September 30, 2014 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Courting votes at the country’s most lucrative fishing port, Democrat and Republican candidates cast themselves as opponents of federal fishing regulators.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Martha Coakley and her Republican opponent Charlie Baker’s running mate Karyn Polito attended the Working Waterfront Festival on Saturday, as did U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, Democratic attorney general candidate Maura Healey and Republican treasurer candidate Mike Heffernan.
Coakley and Baker are facing three independents in the race for governor: Scott Lively, an anti-gay Springfield preacher; Jeff McCormick, an investor; and Evan Falchuk, who made a career at a health diagnostics company.
The festival highlights the fishing industry, offering tours of boats and demonstrations of net-making and scallop shucking. Democrats, who often defend environmental regulations, have aligned themselves with the fishing industry against what they have said are catch limits with a murky scientific foundation based on old systems of measurement.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times