Shein Accuses Berkshire Democratic Wing of Favoritism
By Joe Durwin On: 05:16PM / Wednesday September 05, 2012
Congressional candidate Bill Shein says the Democratic Party hasn't been neutral enough in the 1st Mass primary.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Congressional candidate Bill Shein has added The Berkshire Brigades, the county's organizing arm of the Democratic Party, to the list of party organizations he says have shown improper favoritism in the hotly contested race for the 1st Massachusetts Congressional District that will be decided in Thursday's primary.
"Berkshire Brigades is an official part of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and can't endorse or show favor to any candidate pre-primary," said Shein. "But it has been, all year, ongoing and obvious."
Shein said election, communications and organizing efforts by the group have promoted Rep. Richard Neal's candidacy disproportionate to that of himself and former Pittsfield state Sen. Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr.
The Alford writer pointed to Brigades Chairman Lee Harrison stepping down from that post to participate in Neal's campaign.
Harrison announced his temporary departure as chairman in a July 27 letter to the editor of The Berkshire Eagle in support of Neal, which notes he had stepped down in June "to take an active part in the primary campaign." Pre-primary FEC filings indicate that Neal's campaign made a payment in the amount of $2,000 to Harrison on July 24.
"It's really a non-issue," said Neal campaign coordinator Matthew Fenlon, "In the letter [to the Eagle] Lee made it perfectly clear that he was stepping down from the Berkshire Brigades as of June to take a full-time role on our campaign."
Neither Harrison nor interim Chairwoman Sheila Irvin was able to be reached for comment on the accusations of favoritism, but former state representative and Brigades founding Chairman Sherwood Guernsey dismissed the statements as "sour grapes."
"The Brigades has not taken an official position at all on any of the candidates," said Guernsey, who continues to serve as a board member. "It is true that individuals within the Brigades are supporting individuals within the congressional race. The Berkshire Brigades is all about supporting the Democratic candidates."
"We haven't gone around publicizing anything for Neal," Guernsey told iBerkshires. "We haven't gone around publicizing anything for any one of them in particular."
A keyword search of the Berkshire Brigades website turns up 18 posts that mention Neal, but only one mention of the other two candidates, in a brief post announcing the air time of a WGBY candidate debate, one of two held in this election cycle.
In addition to reposts of Neal's own campaign statements on prominent endorsements, the Brigade's blog posts also include bulletins on several local canvassing efforts coordinated by the group on behalf of Neal in conjunction with those of Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, upcoming campaign events, and an appeal from his campaign for volunteers.
Shein also voiced concerns that an episode of the Brigades' public access television show "Common Sense" had featured more airings of its episode featuring Neal than those of the other two candidates. Neal's episode ran on two separate days, on July 16 and Aug. 13, for a total of eight showings, according to Pittsfield Community Television records, as opposed to that of Shein's, which ran five times and Nuciforo's, which ran four. These aired at different times of day on Aug. 20 and 27, respectively.
A representative of PCTV told iBerkshires this was because of an error in program scheduling, and that the July 13 airings had not been intended by the Berkshire Brigades.
Nuciforo's campaign declined to comment on the allegations of favoritism or apparent disparity in campaign representation in the organization's website, but did confirm that Berkshire Brigades does not appear to be on any of the campaign's email mailing lists.
While the Brigades' blog page has been updated regularly throughout the summer, its informational page has not been updated to reflect the change in chairman. A campaign mailing for Kevin Sullivan for Governor's Council that arrived at some local residences today also lists Lee Harrison as chairman of the Brigades.
Shein previously boycotted the state's Democratic Party convention in early June, citing several instances of what he called "consistent breaches of party neutrality" by the state Democratic apparatus throughout the 1st District congressional race, including invitations to canvass for Neal in communications paid for by the state Democratic Party.
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