Massachusetts

Democratic Candidates in 3rd District Campaign on Day Before Primaries

It's a crowded race for Democrats who are looking to replace Nikki Tsongas in the 3rd district in Massachusetts

Candidates in the 3rd district made their final pleas to voters on Monday, and some took jabs at each other.

It's a crowded race for Democrats who are looking to replace Nikki Tsongas in the 3rd district in Massachusetts.

The three Democratic candidates leading the group of ten, Senator Barbara L'Italien, Daniel Koh and Rufus Gifford, all said they were feeling good on the last day of campaigning before the Primaries on Tuesday.

Over the past week, however, the tone of the opponents has changed.

L'Italien changed her focus to her competitor, Koh, a former chief of staff for Boston's mayor. She says court records show that he failed to handle complaints of sexual harassment against the now fired health and human services chief.

"Leadership is about standing up for people in their hour of need," she said. "He had an opportunity to step up and he didn't."

It's a claim Koh didn't want to get into.

"These kinds of things happen late in races," he said.

He shifted his focus to his views on healthcare, a living wage and the Trump administration.

"The president is disgraceful in so many ways, including his actions towards women," Koh said.

That was a sentiment Gifford agreed with. While he didn't want to comment on L'Italien's attack against Koh, the former ambassador to Denmark under Obama said while Trump is in office defending women's rights would be his focus in Washington.

"We need more men. We need more men to speak out on this. This is not just a women's issue, this is actually a societal issue," Gifford said.

The issue on Monday though was all about reaching every last voter before they cast their votes Tuesday.

The lone Republican in the race is Rick Green. He said he is looking forward to finally finding out who he will face in November.

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