HAVERHILL - Sam Meas, candidate for Fifth Congressional District filed more than 4,000 nominating signatures with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts last week, guaranteeing the State Street Global Advisors Executive a spot on September's primary ballot. Meas' strong numbers further ensure his status as among the frontrunners in a crowded field.
Greg Page, Field Coordinator for the Sam Meas for Congress campaign acknowledged today that over 4,000 certified signatures had been turned over last week to the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. According to the Secretary of State, the Meas campaign had collected the largest amount of certified signatures. The total amount of signatures collected for all the candidates are as follows:
Sam Meas (R) - 4010
Niki Tsongas (D)- 3617
Tom Weaver (R) - 3285
Robert Shapiro (R)- 2812
Jon Golnik - (R) 2339
Robert Clarke (U) - 2156
"With over 40 volunteers who collected over 5,600 raw signatures from throughout the district, we were overwhelmed by the amount of support Sam received from every corner of the 5th Congressional District," said Greg Page, Meas campaign field director. "We had so many good signatures that the State Secretary's office cut off accepting any more certified signatures from us at 4,010. We had a lot more available. I estimate the percentage of signatures (which were certified from the campaign's raw total) at around 85%. Many of the uncertified signatures came from registered Democrats who knew their signatures would not be counted, but wanted to sign anyway in support of Sam. This support is further proof that Sam's candidacy is resonating with voters in the Fifth District," an enthusiastic Page added."
Page stated that over 10,000 campaign "push cards" had been disseminated by the volunteers while they collected signatures and that dozens of new voters had been enrolled to vote for the first time in their lives. "We didn't need to pay for any of the signatures we collected," remarked Page in reference to campaigns that have to hire professional signature gatherers in order to get their candidate on the ballot.
The candidate himself praised Page for his "outstanding" leadership role in organizing the signature drive. "Greg and his volunteers blew me away with their hard work," said Sam Meas, who is working hard to win the Republican primary in September in order to face down in the November general election Congresswoman "Niki" Tsongas (D-MA), the Democratic incumbent. "I am humbled by all the people who have sacrificed their personal time to help me out," Meas said.
Meas himself had personally collected signatures and, in the process, gleamed first hand the issues which concerned the voters to whom he spoke. "Illegal immigration, the economy, and healthcare were the (issues) which generated the most discussion," observed the Haverhill Republican. "The anger over the status quo is intense. Voters like my positions on those issues and other issues. I've told them all that if they honor me with their vote, I will not let them down. And I won't," said an emphatic Meas.
The candidate was pleased with the gradual growth of his field organization and said he is in the process of intensifying his efforts to raise money. "It remains a challenge to me given how tough the economy is for most voters," conceded Meas. "But given an opportunity to present my case to them, I am confident that primary voters will conclude that I am the best candidate to represent the highest ideals of our district and voters in the general election will equally agree that I will represent their interests and not the extremely partisan interests of (Speaker of the US House of Representatives) Nancy Pelosi and the Washington establishment she represents."
For more information on the Sam Meas campaign, people are encouraged to check out the candidate's website at www.sammeasforcongress.com.
