Gabriel Gomez not only refused to come clean on his business record, but he also failed to distinguish himself from national Republicans. Gomez made it clear that he would not vote the right way on the issues Massachusetts voters care about, such as tax fairness and commonsense gun reforms, but instead would be another vote for the right wing national Republican agenda.

Local leaders and elected officials agree: Ed Markey is the only candidate who can be trusted on the issues that matter the most to people across the Commonwealth.

Highlights from Elected Officials’ remarks below:

“Ed Markey understands the challenges facing middle class families across the Commonwealth. Whether it’s fighting for tax fairness or helping small businesses create jobs in today’s innovation economy, he has both the vision and values to lead in the U.S. Senate. As Gabriel Gomez runs a campaign of rhetoric, in three debates, Ed has shown voters he’ll implement common-sense solutions that leave no one behind. That’s why I’m voting for Ed Markey next Tuesday, and I’m proud to call him my friend and colleague.” 

-Treasurer Steven Grossman

“Ed Markey will fight to protect working families and bring good paying jobs to the Commonwealth. Gabriel Gomez supports failed Republican economic policies that will do nothing to help Massachusetts families.”

-Congressman Mike Capuano

“The values and policies i believe in -good paying jobs, education, and opportunities for all of our people- Ed Markey believes in.  He is the type of good people we talk about who work hard and help each other out when times get tough.  We don’t turn our back on good people that’s why I’m supporting my friend Ed Markey – He will deliver for the people of Massachusetts.”

-Mayor Thomas Menino

“After watching the debate its clear that Ed Markey understand the issues that matter to the voters of Massachusetts.”

-Rep. Mike Moran

“Ed Markey is the only candidate that will move us forward. As we saw tonight, Gabriel Gomez wants to turn back the clock on failed policies of the past. When it comes to common sense gun control laws, social and economic justice, senior issues, women’s rights, job creation, protecting the middle class, and ensuring that our children receive quality education Ed Markey is the one who will work for all if us. Gomez is out of touch on the issues that matter the most to the people of Massachusetts.”

-Senator Sal N. DiDomenico

“Over the last six months, the people of Massachusetts witnessed two candidates campaigning with starkly different visions. With only one week remaining until Election Day, the choice is clear that Ed Markey deserve to be our next US Senator.

 The implications for this race will reverberate nationally, and all eyes will be on Massachusetts.

We cannot follow the national Republican agenda back in time to the failed policies that drove our economy into a recession.

As Ed says, we need to be the leaders.

We need to make a statement in support of Social Security and Medicare for future generations. We need to be at the forefront of getting assault weapons off our streets. We need to maintain affordable and accessible healthcare for all Americans.

These are the fundamental beliefs upheld by Ed Markey. I am confident the people of Massachusetts agree and will make their voices heard next Tuesday by sending Ed to the US Senate.” 

-Congressman Richard E. Neal

“Ed Markey will fight to protect the middle class and bring good-paying jobs to the Commonwealth.  Gabriel Gomez supports failed Republican economic policies that will do nothing to help Massachusetts families.

 Ed Markey will lead to effort to keep dangerous weapons off our streets. Gabriel Gomez is opposed to banning assault weapons and limiting high-capacity magazines – just like the NRA and the national GOP.”

-Sen Linda Dorcena  Forry

 “Gabriel Gomez’s “new kind of Republican” mantra is nothing more than a disingenuous campaign slogan. He proved that at the second debate when he signaled his willingness to end the mortgage interest tax deduction – a tax break upon which 36 million Americans and one-third all of Massachusetts households rely.

 From my business background as a mortgage loan officer, knowing families factor in that tax credit when thinking about purchasing a home, I am keenly aware how important this tax credit is. For some, without that benefit, home ownership would be unattainable.   

Once again, we have a Republican looking out for the rich and trying to hurt the middle class.”

-Rep. Ed Coppinger

“From the beginning of this campaign to tonight’s last debate, one thing is clear – Ed Markey is on the side of Massachusetts, and Gabriel Gomez is on the side of the national Republicans. We can trust Ed Markey to preserve women’s rights, take dangerous guns off our streets, and protect the middle class. We need Ed fighting for us in Washington as our next Senator.”

