While all eyes are on the presidential slugfest, and races that could determine control of the U.S. House and the Senate, there is a race for a seemingly obscure office in Massachusetts that may have national implications.

The office is Councilor, a member of the Governor’s Council, that is. The Governor’s Council is an eight-member elected body that, among other things, confirms or rejects the governor’s nominations for state judgeships.

The importance of this body was underscored this year when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex marriage in a case called Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health. It was a 4-3 decision.

Since then, Republican Governor Mitt Romney (who has national political ambitions) has done every thing he can to get the court to reconsider, and through a series of executive decisions, minimize the impact of this far reaching civil rights case.

If one of the Goodridge Four justices dies or resigns from the Court, Governor Romney will certainly appoint an opponent of marriage equality, setting off a nationally watched confirmation battle. Odds are — that judge will be antiabortion as well.

Peter Vickery is the Democratic nominee for an open seat on the Governor’s Council, from Western Massachusetts. He is an attorney and a progressive democrat for whom being pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-clean elections, and a strong supporter of the Goodridge decision are things to be proud of. Vickery, running for the first time for public office, defeated three better-known opponents in the Democratic primary in September.

Here is a taste of Vickery’s clarity and forthrightness: “Judicial independence is under threat in Massachusetts. Conservatives in both major parties want to politicize the judiciary by making judges run for re-election every six years. And they want to amend the Constitution to undo the Supreme Judicial Court’s equal-rights decision in the Goodridge case… I support the right of same-sex couples to marry and I support a woman’s right to choose. I will vigorously oppose any attempt to take those rights away.”

A victory for Vickery will be a breath of fresh air in a state where patronage jobs are a major political currency — undermining excellence and even competence in state government.

While the top democratic elected officials, such as U.S. Representatives John Olver and Richie Neal, have rallied around Vickery in the tradition of party unity in this area, and he has been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO, analysts believe that the race is not a foregone conclusion – even with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry heading the ticket.

Vickery is opposed in the general election by a criminal defense lawyer named Aaron Wilson, who shied away from competing in the primary and instead became an independent to run in the general election. Wilson ran in the democratic primary in 2002 against a 30-year incumbent (now deceased) and won 38% of the vote. He is well-funded and is a tough campaigner. There is no Republican in the race, but Wilson is apparently running as the defacto conservative Republican, since, unlike Vickery, he refuses to say where he stands on choice, marriage equality and workers’ rights.

I invite residents of western Massachusetts who want to see government reformed, and oppose the patronage system and the old boy network wherever it may be found, to join me in voting for Peter Vickery on Election Day. Even if you do not live in Massachusetts you can contribute to his campaign.

http://www.votevickery.com/index.html