What’s on the March 5 primary ballot

Daily Hampshire Gazette, February 10, 2024

What’s on the March 5 primary ballot 

For the presidential primary on March 5, there are ballots for three parties available: Democratic, Republican and Libertarian. Each ballot allows the selection of a presidential preference, as well as for party committees: state committee man and state committee woman, and town committee.

For presidential preference:

■ The Democratic ballot lists Dean Phillips, Joseph R. Biden and Marianne Williamson.

■ The Republican ballot lists Chris Christie, Ryan Binkley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Donald J. Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

■ The Libertarian ballot has Jacob George Hornberger, Michael D. Rectenwald, Chase Russell Oliver, Michael Ter Maat and Lars Damian Mapstead.

There are no Democratic nominations for state committee man and state committee woman in the Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester District, which includes Amherst, Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Pelham, Greenfield, Bernardston, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Leverett, Leyden, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell and Athol. The incumbents are David Narkewicz and Mollie Fox.

The district does, though, have competition on the Republican side, with Jay Fleitman of Northampton and Christopher Ryan of Amherst competing for state committee man, and Mary Stuart of Northampton and Sue O’Sullivan of Royalston competing for state committee woman.

In the Hampden & Hampshire District, which includes Holyoke, Easthampton and Southampton, Daniel Kelly of West Springfield is running for state committee man and Marjorie Dunehew of Holyoke is running for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Nathan Bech of West Springfield and Richard Berrena of Holyoke are competing for state committee man and Linda Vacon is running for state committee woman for the Republicans.

In the Hampden, Hampshire & Worcester District, which includes Belchertown, Granby and South Hadley, Bruce Adams of Springfield is running for state committee man and Marygail Cokkinias of Longmeadow is running for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Sidney Starks of East Longemeadow is running for state committee man and Virgina Neill of Springfield is running for state committee woman for the Republicans.

In the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin & Hampshire District, which includes the towns of Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington, Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe, Shelburne and Whately Sherwood Guernsey II of Williamstown is running for state committee man and Marietta Rose Rapetti Cawse of Pittsfield and Megan Elise Arvin of Pittsfield are competing for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Nicholas Boldyga of Southwick is running for state committee man and Jessica Boldyga of Southwick is running for state committee man for the Republicans.

No state committee man or state committee woman is running for the Libertarian Party in the districts.

The town committees for the three parties are elected during the primaries with members earning four-year terms and attending regular monthly meetings throughout the year and volunteering at special events.

Brian Boyd and Evan Ross, who co-chair the Democratic committee in Amherst, said the committee is tasked by the state party with organizing on the local level, including convening town caucuses each year to elect Amherst delegates to the state party’s annual conventions and supporting Democratic nominees in elections. The committee also advocates for the ideals and goals of party members by taking positions on state ballot initiatives and on occasion passing resolutions.

— Scott Merzbach