Mendacities cast a pall over the Senate race. (still via YouTube/Focus Springfield)

From the moment the contest began the subtext—and sometimes outright text—of the Hampden Senate District’s Democratic primary would be who could represent it best. Therefore, it was probably fate that the battle between Senator Adam Gomez and Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown would take a nasty turn. That happened mid-August, weeks before the September 3 primary.

With little money and a peculiar charge that Gomez ignores swaths of the district, Brown’s primary challenge had seemed quixotic. Yet, it took a less civil turn as Brown booed Gomez at a nonpolitical event. Gomez’s camp them dumped out its opposition file on Brown. It all culminated with an August 15 Focus Springfield debate replete with charges and countercharges from each candidate.

In his earlier public remarks, Brown had implied that Gomez, the Senate’s first member of Puerto Rican heritage, only concerned himself with the city’s Latino population. On Thursday, Brown escalated the attacks alleging, without evidence, that Gomez’s campaign spending was improper, and that the senator had been in prison.

“Well, you’re cooked bro. I’ve never been incarcerated in my entire life, thank you,” Gomez, 41, said.

Gomez acknowledged he had been arrested at age 17 for marijuana, but never sent to prison. As a senator, he advocated for the blanket pardon Governor Maura Healey advanced this year.

Four days before the debate, an ally of Gomez’s submitted complaints to state campaign finance and ethics regulators, as well as the Massachusetts Attorney General and Springfield Election Commission alleging a panoply of violations on Brown’s part. The accusations ranged from serious to piddling, but some included compelling evidence.

During the debate, another Gomez ally distributed a list of items Brown should not have voted on as an employee of the legislature. Brown is an aide to State Representative Bud Williams.

The Hampden Senate district includes over seven-eighths of Springfield and the southerly precincts of Chicopee.

The Hampden Senate district in goldenrod. (via malegislature.gov)

Gomez came to the Senate by way of a primary challenge to then-Senator James Welch in 2020. He has established a progressive reputation on Beacon Hill while remaining present in Chicopee and Springfield.

The salient background may be their time on the Springfield City Council. They had had been colleagues for just over a year. Gomez joined the Council in 2016 after defeating another incumbent. Springfield’s Latino population is now citywide, but Gomez’s Ward 1 is that cohort’s historical home. Although no establishment pol himself, Gomez’s family has deep ties in city politics.

Brown, the son of a cop, filled the ward seat E. Henry Twiggs was vacating. (Twiggs would die before completing his term). Though no longer monolithically African-American, it includes the historic heart of Black Springfield in Mason Square. His boss, Williams, represents a district that includes the same area.

Brown suggested that Gomez was only representing Latinos early in the campaign. It is not an accident that Brown pulled papers shortly after Gomez forced Mayor Domenic Sarno to compromise on a legislative package related to Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers. Sarno needed an age waiver for Akers that needed Beacon Hill’s greenlight for Akers. Gomez used his leverage in the Senate to stop the mayor’s push to permanently gut the Police Commission.

At the debate, Brown claimed—falsely—that Gomez was trying to derail the appointment of Springfield’s first Black police leader amid an increase in crime.

“He doubles down and he goes and he berates the whole city council to try to block the first black—chief—superintendent,” Brown said momentarily referring to the former title for Akers’s role.

Shorter Gomez reply to Brown’s claims: “WTF?”… (WMP&I)

Gomez rejected the suggestion that he opposed Akers. Even as he played hardball with the mayor, in February Gomez aired support for Akers. The senator then fired back accusing Brown’s boss—and by extension Brown himself—of dropping the ball on the bill to let Akers continuing serving until age 70.

Williams “got it to me on the last moment, at the last hour, on the 29th and we had had to push it through,” Gomez said.

The bill had languished in committee for months before finally passing the House on July 29. The Senate passed it on July 31, the last day of the scheduled formal session. Governor Maura Healey signed it August 7.

While the early tone set the stage, the sharpness took physical form on August 6. Brown and Gomez both appeared at a National Night Out event in the Upper Hill neighborhood’s Sam Bolden Park. National Night Out, which aims to build police-community relations, would be neutral ground, especially since both men represent the area on separate levels of government.

Williams, who also represents Upper Hill and was present, handed the microphone off to Gomez. As he began to speak, Brown began booing and gesturing thumbs-down. Gomez spliced and posted the video of the interaction to include former President Barack Obama admonishing a crowd, “Don’t boo, vote.”

Hours after Gomez posted video of the booing, Brown posted an endorsement video with Mayor Sarno. The rather odd video, set to uplifting Muzak, showed a slightly rain-sodden Sarno praising Brown as a “good-hearted young man.” Brown, 51, is ten years younger than the mayor.

