Politics

Recent events on the Lowell School Committee have drawn attention to the method used to fill a vacancy that occurs on the School Committee (which is the same for the City Council, as well). Since the city’s adoption of “plurality voting” in 1959 – that’s the system in which all…

“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes…

Here’s a report on the 1989 Lowell City Election which included an “English only” referendum which prevailed by a wide margin. To see the individual candidate vote totals, please see our new 1989 City Election page. On November 7, 1989, voters reelected council incumbents Bud Caulfield, Robert Kennedy, Kathleen Kelley,…

“A Promised Land” by Barack Obama Review by Richard Howe A recent Op-Ed by psychologist Adam Grant introduced me to the concept of “motivational interviewing” (“The Science of Reasoning With Unreasonable People,” New York Times, January 31, 2021). Set in the context of arguing about vaccinations with a committed anti-vaccer,…

From time to time we will post the results of past city and state election. These will be added to our “Elections and Results” page for ease of retrieval. Today, the 1970 State Election. 1970 STATE ELECTION U.S. Senate – Edward M. Kennedy. In the general election, Democratic incumbent Edward…

The pandemic is still raging, but politics in Lowell marches on. The first city election under our new district/at-large system will take place this fall and there is already a (virtual) buzz created by committed and contemplated candidates for city council and school committee. Even though the boundaries of the…