Democratic Party chairman Tom McGee isn't running for another term, giving Democrats a crucial opportunity to reshape their party leadership leading into the 2018 race against Gov. Charlie Baker.
The next Democratic chair will lead the effort to unseat Baker and to re-elect Elizabeth Warren to the U.S. Senate.
Among the party faithful considering a run for chair is Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, who just won his Democratic primary race. Tompkins says there could be more diversity in the leadership of the Democratic party so it better reflects its membership.
"When you talk about a diverse community and you look at the upper echelon of that organization, it's not reflective of that," Tompkins told WGBH News.
Former Sen. Ted Kennedy aide and Democratic organizer Steve Kerrigan, of Lancaster, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2014, is also considering a run for chairman.
"The field isn't set yet, and I think we should give time so that the field can get set before locking in on any particular position. I have to say that I am very partial to Steve. I've worked closely with him. I think he's very, very good," Senate President Stan Rosenberg said Tuesday during an interview with WCAP, according to the State House News Service.
Peabody's Eileen Duff, a member of the Governor's Council, the elected panel that vets judicial nominees, is also looking at the job. Former Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong and tow Democratic National Committee members, Gus Bickford and Dave O'Brien, are also reportedly considering runs.
Although he's an elected official, Tompkins said that as a law enforcement official, he wouldn't be subject to the same challenges faced by McGee, a sitting state senator who had to deal directly with the governor while leading the opposition party. When asked if he could be as effective an attack dog as a party chair that's not also an elected official, Tompkins rejected that the attack role is a primary part of the chairman's job.
"The whole attack dog thing to me, like with the negative campaigning where people say negative things about each other ... I just don't get it, you see? I don't get it," Tompkins said. The Sheriff added that "people in this country need to have each other's back, not be at each other's neck," and if the party didn't want a leader who felt that way, then he won't get elected.
Tompkins said if he did get the job, he would probably refuse the six-figure salary and only accept expense reimbursements. Instead, Tompkins said he'd want to use the funds to pay for experienced staff, including a full-time fundraiser.
Sen. Ben Downing, a Pittsfield lawmaker not running for re-election this November and a former party campaign official, told WGBH News he has no interest in running for chairman.
Former acting U.S. Sen. Mo Cowan also told WGBH News he's not interested in running for chair.