By Sunday night, Jynai McDonald, Gomez’s campaign manager, filed the complaints. The allegations include campaigning on state time and using state resources—the seal of the Commonwealth—in campaign materials, and voting on issues pending before his employer (the legislature). Another complaint allege his signs are on public property.

The email also makes claims about Brown fundraising, which he cannot do for himself as a public employee, and campaigning on state time. While it supplies evidence, these claims are less conclusive.

Brown came to the debate armed with accusations. (WMP&I)

The Republican published most of the allegations ahead of of the debate. Perhaps, for that reason, Brown began the debate ready to attack.

Focus Springfield, the city’s community access station, hosted the debate with former Reminder Managing Editor Mike Dobbs as moderator. The media panel consisted of The Republican’s Jeannette DeForge, New England Public Media’s Adam Frenier, Reminder Managing Editor Chris Maza and WMP&I’s Editor-in-Chief Matt Szafranski.

At various points, Brown alleged that Gomez had no relationship with Governor Healey because Gomez had backed an “unqualified” candidate. This appears to be a reference to Sonia Chang-Diaz, who briefly ran for governor after 14 years in the state senator.

“I’m sure [Governor Healey]’s not too happy of [sic] the fact that he went against her,” Brown said. By contrast, he asserted he had a “great” relationship with Healey.

Gomez did endorse Chang-Diaz, but before Healey even entered the race. Chang-Diaz dropped out before the primary and Gomez claimed that Healey supported him. A spokesperson for Healey and her campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Frenier asked the candidates about State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s proposed ballot question that would let her audit the legislature. Both were supportive, but Brown used the opportunity to veer into an attack on Gomez. He suggested DiZoglio’s office audit Gomez’s campaign finance expenditures—which is not the Auditor’s remit—because of how much the senator had spent at restaurants.

“If you were to audit the Senators actual campaign fund, you’ll see that he spent almost $20,000 on food,” Brown said. Among the establishments Brown blasted Gomez for patronizing were Hooters and Shake Shack. He repeated the former’s name throughout the debate and in social media posts later on.

During the Lincoln-Douglas part of the debate, Brown asked whether such spending was an “ethical and good use” of campaign money.

It is unclear how Brown reached that $20,000 figure. Gomez’s campaign recorded two visits at Hooters in 2017 and 2018. The notes indicate both outings were meetings with Council colleagues. The combined cost was $118. Gomez also spent just under $49 at Shake Shack in 2021.

As for the propriety of using campaign funds for meals, Massachusetts campaign finance law is rather permissive as to the use of campaign funds. Buying meals for staff, colleagues and even the candidate, provided compliance with other rules, is generally okay. Whether such spending is a good use is subjective. Perhaps, the answer would be in the negative if a meeting over lunch went badly.

Nevertheless, Brown cut and shared a video of him lobbing this bomb at Gomez.

Gomez largely ignored the issue when it first came up. He said he has worked with DiZoglio to support her ballot question—and asserted he has her support. Later, Gomez took pains to clarify that this was his campaign’s money not public dollars.

Miss me on the campaign trail, yet? (still via Focus Springfield)

Many have suspected Sarno had long had a hidden hand in Brown’s campaign. However, the mayor’s influence was clearest in Brown’s misleading accusation that Gomez had voted to defund the police by $1 million. Sarno leveled a similar, false charge against his mayoral challengers last year. However, of that amount, only $75,000 stood outside either consensus or concerns about corruption in contracting.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the Council moved to cut the police overtime budget by $125,000. Sarno agreed to put that money into a new Office of Racial Equity. The Council cut $200,000 instead despite Sarno’s protest. Councilors also cut $800,000 with the intent, if not the effect, of derailing a lease agreement for a police shooting range the majority felt only benefited Sarno contributors. Brown opposed both cuts. Gomez supported them.

In addition to restating McDonald’s claim about ethics violations, Gomez said Brown had cast Council votes over two dozen times this year on items related to state legislative action. The list a Gomez campaign staffer distributed includes some potential violations. Others might be closer calls as the Ethics Commission differentiates between general and special legislation when assessing conflicts.

One potential example may be voting on the home rule petition to waive mandatory retirement for Superintendent Akers could violate the law. Accepting grants that come from the state budget may not. The debate is somewhat academic, until the Ethics Commission responds to the charges against Brown.

Despite how nasty the race has become in its last weeks, the dynamics have not changed. Gomez retains a large fundraising advantage. Despite the mayor’s backing Brown, Gomez has secured endorsements of other mayors including Chicopee Mayor John Vieau and Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia. This is to say nothing of councilors, most of Gomez’s legislative colleagues, and statewide figures.

At the debate, Brown promised an ad with Sarno. Despite the local market’s cheap rates, he probably could not afford to flood the airwaves. Regardless, as of this posting WMP&I could not identify any Brown campaign broadcast contracts nor has his campaign purchased ads on Facebook or Instagram according to their parent company’s ad library.