traditional and the contemporary.