-Attorney General Martha Coakley

“Tonight’s debate once again demonstrated why we need Ed Markey in the US Senate. He has voted with Massachusetts on universal affordable health care.  He has voted with Massachusetts on climate change and harnessing the clean energy revolution, to save the planet and create new jobs.  He has voted with Massachusetts on equal pay for equal work for women and on a woman’s right to control decisions about her own body. He has voted with Massachusetts on immigration reform, on education funding, on job growth through infrastructure investments, on marriage equality.  Ed Markey, and only Ed Markey, is with Massachusetts on these and other critical issues, and Massachusetts needs Ed Markey in the US Senate.”

-Governor Deval Patrick  

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Gomez’s Record Of Shipping Jobs Overseas, Creating Jobs In China & Willingness To End Home Mortgage Deduction Is Out Of Step With Mass. Families 

Charlestown, Massachusetts – After three debates Gabriel Gomez’s embrace of the national Republican agenda is clearer than ever before, and he finds himself in real trouble just one week from election day. 

Gabriel Gomez’s goal tonight was simple: Following failures in the first two debates, Gomez desperately needed to convince voters that he wasn’t just another Republican hell-bent on blocking commonsense gun laws, protecting tax breaks for millionaires, raising the retirement age for our seniors and restricting a woman’s right to choose. But he failed.  Miserably. 

Not only does Gomez emerge from the debates tied more closely to Mitch McConnell and the Republicans, but his consistent refusal to answer questions about his willingness to end the home mortgage deduction and record of shipping Massachusetts jobs overseas while creating jobs in China makes it clear he’s not on the side of middle class families in Massachusetts. Gabriel Gomez cares about millionaires like himself. 

True to form, Gomez appeared angry and defensive regarding exchanges that highlighted how his issue positions mirror national Republicans. One needs only to look at his record to understand why:

Gabriel Gomez is opposed to banning assault weapons and limiting high-capacity magazines – just like the national GOP. 

Gomez refuses to ask millionaires, such as himself, to pay their fair share of taxes. He stands with the national Republican Party against real tax fairness, and even took exactly the kind of tax break for the super-wealthy – an outrageous $280,000 deduction for relinquishing the right to change the outside of home (before making changes to it anyway) – that is emblematic of a tax system that’s rigged against the middle class. 

Gomez is a pro-life Republican who can’t be trusted to protect a woman’s right to choose. He says that he would support pro-life Supreme Court Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and he has spent weeks refusing to support women’s access to contraception. Most recently, it took him just 24 hours to flip flop on the issue of forcing women to wait 24 hours to access important reproductive health services. 

Like the national Republicans, Gomez wants to raise the retirement age, forcing those who have spent a lifetime performing manual labor to work for even longer before they can retire, and suffer enormous cuts to their earned benefits.

The three debates highlighted Gomez’s embrace of the national GOP agenda and enhanced the differences between him and Ed Markey. While Ed Markey will fight to invest in the middle class and bring good-paying jobs to the Commonwealth, Gabriel Gomez simply can’t be trusted to fight for Massachusetts families. 

Yet again, Gomez signaled his willingness to get rid of a crucial tax break that helps 36 million homeowners, including 1 out of every 3 Massachusetts taxpayers, afford their homes.

Gomez also continued his refusal to explain a disturbing news investigation revealing that he helped lay off Massachusetts workers and ship their jobs overseas, while creating manufacturing jobs in China – not here in the Commonwealth. 

Ed Markey will fight to protect tax breaks that help Massachusetts homeowners and continue working to create jobs here at home, not overseas—and voters in the Commonwealth know that Markey can be trusted to have their backs in the Senate.

That’s why national Republican Party leaders like Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich and Marco Rubio have all declared that the national Republican Party’s plan to take over the Senate, obstruct President Obama and enact a radical right-wing agenda starts with electing Gabriel Gomez.

Tonight Gabriel Gomez blew his last chance at rewriting history, changing the race, and painting himself as a new kind of Republican. Instead, Gomez finds himself tied more closely to the national GOP than ever before, and his campaign has run out of time.

