During last week’s Charles River Chamber debate, unenrolled candidate Bill Dermody announced he had received the endorsement of the person he’s hoping to succeed, state Rep. Denise Garlick, the retiring Democrat and a member of the Democratic Town Committee’s eight-member executive committee.
Garlick cited their longtime friendship as well as her alignment with Dermody on “the issues I care most about,” such as their shared support for Kamala Harris, women’s reproductive rights, individuals with developmental challenges, LGBQT+ rights and others.
“On all of the issues I have worked on for more than 30 years, Bill has been my friend who has been at every initiative in the town that I believe is important,” she said, citing Dermody’s extensive involvement in the civic life of Needham.
The decision to endorse has created an issue between Garlick and members of the Democratic Town Committee, as the party’s state charter requires DTC members to perform their duties diligently and honorably “or resign.”
The charter allows the local DTC to take action against a member who has “publicly endorsed or supported any candidate whose announced intention is to oppose the nominee of the Democratic Party.”
Garlick indicated she was aware of her break with party norms, but she said she believes there is an exception for “firmly held beliefs.”
“The very first time I ran, he was with me,” she said of Dermody. “And I think to myself, if I agree on the issues of policy, and I have this strong, strong, positive relationship with my friend, and I don’t stand up for my friend, then I don’t know who I am.
“This was a calling to me. This is my friend in a very difficult race.”
The five officers of the DTC’s executive committee are scheduled to meet tonight, Oct. 3, to discuss the possibility of taking action in response to Garlick’s decision to endorse against the Democratic candidate, Josh Tarsky.
“Our official position right now is we are focused on winning all the races, that’s where we want to focus our attention,” said DTC Chair Michael Diener. “(We’re) reserving any actions for the future.”
Tarsky took the news in stride. “She (Garlick) and Bill have been friends a long time. I get it,” he said, adding that he has the support of the three Democratic town committees in the district and multiple elected officials, including State Sen. Becca Rausch and two fellow veterans, Massachusetts U.S. Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton.
“All three DTCs have been good to me in a lot of ways,” he said. “I’m just trying to execute my game plan. The response I get at the doors has been awesome. That’s my favorite part of the job so far.”
Dermody, who said he has long been registered as an unenrolled voter, said he made his decision to run after the deadline had passed for possibly changing his registration to run as a Democrat. Rather than take on a challenging write-in campaign in the September Democratic primary, he opted to gather the 300 signatures required to earn a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot, albeit without a party label.
When asked during last week’s Charles River Chamber debate whether he’d caucus with the Democrats or Republicans should he win, Dermody said, “I believe I have Democratic values. At Beacon Hill though, I will have an independent voice.”
In an interview, Dermody said he looks forward to campaigning alongside Garlick. “I’m sure we will do some joint things. She’s a great friend and now she’s a great advocate, which is even better.”
Historically, running as an unenrolled candidate has been an uphill climb. The current Legislature has only one unenrolled member, Rep. Susan Whipps of Franklin County. But Whipps was first elected as a Republican in 2014 before changing her registration to unenrolled in 2017.
Still, there is a massive unenrolled constituency. Unenrolled voters are an overwhelming majority in Massachusetts and have outnumbered registered Democrats since 1990. Unenrolled voters make up 64.4% of the state electorate, far more than those enrolled as Democrats (26.3%) or Republicans (8.3%).
Among Needham’s nearly 25,000 registered voters, 15,201 are unenrolled, 7,712 are Democrats and 1,861 are Republican. Similar ratios apply in Dover and Medfield.
Also, the number of statewide candidates running unenrolled has been increasing. There are nearly twice as many unenrolled candidates (32) running statewide in this presidential election cycle than there were across the state in 2020, when there were 17.
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