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Gary Rucinski
Gary Rucinski (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on September 4, 2018.
Rucinski completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Rucinski earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Brandeis University in 1977 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Rochester in 1983. His professional experience includes working as a software engineer and software project manager. He began working for MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 2010. He previously worked for Bolt, Beranek, and Newman from 1985 to 1999 and for ADP/Taxware from 2003 to 2009.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 4
Incumbent Joseph Kennedy III won election in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joseph Kennedy III (D) | 97.7 | 245,289 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.3 | 5,727 | ||
| Total votes: 251,016 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 4
Incumbent Joseph Kennedy III defeated Gary Rucinski in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 4 on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseph Kennedy III | 93.4 | 60,214 |
 | Gary Rucinski | 6.6 | 4,240 | |
| Total votes: 64,454 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Gary Rucinski participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on July 15, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Gary Rucinski's responses follow below.[2]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1. Reversing climate change 2. Restoring fiscal balance 3. Influencing Defense policy to constrain costs while improving security[3][4] |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | 1. Climate change 2. Evidence-based decision making 3. Reducing income and wealth gaps between the rich, middle class, and the poor to values closer to those that existed in the middle of the last centuryCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Gary Rucinski answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | I look up to Marshall Saunders, the founder of Citizens' Climate Lobby, because he recognizes that true change in America requires solid bipartisan majority votes in both houses of Congress and not quick wins rammed through by ignoring the democratic traditions that allowed our country to be successful for 200 years.[4] | ” |
| “ | Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Martin Luther King Jr.[4] | ” |
| “ | 1. Courage 2. Creativity 3. Humility[4] |
” |
| “ | 1. Courage: I am a climate advocate and unfazed by any challenge 2. Creativity: I am a change agent who has improved government return on investment by bringing new practices to the workplace 3. Humility: I know my limitations and am more interested in getting things done that worrying about whether I get credit[4] |
” |
| “ | Go out and build political will in the Congress and in the district for the policies most needed to address the critical, chronic challenges facing our country beginning with climate change[4] | ” |
| “ | 1. A candidate can beat even a wildly popular incumbent based on campaign message of addressing climate change 2. Addressing climate change is not complicated or painful, but instead simple (relying on emission reductions, increased natural sequestration, and being prepared for the worst) and win,win,win, all the way down 3. Officeholders are responsible for actively building deep political will for the issues that are important to them, in the district and in the Congress rather than waiting for polling to tell them when it is safe to act[4] |
” |
| “ | The assassination of President Kennedy when I was eight.[4] | ” |
| “ | It is filled with members who have the most potential to be in regular contact with large numbers of their constituents. Because all of its members are up for election every two years, it should be the institution most in touch with the pulse of the country. But also, because of the two year election cycle, it is the institution least likely to understand the long term implications of its actions, leading to tensions with the Senate. Nonetheless, the House should not automatically defer to the Senate, and House members should proactively build political will for the issues they believe require action to put pressure on Senators to join them in acting.[4] | ” |
| “ | Not necessarily in this day and age. Our politics has become so partisan and divisive, that I believe our country would benefit from Senators and Representatives with the courntry's interests at heart rather than the interests of the two major political parties. Having said that, I believe my experience as a citizen activist over the last seven years has provided me with insights that will help make me an effective Representative from day one.[4] | ” |
| “ | 1. Building the political will and taking the actions necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change 2. Reducing income and wealth inequality 3. Healing the racial and religious divides that are being exploited and exacerbated by the current administration and its allies[4] |
” |
| “ | Yes[4] | ” |
| “ | I am against term limits[4] | ” |
| “ | I favor the concept of independent, nonpartisan commissions handling redistricting for now, but would like to see a move towards ranked choice voting in multi-representative districts in the medium term[4] | ” |
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
I am a progressive Democrat working to ensure that neither we, our children, nor future generations have to experience the worst effects of climate change. In office I will build a bipartisan majority that will vote to rein in greenhouse gas emissions by implementing a gradually rising fee on emissions and returning 100% of revenues to households equally; promote regenerative agriculture and range land management techniques that sequester carbon dioxide and rebuild healthy ecosystems; and fund creation of a new federal department, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Earth (ARPA-Ea), to research approaches for preserving critical ecosystems threatened by climate change and measures of last resort in case emission reductions and carbon sequestration do not happen quickly enough. I choose to run for office because the window is closing on our chances of avoiding the worst effects of climate change (if it is not already closed). I knew that 2018 would be another national election year in which the only mentioned of climate change would be about how little climate change was mentioned. Once I realized this wouldn't be the case if someone ran on a platform of acting on climate change, I knew that I had to run for the sake of my children, their peers, and future generations. Is there anything you would like to add? I have worked in hi tech in the Boston area for 35 years including more than two decades in the defense industry. I began volunteering with Citizens' Climate Lobby in 2011 and have been the Northeast Regional Coordinator and Massachusetts State Coordinator. With CCL, I have traveled to Washington, DC, nine times in the last seven years and held about 50 meetings with members of Congress from across the nation. I have seen firsthand how slowly the policy conversation on Capitol Hill is happening compared to how quickly the climate is degrading. There is literally no time left to lose and that is why I am running.[4] |
” |
| —Gary Rucinski[1] | ||
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District election, 2018
- Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on July 15, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Gary Rucinski's responses," July 15, 2018
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
