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MASSACHUSETTS NURSE NEWSLETTER ::
October 2006
Election 2006: Critical to staff nurses
Massachusetts’ front-line nurses and the patients
they care for fell just one vote short of passing safe RN staffing
legislation this past legislative session. With an overwhelming
133-20 vote in the House, the session came to an end without the
Senate taking action on the bill. But with a strong vote in the
House, key supporters returning in the Senate, front-line staff
nurses, and MNA-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick expressing
his support for the compromise bill, Massachusetts is poised to
pass legislation protecting patient safety and ensuring quality
care.
In addition to the House passage of the safe RN staffing bill, the
Legislature passed into law several important bills, such as the
bill that codifies the sexual assault nurse examiner program; the
bill that provides tenure to school nurses; and the bill protecting
state health insurance contribution premiums for Unit 7 members.
We must ensure that those who have been supportive of these issues
are re-elected this fall.
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC has reviewed the voting records and
advocacy work of each candidate, and it has also conducted interviews
with the candidates—so these recommendations and endorsements
are not taken lightly. In fact, an exhaustive process is undertaken
to identify and help elect those candidates most supportive of the
staff nurses’ agenda.
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC recommends and endorses the following
candidates for election on Tuesday, Nov. 7:
State Senate
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC has endorsed the following Senate incumbents
with challenges for re-election based on their support for safe
RN staffing and advocacy for issues important to front-line nurses:
- Edward Augustus, Worcester
- Harriette Chandler, Worcester
- Susan Fargo, Lincoln
- Robert Hedlund, Weymouth
- Brian Joyce, Milton
- Mark Montigny, New Bedford
- Robert O’Leary,, Barnstable
- James Timilty, Walpole
- Marian Walsh, Boston
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC has endorsed the following
candidate for an open seat in the Senate:
- Benjamin Downing, Pittsfield
House of Representatives
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC has endorsed the following House incumbents
with challenges for re-election based on their support for safe
RN staffing and advocacy for issues important to front-line nurses:
- Demetrius J. Atsalis, Barnstable
- Antonio F. D. Cabral, New Bedford
- Stephen R. Canessa, New Bedford
- Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, Springfield
- Sean Curran, Springfield
- Salvatore F. DiMasi, Boston
- James B. Eldridge, Acton
- Lewis G. Evangelidis, Holden
- Jennifer L. Flanagan, Leominster
- Susan W. Gifford, Wareham
- Anne M. Gobi, Spencer
- Thomas A. Golden, Jr., Lowell
- Mary E. Grant, Beverly
- Denis E. Guyer, Dalton
- Robert S. Hargraves, Groton
- Louis L. Kafka, Stoughton
- Rachel Kaprielian, Watertown
- Peter V. Kocot, Northampton
- Robert M. Koczera, New Bedford
- Peter J. Koutoujian, Waltham
- James Brendan Leary, Worcester
- David P. Linsky, Natick
- Barbara A. L’Italien, Andover
- Michael Moran, Boston
- James M. Murphy, Weymouth
- Robert J. Nyman, Hanover
- Joyce A. Spiliotis, Peabody
- Marie P. St. Fleur, Boston
- Harriett L. Stanley, West Newbury
- William M. Straus, Mattapoisett
- Eric Turkington, Falmouth
- Cleon H. Turner, Dennis
- Joseph F. Wagner, Chicopee
- Daniel K. Webster, Hanson
- Alice K. Wolf, Cambridge
The Massachusetts Nurses PAC has endorsed the following candidates
for open seats in the House:
- William Brownsberger, Belmont
- Linda Dean Campbell, Methuen
- Steven D’Amico, Seekonk
- Allen McCarthy, East Bridgewater
- Claire Naughton, Foxborough
- Sarah Peake, Provincetown
- Rosemary Sandlin, Agawam
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