Tisei opens campaign office in Lynnfield

LYNNFIELD – Dennis Toto, 59, has lived on the North Shore his entire life but never once has Toto’s representative in Congress shared his views.This year, things could be different, said Toto, who is holding out hope that former state Sen. Richard Tisei will become the first Republican in 16 years to represent Massachusetts’ Sixth Congressional district.”I’m really confident he’s going to prevail,” Toto said. Toto and about 100 other Republican supporters praised Tisei at the Saturday launch of Tisei’s campaign headquarters, at 923 Lynnfield St. in Lynnfield.Tisei, a former state legislator and 2010 Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, also thinks he has a good shot at unseating U.S. Rep. John Tierney, a Democrat from Salem who has held the seat since 1996.Tisei said he thinks 2012 will be the year for Republicans to take back the seat because voters are ready for a change from the status quo to get back on track, Tisei said.”The way this country is going, we’re going to go over a cliff pretty soon,” he said.He said his low-tax-and-pro-business ideology will provide some stability to an unstable federal government supported by regulation-friendly people like Tierney.”If you’re happy with the way things are going, elect Tierney,” he said.Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Sevinor agreed Tisei could be a saving grace for the economy.Sevinor said Tisei, who owns a real-estate brokerage company in Lynnfield, is the right man to get people back to work and the country back in shape.”If we don’t make a change soon, we’re going to fall off an abyss,” he said.Sevinor was among several Lynn-area supporters who attended Tisei’s event Saturday.Robert Clay Walsh, an at-large candidate for Lynn City Council this past November, said he thinks voters are discontent with incumbents, making November 2012 a race where anything can happen.”I think people want to get back to a balance, and we’re not balanced in Lynn,” he said of the traditionally Democratic-leaning city.Hoping to ride that wave of discontent is Dwight “Dusty” Caufield, who is running as a Republican challenger against state Rep. Bob Fennell (D-Lynn) for the district representing Lynn.Like Tisei, Caulfield said drastic change is needed to improve his home district.”I either got to head out of Lynn or dig in and fight it out,” he said.Other Republican legislators who lent their support to Tisei on Saturday included state Rep. Donald Wong of Saugus and former U.S. Rep. Peter Torkildsen, the last Republican to hold Sixth District seat.”Let’s not mortgage our children and grandchildren’s future,” by keeping incumbents like Tierney in office, Torkildsen said.Tisei must first win a primary against William Hudak, who ran and lost to Tierney in 2010 and announced in March he’s running for Congress again.Item Web News Editor Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected]