Voters in our Congressional district will go to the polls this Tuesday in a primary election to select the Democratic and Republican nominees for the Congressional seat formerly held by Ed Markey, who now is one of our U.S. Senators.
We would note that Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo has endorsed Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian for the Fifth District seat, which has given Koutoujian a big boost in the Democratic primary.
DeLeo and Koutoujian are former colleagues in the Mass. House of Representatives. DeLeo obviously weighed the qualifications and credentials of all the candidates in the primary election and felt that Koutoujian would be the best person to represent our town in the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. and be the successor to Markey, who did so much for Winthrop over the course of his 36 years in office.
DeLeo’s early and vigorous support of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her election last November and Edward J. Markey in his election to the U.S. Senate in June was a key factor in those two candidates’ victories. In addition, Speaker DeLeo’s former aide, Tino Capobianco, has a key role in the Koutoujian campaign and is working hard getting out the vote in Winthrop.
We urge all Winthrop voters to go to the polls Tuesday. As is clear from the headlines these days, what is going on in Congress (or not going on, as the case appears to be) affects all of us. It is important that voters choose a person who best represents the values of our community and who will act to move our country forward.