MASSLIVE: Ballot listing non-candidate could confuse voters, state rep. hopeful Mindy Domb says

AMHERST - Mindy Domb, who won the Democratic primary for the 3rd Hampshire District in September, said she's not worried about losing the general election Nov. 6 to incumbent state Rep. Solomon Goldstein-Rose.

Goldstein-Rose, an independent, declared in August that he would not seek re-election. But because he missed a June filing deadline his name will still appear on the ballot. There is no Republican candidate for the seat.

Although she is presumptively the next state representative for Amherst, Pelham and part of Granby, Domb said she is "concerned about the potential confusion that can lead voters not to vote."

Voters might think, "This is not the race I thought it was. I thought she was unopposed," Domb said. She said the confusion could lead to "inadvertent voter suppression."

Confused voters might be less likely to cast ballots in the future, she said.

"We should be really encouraging voter participation," she said. "The ballot should be the most straight forward piece of paper there is. People shouldn't have to think twice."

While she doesn't have competition, Domb said she's not taking anything for granted. And while not campaigning as much as she did before the primary, she is holding coffee hours to meet voters.

The Amherst Survival Center, where Domb is the executive director, his looking for a new director to replace her when she leaves at the end of the year.

In an email, Goldstein-Rose said "there is no process to withdraw a name from the ballot once it is on. I am not running for re-election and consider the general election a formality, as it was for me two years ago."

"Anyone paying enough attention to this election to have an informed preference of candidates would know that," he said.

He said he is not doing anything to educate voters that he's not running again.

As Goldstein-Rose's legislative term winds down, he said he's still working on an Amherst home rule petition, "some constituent service, and advising climate action groups on strategy" for state advocacy.

He wrote that he's not sure what's next for him, but "it will be something focused on federal or global level work related to climate change, perhaps tied into a Presidential campaign."

Goldstein-Rose was elected as a Democrat in 2016, but switched to unenrolled this February. In April he said he planned to run for re-election, but in August said he was supporting Domb and would not seek a second term.

Domb won the Democratic primary in September, defeating Eric Nakajima 3,759-2,254.

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