MA: Cahill and Loscocco Make their Opening Gambit

The Metro-West Daily News reports on a press conference held by former Democrat and independent gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts, Tim Cahill, and his running mate, former Republican Paul Loscocco:

State Treasurer Tim Cahill formally announced yesterday that he was picking town resident and former state representative Paul Loscocco as his running mate in the upcoming governor’s race.

At a press conference at the Historical Society, the two said they aimed to run a campaign that would focus on transcending partisan politics for the sake of fixing the battered state economy and creating jobs.

“The stuff that separates us is so minimal and it’s a shame to let it get in the way,” Loscocco said after formally unenrolling from the Republican Party at Town Hall earlier in the day. “It’s strange formally unenrolling, but … voters are demanding that parties be put aside.”

Loscocco said he had the most independent voting record in the House of Representatives during his tenure there.

“I have been a lifelong Republican, but today I am making official what has always been the case,” he said. “I am and have always been an independent Republican not ruled by the politics of party.”

“We are not only going to make history, but remake Massachusetts party politics,” said Cahill, who dropped out of the Democratic Party last year to run for the governor as an independent.

. . . .

During the press conference, Loscocco said he regretted supporting Republican candidate Charlie Baker early in the race and disputed claims that he had courted Baker for the lieutenant governor spot.

“In the 2010 Massachusetts governor’s race, I initially – and mistakenly – adhered to the conventional wisdom that the party system is a reality and that having picked a side, I had to be with the candidate from my own political party,” he said.