In an otherwise uneventful debate, the Republican nominee for State Representative, Kelly Pease, used his rebuttal time to accuse three-time loser for the 4th Hampden seat, City Councilor Dan Allie, of playing “dirty politics” on the televised event on Wednesday night. Although Allie was not present at the debate, Pease is no doubt rattled by Allie’s recent indications in the Westfield News and social media that he is contemplating running as a write-in candidate. In his posts, Allie indicated that he is praying for “God’s wisdom” to determine if he should run. Allie, who has attracted the fervent support of evangelicals by wearing his religion on his sleeve, would most likely do severe damage to Pease’s general election chances.

The seeds of the feud between Pease and Allie were sown shortly after the election when Allie hinted, with no direct evidence, that there may have been voting irregularities. Allie also attacked Pease for a mailing sent out by a political action committee with ties to Charlie Baker called the “Massachusetts Majority” political action committee, the same committee that donated $19,893 for a direct mailing for Don Humason when he ran for senator. It’s no secret there is a long-standing feud between the Baker administration and the more radical elements in the Republican Party.

Allie says he met with Humason who said he had nothing to do with the mailing done on behalf of Pease, which used a likeness of Humason and his son, Quinn. Allie has questioned why Pease did not disavow the mailing as soon as it came out. In a recent letter to the editor in the Westfield News, Pease has stated that Humason advised him not to say anything as it is illegal for a political action committe and candidate to coordinate. It’s unclear that a disavowal of a mailing might be considered to be coordination.

However, Westfield political insiders say that that Mayor Humason, like Baker, takes a more pragmatic approach to politics and has a distaste for the more radical brand of Republicanism that has cropped up in Westfield over the past few years, represented by the likes of Allie, Andrew Surprise, Matt Emmershy, and Nick Morganelli. Still, the radical Republican streak runs strong in Westfield, and Humason must be careful not to isolate that constituency. Although it’s strongly suspected Humason encouraged Pease to run for office to help defeat Allie, that’s not something Mayor Humason could ever state publicly without losing significant political support in the city.

We will continue to follow these events and provide commentary as developments unfold. Stay tuned for more.

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