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Charlestown, Massachusetts – The Ed Markey for Senate campaign today launched a new radio ad, “Complaint Department,” which highlights Gabriel Gomez’s constant complaints about discussing real issues in this campaign, while refusing to explain why he stands with national Republicans on issues that matter to Massachusetts families. 

Gomez has complained about discussing the real policy differences between him and Ed Markey when it comes to preventing gun violence. Tonight, he should finally explain why he sides with national Republicans and the NRA, and opposes banning assault weapons and limiting high-capacity magazines. 

Gomez should explain why he’d consider ending the mortgage interest tax deduction that 36 million homeowners, including 1 out of every 3 Massachusetts taxpayers, rely on to help afford their homes.

And he should explain to Massachusetts families once and for all why he’d be willing to support pro-life Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Maybe tonight’s the night that Gomez stops complaining, and starts explaining why he stands with the national GOP – not the people of Massachusetts. 

LISTEN: “Complaint Department“

“Gabriel Gomez has spent the duration of this campaign complaining about discussions that spotlight the clear differences between him and Ed Markey, while refusing to explain why he stands with national Republicans on issues that matter to Massachusetts families,” said Markey campaign spokesman Andrew Zucker. “It’s time for Gomez to stop complaining, and finally explain why he’s opposed to banning assault weapons and limiting high-capacity magazines, open to ending the home mortgage deduction for 36 million homeowners including 1 out of every 3 Massachusetts taxpayers, and willing to support pro-life Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.”

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Charlestown, Massachusetts – With only one weekend left before the June 25 special election, hundreds of grassroots volunteers joined elected officials and local leaders at statewide canvass kick-off events to help get out the vote for Rep. Ed Markey. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Congressman Jim McGovern, Congressman Michael Capuano, Mayor Jon Mitchell and Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh, rallied supporters and shared Ed’s record of standing up to the special interests and protecting the middle class.

On Saturday, in Western Massachusetts, Senator Elizabeth Warren was joined by Mayor Alex Morse and Rep. Aaron Vega at the Holyoke canvass kick-off event. Senator Warren voiced her commitment to Markey’s candidacy a before attending the Markey campaign rally with special guest President Bill Clinton, Congressman Jim McGovern and Mayor Joe Petty.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard energized grassroots volunteers to help get out the vote for Markey at canvass kick-off events in Somerville, Cambridge and Lowell. Congressman Michael Capuano and state Rep. Kevin Honan joined Congresswoman Gabbard at the Cambridge event where she shared the importance of electing Rep. Markey to be a leader in job creation for working Americans and families.

“This race is about making sure that the people of Massachusetts have a strong champion on in the Senate who is committed to fighting for working families,” said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.  ”He will work hard to create good jobs, promote smart economic growth, honor our selfless servicemembers, and ensure that every American has the opportunity to succeed.  Ed Markey has dedicated his life to public service, and represents the values of Massachusetts.  We need him in the US Senate.”

On Sunday, Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, John Walsh and Mayor Jon Mitchell kicked-off canvass events in the South Coast region. In New Bedford, Mayor Mitchell officially endorsed Ed Markey for the Senate at the New Bedford campaign effort, praising Rep. Markey’s commitment to fighting for the issues that South Coast voters and middle class families care about.  

“Ed Markey recognizes the tremendous potential of New Bedford and the South Coast and the importance of continued federal investment to help the city and region realize that potential.  On issues from offshore wind energy development to education to transportation infrastructure, his priorities are our priorities.  That’s why we need him in the Senate, and that’s why I am supporting him today.”

Also during the weekend, Mayor Kim Driscoll, state Senator Joan Lovely and state Rep. John Keenan attended the Salem canvass kick-off event; Mayor Setti Warren attended the Newton canvass kick-off; Mayor Bill Scanlon attended the Beverly canvass kick-off; state Senator Karen Spilka, state Rep. Tom Sannicandro and state Rep. Tom Conroy attended the Framingham canvass kick-off; state Rep. Paul McMurtry attended the Dedham canvass kick-off; state Rep. Paul Heroux attended the Attleboro canvass kick-off; state Rep. Jim Cantwell attended the Marshfield canvass kick-off; state Rep. Garrett Bradley attended the Hingham canvass kick-off; state Senator Michael Barrett attended the Concord canvass kick-off; state Rep. Marjorie Decker and former Rep. Alice Wolf led a phone bank for seniors in Cambridge.

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“Ed Markey recognizes the tremendous potential of New Bedford and the South Coast and the importance of continued federal investment to help the city and region realize that potential,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. On issues from offshore wind energy development to education to transportation infrastructure, his priorities are our priorities.  That’s why we need him in the Senate, and that’s why I am supporting him today.”

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The post ICYMI: President Bill Clinton joined Ed in Worcester for a #masen campaign rally at Worcester Polytech last night. Joining them were Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Congressman Jim McGovern and Mayor Joe Petty. appeared first on Ed Markey.

RALLY WITH PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

JUNE 15, 2013

As Prepared For Delivery

Thank you all for being here tonight.

Thank you, Elizabeth Warren.  You are the #1 protector of Main Street against the abuses of Wall Street.

I want to go to the United States Senate to partner with you to be a strong, powerful voice for Massachusetts families. 

Jim McGovern – you are the Conscience of the Congress down in Washington.  You are Worcester’s Warrior for working families.  Thank you.

I thank my beautiful and brilliant wife, Susan, for all her support. 

***

In a few minutes, you will hear from the man who, as president, rescued our country from 12 years of wrong-headed Republican policies coming out of the White House.

Then he started the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005, criss-crossing the globe doing God’s work, underscoring the interdepedence and interconnectedness of people across our country and our world.

Mr. President, you went from leader of the free world to healer of the entire planet – fighting disease, promoting health, and tackling climate change.

That’s an amazing “second career”, Mr. President.  Thank you.

***

There is a lot at stake in this election.

It’s about the kind of Commonwealth and the kind of country we want for ourselves and our children.

It’s about your hopes, your dreams, and our future, here in Massachusetts and across America.

My opponent says he’s a new kind of Republican, but he backs the oldest, stalest Republican ideas from the past.

I want to build a brighter, better future with new ideas that create jobs and fuel an economy that works for everyone.

***

I support a ban on assault weapons.  I support a ban on high-capacity magazines that attach to those assault weapons, turning them into weapons of war. 

My opponent supports the National Rifle Association’s position.  He opposes a ban on assault weapons.  He opposes a ban on high-capacity magazine clips. 

I was proud to work with President Clinton to ban millions of military-style Chinese assault weapons that were flooding our neighborhoods. 

Together, we got those guns off our streets.

I intend to win this election so that I can go to the Senate Floor to make sure that NRA stands for “Not Relevant Anymore” in American politics.

My opponent thinks the wealthy are already paying their fair share. 

Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot propose to cut social programs for the poor and the sick and the elderly and then say that the wealthy have already paid enough.

That we shouldn’t take back tax breaks for the oil industry.

That we don’t take back the tax breaks for those multinational companies that offshore jobs or use tax havens down in the Caribbean to escape paying their fair share, ladies and gentlemen.

We need tax fairness.  We need to follow the Buffet Rule where everyone in America is paying their fair share.

My opponent says he would consider eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction that millions of families rely on to afford their homes.

I would never support eliminating this important deduction for families – it should be absolutely off the table, ladies and gentlemen.

My opponent says that the Wall Street reforms that were put on the books are too tough. 

But we know that a casino was set up on Wall Street, and with stock options and derivatives and credit default swaps it led to a collapse of our economy – the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

I believe that we should keep those Wall Street reforms on the books – I wrote the law that banned insider trading.  We should fight any efforts to reduce the protections for ordinary families that were signed into law by President Obama.

My opponent says that he could vote for a Supreme Court justice who could overturn Roe v. Wade.

I will NEVER vote for a Supreme Court justice who overturns a women’s right to choose.

I will fight for women’s rights, women’s health, and equal pay for women.

***

When my mother was a junior in high school, she was the class president.  She had dreams of college.

My grandmother and grandfather had gotten off the boat in Ireland.

They had 5 daughters.

But then her mother – my grandmother -  passed away, and she had to drop out of school to take care of her younger sisters. 

That was the social safety net before FDR and the New Deal – one of the daughters had to stay home.

She had to abandon her college dreams.

***

My father graduated from the vocational program at Lawrence Vocational High School.

