Keller @ Large: How Democrats established dominance in recent Mass. elections
BOSTON – After eight years as chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Gus Bickford is set to step down from his role at the end of 2023.
Bickford sat down with WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller to discuss how the party found so much success in Massachusetts, particularly over recent years.
Since Bickford's first election cycle as chairman in 2016, the party flipped 13 seats in legislation, held every statewide office and added a Democratic governor in Maura Healey. Democrats occupy every statewide elected office, all nine House seats, both Senate seats and 171 of the 200 seats in the legislature.
"When I took over as chair, I said to the membership and I said to the activists, 'What I really want to do as chair is provide you the tools to be successful,'" Bickford said. "Every race is different. And I think we've done a really good job focusing on what does each race need, putting all those enforcements together, and then they're able to put their race over the top. I think in the end we're a better state for it."
Keller asked Bickford if he has concerns about members of the party that may be considered "too far left." Bickford said having debate within a party is healthy.
"We need to have quality debate. So I think it's really good that we have a left wing. But we also have a moderate wing," he said. "They just need to work together so they represent all of the constituents in Massachusetts and make Massachusetts better. It's a juggling act, but it's really good to have a left wing, a progressive wing, pushing us forward."
Keller @ Large: Part 2
