Lynn Daily Item Newspaper

Daily Item, The (Lynn, MA)

State rep's vacant seat generating interest DEBRA GLIDDEN THE DAILY ITEM Published: November 29, 2007

MARBLEHEAD

Two Republicans and two Democrats have already taken out papers to run for former State Rep. Douglas Petersen's seat. Pe t e r s e n , who had been in office for 16 years, stepped down when he started his new job as state ag r i c u l t u re commissioner on Monday. The 8th Essex District is comprised of Swampscott, Marblehead, and Ward 3 precinct 4 and Ward 4 Precinct 4 in Lynn. Democrats Cesar A. Archilla of Swampscott and Lori Ehrlich of Marblehead have already taken out their nomination papers. Archilla, an attorney, said he is in the process of obtaining signatures and is almost ready to officially announce his candidacy. " This is an opportunity that can't be passed up," he said. " It's an open seat and those don't come along too often." Archilla, who has lived in Swampscott for more than a decade, is married and has two children in the Swampscott Public Schools. Archilla is an attorney in private practice and was a district attorney in Essex County for seven years. " I want to get more involved," he said. " I share the same concerns as my neighbors in Marblehead, Swampscott and Lynn. I want to work to maximize state aid to the district, secure proper funding for education, tax relief for residents, housing and the environment."

Ehrlich has been a CPA for 22 years and also has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. " The good news is I'm not afraid of numbers," she said. " I also have a very strong policy background."

Ehrlich is best known as an environmental activist and a founding member of Health- Link, an environmental group based in Salem. She is married and her two children attend Marblehead schools. " I've been doing a lot of listening to people to find out

See SEAT PAGE A7
SEAT, FROM PAGE A5

what their issues are," she said. "I've heard about things I wasn't previously aware of and I know one hot button in all three communities is increasing state aid."

Two Marblehead Republicans, John Blaisdell and Tanya DeGenova, have also taken out papers. Blaisdell, a retired Marblehead police officer, is currently self-employed in the mortgage industry. "I've had an interest in running for some time," he said. "As a police officer I couldn't run and the timing is right now with Doug (Petersen) stepping down."

Blaisdell, who was born in Lynn and schooled in Swampscott, said there are a number of issues he would like to tackle including public safety, state aid, education and 40B (affordable housing).

DeGenova, who moved to Marblehead in 1996, is a retired FBI agent and owns her own security consulting business. She is a widow with two adult children who described herself as a "compassionate conservative," who is tough on crime. "Our world is changing and I want to be a voice for everyone - all law abiding citizens and legal resident aliens in our district," she said. "I am sensitive to all issues, am multi-lingual and have worked overseas and with many different cultures."

DeGenova said she worked on former Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign and President George W. Bush's campaign. "I have long standing involvement with the Republican Party," she said.

Other potential candidates include Democrat Reid Cassidy, a Lynn District Court probation officer and former Swampscott selectman. Cassidy said he is still considering running for the seat, but he has not taken out papers yet.

Two other individuals who had previously expressed interest in running have officially announced they are not candidates. Swampscott Selectman Marc Paster and Marblehead resident Sharon Randall, both of whom ran unsuccessfully against Petersen in 2004, said they would not run. Paster said he is convinced he could not win a Democratic primary when there are twice as many voters in Marblehead as there are in Lynn and Swampscott combined. Randall, a Republican, said she cannot run at this time due to time constraints.

Nomination papers are available at the Elections Division of the Secretary's Office, Room 1705 of the McCormack State Office Building, One Ashburton Place, Boston, at Lynn City Hall and at the Swampscott and Marblehead town halls.

Nomination papers for state representative require 150 certified signatures. The deadline for submitting signatures to local registrars of voters for certification is Dec. 26. The deadline for filing certified signatures with the Secretary of the Commonwealth is Jan. 2.

The special election is scheduled for March 4.
DeGenova
Blaisdell
Ehrlich
Copyright, 2007, The Daily Item, All Rights Reserved.