One of the few contested state legislative races in western Massachusetts during the Sept. 3 primary is the Democratic contest in the Hampden Senate District. Two-term incumbent Adam Gomez is being challenged by Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown.
The district is made up of large sections of Springfield and Chicopee.
During a recent debate televised by Focus Springfield, Gomez said he's running, in part, to continue to help his constituents.
"We have been instrumental in guiding individuals to their resources and helping hundreds of thousands of people in the last four years," he said. “I'm running for my third term, not for me, but for us."
Brown, who is also chief of staff to State Representative Bud Williams, touted that experience and his time on the city council as the reasons why he'd make a good state senator.
"I've made the relationships with the mayors," he said. "I have great relationships with the governor, with the senators, with the reps."
The nearly hour-long debate turned personal and heated at times. Brown hurled accusations at Gomez about several things. One of those had to do with legislation which allows Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers to continue to serve past his 65th birthday, which is the mandatory retirement age for police in Massachusetts. Brown accused Gomez of trying to scuttle the bill, which was eventually passed and signed by Gov. Maura Healey.
“I personally talked to him (Akers),” Brown said. “He personally explained to me how the senator and other officials were going to block him,” saying that Gomez did everything he could to block Akers’ ability to hire and fire officers.
Of concern to Gomez and other state legislators was language before the city council, which had to sign off on the petition to allow Akers to serve past age 65. It would have given the police superintendent, not the civilian police commission, the power to hire and promote officers. In the end, the council approved a compromise and where they will revisit the issue after Akers retires, but gave him those duties.
The issue of re-establishing the police board was a hot topic while Gomez was a councilor himself, which drew strong objections and a lawsuit against the city council by Mayor Domenic Sarno.
Responding to Brown, Gomez said he was fully behind Akers’ appointment, but he was also concerned about preserving the police commission. And Gomez appeared to be clearly annoyed as he pounded the table during his response.
“It had nothing to do with Larry Akers’ appointment,” Gomez said. “It was about you guys going against your community and giving back the power to the mayor and the city council, after the city council that was there before, fought 10 years hard on behalf of our (expletive deleted) people.”
Gomez was also upset at Brown over an alleged incident at a recent community event, where the senator accused his rival of booing him when he was introduced. During a period of the debate where the candidates asked questions of each other, Gomez asked Brown if he deserved an apology.
Brown was anything but apologetic.
“The community has been booing you,” Brown began. “They say ‘crime, Senator Gomez, boo, housing, Senator Gomez, boo, does he come to any neighborhood council meetings or does he only pop up at election time?’ Boo.'”
Gomez wasn’t afraid to hurl his own accusations at Brown, either. The incumbent accused Brown of wearing a campaign t-shirt inside of city hall and while on business with his boss, Representative Williams, which would run afoul of elections regulations. And Gomez also said Brown was creating a conflict of interest in his role as a city councilor, by voting on whether to accept certain state funds.
Brown responded that he is running a “clean campaign” and that he’s consulted with the city’s legal staff about when it is appropriate for him to vote.
Brown has been endorsed by Sarno, but it is Gomez who holds a large fundraising advantage over his challenger. According to state campaign finance data, Gomez had just more than $74,000 in his campaign account as of the end of July, with Brown at about $9,100.
With no Republican candidate on the ballot, the Democratic primary will likely settle the race, barring a write-in candidate launching a bid.
