Middlesex County

Lynne reports from the Democratic caucus to pick a replacement candidate for change agent John Buonomo.

John Buonomo, the [url=http://www.universalhub.com/node/15893]indicted and disgraced Middlesex County Register of Probate[/url], still managed to win Tuesday's Democratic primary against a slew of lesser-known opponents running sticker and write-in campaigns.

Buonomo has until Monday at 5 pm to decline the nomination, but [url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/town_info/your_vote/x1374607143/Buonomo-wins-nomination-has-not-withdrawn-from-ballot]hasn't yet done so[/url], according to the Somerville Journal. I expect Secretary of State Galvin will give him a strong push in that direction, especially since Buonomo has already been forced to resign his office. UPDATE: Buonomo officially withdrew on Friday 9/19, according to reports on Blue Mass. Group

So what happens next? We go back, way back, to the smoke-filled days before primary elections were invented. Every Democratic ward and town committee must meet next Monday or Tuesday to elect delegates to a huge county-wide Democratic caucus. That caucus will occur next Wednesday at 6:30 pm at Waltham High School, and will go through as many ballots as necessary until someone gets a majority vote. With (potentially) over 600 delegates trying to choose among five or more candidates, that could take a while.

To learn more about this process, I recommend [url=http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=12993]Kate Donaghue's post[/url] and [url=http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=12907]sco's post[/url] at Blue Mass Group.

I'll be at Somerville Ward 6's caucus on Monday, and will probably run for a delegate slot. If elected, I will be uncommitted to any candidate, as I need to learn a lot more about both the office and the people who want it.

The Globe reports that John Buonomo, Middlesex County registrar of probate, was arrested for stealing money from county copiers and change machines at the Registry of Deeds.

Why are registrars of probate still elected officials again? What great policy decisions are they expected to make? Apparently, whether to bring those coins to the bank or dump them all into a CoinStar machine.

NECN report featuring surveillance video allegedly showing Buonomo taking money from a copier:

Buonomo's official Web site. He is up for re-election this fall, but faces no opposition.

Innocent, etc.

Bruce Desmond, one of two Democratic candidates for the Middlesex County Clerk of Courts, mailed out a campaign leaflet disguised as a jury summons. I scanned in the leaflet and posted more about it [url=http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3947]at Blue Mass. Group[/url].

Until today, I was undecided about this race, but now I know that I can't vote for someone who publicly demonstrates such poor judgment.

If AG Tom Reilly runs for governor, then there's a good chance that Middlesex County DA Martha Coakley will run for DA (just as Reilly did when AG Scott Harshbarger ran for governor). If so, who would run for Coakley's seat? SCO rounds up the early contenders on the Democratic side. Many are state legislators, so there'd be a whole cascading effect.