BARNSTABLE REP WILL RUN FOR OPEN CAPE AND ISLANDS SENATE SEAT
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 24, 2016…..Rep. Brian Mannal, who has represented parts of Cape Cod in the House since 2012, will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Daniel Wolf after this session.
In his announcement on Thursday, the Barnstable Democrat said he is “a champion for human rights, civil rights and animal rights,” pointing to his work on a bill to outlaw upskirt photography, co-sponsorship of a bill to curb human trafficking, and awards from the Humane Society and MSPCA.
Mannal also described himself as “an unwaivering [sic] champion for the LBGTQ community,” citing his vocal support of a bill to extend anti-discrimination protections to transgender people.
“I am running for State Senate with the help and blessing of my family, and a team of volunteers who understand that Cape Cod needs an experienced legislator and proven leader to win in November against a well-financed Republican candidate,” Mannal wrote on his campaign website.
After beating former Rep. Demetrius Atsalis in 2012, Mannal won an ugly re-election campaign against Republican Adam Chaprales in 2014 that included the Democrat filing a criminal complaint against a conservative political action committee for the use of mailers that he claimed deliberately distorted his record. Mannal won that race by 207 votes.
Mannal entered this election year with $1,579 in his campaign account, according to campaign finance records. According to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, successful Senate candidates during the 2014 election cycle spent an average of $77,390.
Mannal, the House vice chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, becomes the fourth Democrat to enter the race for the Cape and Islands district seat.
Brewster Selectman and business owner Benjamin deRuyter, Julian Cyr, a Truro resident and former director of policy and regulatory affairs for environmental health at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Barnstable County Commissioner Sheila Lyons have already thrown their hats into the ring.
Republican candidates in the primary race include Barnstable town council member and owner of Wianno Realty James Crocker Jr. of Osterville and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Anthony Schiavi of Harwich.
Had Mannal not elected to run for Senate, he would have faced a primary challenge from Aaron Kanzer, a Northeastern University senior and Barnstable Housing Committee member. William Crocker, a 59-year-old Republican Barnstable town councilor, is also seeking the House seat.
The state primary will be Sept. 8 followed by the Nov. 8 general election.
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03/24/2016