He grew up on the first floor of a triple decker – one of 5 children, the 4^th of 5.

My father drove a truck for the Hood Milk company.

When my mother got Alzheimer’s in her later years, my father cared for her, at home, in our living room.

He was a hero to my brothers and me.

I grew up in Malden, and my mother always said to me that you are going to be able to realize your dreams in a way that your mother and father did not, and that your grandparents did not.

And she was right.  I was the first in my family to go to college.  I worked my way through Boston College driving an ice cream truck.

[I never met a lawyer until I went to law school and had never been to Washington until I was elected to Congress.]

I was able to accomplish this because there had been a democratization of access to opportunity through healthcare, through education, through breaking down the discriminatory barriers that made it possible for my brothers and me to have those extra opportunities.

And my mother always told me that there was one word that explained why we would have a better future – and that word was “DEMOCRAT.”

***

But this election is not about MY family.  It’s about YOUR family and EVERY family across Massachusetts.

I want to move Massachusetts and our country forward to a bright, better future for all of us.

This election is about creating a world of opportunity and new possibilities for all of our people, from Worcester to Weymouth, from Pittsfield to Provincetown, from Newburyport to New Bedford.

***

I am running for the United States Senate to fight for the best jobs to be right here in Massachusetts.

The 21st century infrastructure jobs, the jobs for roads, railways, and bridges, should be built in Massachusetts and across the country.

I am running to fight for policies that promote our biotech, clean tech, high-tech economy here in Massachusetts.

I wrote the laws that spurred an information revolution that President Clinton signed into law. 

Now we need a Green Energy Revolution in our country that unleashes wind, solar, biomass, and plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles.

That creates a million new jobs here in the United States, led by the state of Massachusetts.

We can save the planet and create new jobs at the same time.

We can back out all the imported oil from the Middle East and make our country energy independent.

The planet is running a fever.  There are no emergency rooms for sick planets.  We need to take action now for generations to come.

We need to fuel the biotech revolution.  We are the capital of the world’s biotech industry.

We should not be cutting the NIH budget in Washington.  We should be doubling the NIH budget.  That is who we are in Massachusetts.

NIH is really the “National Institutes of Hope”. 

Research is medicine’s field of dreams from which we harvest the cures that improve the lives of millions of American families that we can find the cures for Alzheimer’s, for cancer, for diabetes, for heart disease.

And the world-class UMASS Medical Center right here in Worcester with its cutting edge science and patient care is helping to lead the way!

We must put a college education within reach for all our students, with affordable loan rates that do not create a mountain of debt.

An education is the passport to a better future including a good job.

***

Now Republicans in Washington and their special interest allies have very different priorities.

They want to roll back the progress we have made under President Obama’s leadership.

They want to slash investments in the programs that spur growth and create jobs.

They want to keep shoveling $40 billion in tax breaks to the big oil companies.

They want to balance the budget on the back of the Middle Class and working families all across our country.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I want to serve as the next Senator from Massachusetts, to team up with Elizabeth Warren to give President Obama the support he needs to keep his agenda on track for the future of our state and of our country.

Republicans want to cancel out Elizabeth Warren’s vote in the United States Senate.

But we did not elect Elizabeth Warren in November to cancel her vote in June!

When it counts, we Democrats don’t AGONIZE, we ORGANIZE!

***

And that is what we are going to for the next 10 days.

I am going to criss-cross this state. 

I am going to be working around the clock to get out the vote to ensure that every single person knows that this is an historic election.

There is so much at stake for Massachusetts and our country.

We need everyone to show their support on June 25^th so that together we can

build a 21st century that is more educated, more healthy, more prosperous, and more fair for all of us.

***

And that’s why I am so proud that President Clinton is here.

He is such an extraordinary leader for our nation.

As President, he created the longest period of peacetime economic prosperity in American history.

When President Clinton was in the White House, we actually had a budget SURPLUS from 1998 to 2000.

And he also made sure that all children had health care by creating the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

President Clinton’s Global Initiative is now creating and implementing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

I could go on and on.

President Clinton is an incredible force for good all around the world – a legendary, beloved, iconic global leader of our times.

I give you the 42^nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton!

- END-

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