To the editor:

There are six good people still running in the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District. How to choose? Here is my thinking.

Positions: The issues pages of all the candidates are quite similar. Medicare for all, more affordable housing, etc. As Andrew Yang has pointed out, politicians all espouse policy positions popular with their base. Nothing to see here.

“Fighting Trump”: Of course, they all pledge to fight Trump and dismantle ICE. Dan Koh has made this the centerpiece of his campaign.

Establishment Endorsements: Dan Koh has been showered with endorsements from establishment Democrats such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It used to be Democratic party policy not to weigh in on primaries, especially in safe districts, but Dan has been a Democratic “insider” for a long time. The catastrophic failure of the Democratic establishment to read the mood of the voters in 2016 and 2024 hardly makes these endorsements persuasive.

Money In Politics: Here’s the big one. The electorate, me included, is fed up with money in politics. The difference between Koh and the rest of the candidates is stark on this measure. Koh has been showered with money, over $4.5 million. Over 93% of that comes from outside the district. He leads in receipts followed by John Beccia, who loaned his own campaign $3 million, and then by Tram Nguyen at $700,000, of which 31% was from inside the district. Forty-six percent of Koh’s contributions come from out of state compared to 13% for Nguyen. While Koh has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money, analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) data indicates that Koh’s campaign received significant financial backing from employees at prominent financial and legal firms, including $64,500 from Blackstone Group and $37,000 from Bain Capital. These high-dollar contributions, along with funds from firms like KKR and Ropes & Gray, primarily originate from Boston and New York City. A substantial majority of his total funding is driven by checks of $3,500 or more. He has drawn notable contributions from executives in high-profile technology and defense-tech firms. The largest donor to an outside “independent” PAC supporting Koh (money can flow all kinds of ways) is DraftKings. (I want to credit William Dowd and the Marblehead Independent for this financing analysis. The Independent has a CD6 campaign dashboard at https://www.marbleheadindependent.com/ma-06/.)

Why Tram: If money in politics rules out Koh for me, why do I choose Tram instead of another candidate? Part of it is simply a calculation as to who has the best chance to win in a crowded field. Unfortunately, we don’t have ranked choice voting, so a primary candidate can win with as little as 17% of the vote. Polls in this contest are scarce, but there is some indication that Tram is in the top three with the two big money candidates. A second reason is Tram’s ability to connect with voters and run an effective campaign. She is amazingly personable and hard working. She won back a historically Democratic seat from Republican Jim Lyons Jr. and appears to have a well organized and effective campaign going for CD6. Finally, Tram is credited with being an effective legislator, experience which will be useful in DC.

Personally, I like all the candidates I have met and could support any of them if we had ranked choice voting, which I think is highly needed in crowded primaries. But we don’t. Money in politics is the deciding factor for me.

Richard Frenkel

Swampscott