Atkins kicks off her campaign for reelection

Orlando Claffey/Wicked Local staff photographer

By Patrick Ball/Staff Writer

Concord Journal

Posted Mar 31, 2010 @ 06:36 PM

Concord —

Seeking reelection for a seventh term, state Rep. Cory Atkins is knocking on wood that she doesn’t have an opponent and on doors in support of her colleagues who do.

The Democrat from Concord announced March 27 she was seeking reelection, standing beside state Rep. Jen Benson, D-Lunenburg, and U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Lowell, during an afternoon reception at Ichabod’s Café in Acton. State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, and state Rep. Charley Murphy, D-Burlington, dropped by to support Atkins and her pals.“I don’t have an opponent right now, but anyone who opposes my colleagues is my opponent, as well,” Atkins said. “I’ve always been about the next generation of politicians. I’m a den mother here. … We do foster good, strong legislators here and I want to support them.”

Introducing his mother, Dean Atkins said this year’s election is a big race for most people who currently hold office.

“A lot has gone on this year on Beacon Hill,” he said, “some of which people have been very proud of and some of which people have not been happy with. I’m happy to know that my mom has been on the right side of all of these fights.”

Dean Atkins pointed to his mother’s “courageous votes” dealing with former House Speaker Sal DiMasi and said, “more importantly, she’s been really on the ground fighting for legislation that makes a difference for these communities,” such as domestic violence issues. He spoke about the “leadership role” Cory Atkins took in passing anti-domestic violence legislation, allowing people who have been stalked or sexually assaulted to get a criminally enforceable restraining order against their perpetrators, even if they had not been in a six-month relationship with them beforehand.

“It was a piece of legislation that legislators had been trying to get passed for years and years,” he said. “It had been a bill that had been up there for 10 years and we handed it off to my mom, and she was like a bulldog.”

‘I’m hitting my stride’

Atkins was first elected to the 14th Middlesex District in a special election in 1999 and is seeking her sixth full term in office. As of her announcement Saturday, no other candidates had come forward to challenge her for the right to represent Concord, Carlisle and parts of Acton and Chelmsford.

Asked why she’s seeking re-election, Atkins, the vice chair of the House Committee on Rules, said she has a good working relationship with House Speaker Robert DeLeo and believes she can be even more effective working on issues that impact her district.

“I feel like I’m hitting my stride, that I’m in position to do a lot of good things,” she said, adding that she co-chairs the Women’s Caucus Domestic Violence Task Force. “I think I can make a difference on issues of domestic violence. It’s a huge issue, but people don’t understand how great it is.”

During her announcement, Atkins labeled herself as a “den mother” and made a pitch for colleagues Benson, Eldridge and Tsongas to get reelected to their offices.

“Fortunately, at this point, I don’t have an opponent, but Jen and Jamie and Niki do,” she said. “This is a critical race. If there is any race in our lifetime that is a definitive race, the race, that we have to get all of these people elected, it is this one.”

Atkins also spoke about a “level of anger among the electorate that I have not seen since Vietnam.”

“We’ve got to do something about all the anger,” she said. “What I’m trying to do is reinforce the good and address the anger and confusion in a positive way.”