State rep race: Where Delisio, Frieden and Tarr stand on the audit, the gun law and ICE

The three candidates for state representative in the Fifth Essex District sat down for 15 minute interviews with the League of Women Voters of Cape Ann, and the video went online Wednesday, Oct. 15, two days before early voting began. The questions were suggested by League members and were not given to the candidates in advance, the League said.

The district covers Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. On the Nov. 3 ballot, as the state lists them:

• Christina Delisio of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Republican
• Gil Frieden of Essex, Transparency Inclusion Environment
• Andrew "Dru" Tarr of Gloucester, Democrat, who won the seat in the March 31 special election

You can watch the full interviews (38 minutes) on 1623 Studios' YouTube channel or on the League's website, lwvcapeann.org. Here is what each candidate said, in their own words, and what did not come up.

At a glance

Positions as each candidate stated them in the interviews, listed alphabetically. Their full answers follow.

The audit of the Legislature

Christina Delisio said the Legislature should have listened to voters.

"72% said, 'Hey, we want to open up the books and see what you're doing.' And it's not about trying to find money. ... It's just about transparency and responsiveness of who we elect."

She said the bill now in committee "precludes the auditor from going and using judicial review," and she pointed to this year's Question 1, which would put the Legislature under the public records law, as "the next best thing." She said, "Massachusetts is the only legislature in the country that is not subject to the public records" law.

An attorney, she said she wrote an amicus brief supporting the auditor "unlike my opponent, one of my opponents," and she said "the person that's actually in office right now" voted "against the people."

Gil Frieden said the audit should go forward as voters approved it.

"My position is that 72% of us voted yes and it should happen. ... Auditor DiZoglio should be able to get the information she needs and do the audit she wants."

He said he fears this year's Question 1 "might have the same fate," passing at the ballot box and then being stalled by the Legislature. "That's what's so scary about politics," he said, "the people are passing ... ballot measures that are supposed to become laws and the legislature is invalidating them."

Dru Tarr said the 2024 vote "means that an audit needs to take place" and that the dispute is over its scope.

"I firmly believe that a financial audit conducted by the auditor would be completely constitutional. It's completely reasonable."

He said the Legislature already has an outside firm audit it every year.

He said the House bill gives the auditor the four areas she asked for in her court filing, including "non-disclosure agreements, financial agreements and the books of the House." What he opposes, he said, is the auditor reviewing "how bills are passed, how committees are formed," which he called "legislative functions that the Constitution reserves specifically for the Legislature." He said he explains his view at length on his campaign website.

Question 9: the 2024 gun law

Christina Delisio: No. "This new law is really confusing to understand and in my opinion, it makes law-abiding citizens subject to things that just aren't necessary." She said that so far no training courses besides the State Police's are approved.

Gil Frieden: Yes. "I'm so proud of Massachusetts' gun record in terms of having not a lot of gun deaths." He said his campaign website lists how he will vote on all nine questions: "I'm voting yes on all of them except for two."

Dru Tarr: Undecided. "I've got to be honest, I'm still a little up in the air on this question." He said the law passed before he took office, that he owns a firearm himself and that he wants to keep Massachusetts' firearm safety record "in a way that's constitutional and that's reasonable for firearm owners."

Question 4: registering to vote on Election Day

Christina Delisio: No. "I believe that there's plenty of time for people to register and to vote in advance. ... I just don't think there's a need for it."

Gil Frieden: Yes. "Increasing access to the ballot is paramount." He said turnout in the March 31 special election was under 25% and added, "If there's one person that wants to vote on Election Day, let's sign them up and have them vote."

Dru Tarr: Yes, with safeguards. "We don't want someone going from Gloucester voting, going to Rockport saying, 'Oh, I just moved into town,' voting." He said he has talked with the city and town clerks about it.

ICE detentions in our communities

Christina Delisio said the PROTECT Act was "a great job" but "didn't go far enough," and she backed ICE's role. "We don't want our communities in fear, but we do need to seek and find dangerous criminals to protect us all, immigrants and citizens alike."

Gil Frieden said he is a leader with the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts, which runs a hotline that sends volunteers to "bear witness" when someone reports an ICE detention. "We're not trying to stop or fight or anything." He added, "I would love to abolish ICE." He told the story of a family friend from Iran, helped to come to the United States by his mother in 1972, who went on to teach engineering for 44 years.

Dru Tarr said the detentions are "really, really troubling to me." He said the federal government "really seems like they're just trying to cause terror in communities," and that he has heard from citizens "afraid to go about their day to day lives." He said the PROTECT Act helps, but federal law enforcement often supersedes state law.

Reaching constituents

Delisio and Frieden were asked how they would communicate with people in all four towns. Tarr was not asked this question in his interview.

Christina Delisio said she would like to send a regular newsletter, post on social media and hold office hours. She said that last month she went to posted office hours "and no one was there." "I have a palm card. It has my email and it has my phone number on it. I am accessible all the time."

Gil Frieden said a state representative is "our customer service rep," a lesson from his 16 years in banking. "However people wanted to be communicated with," he said, adding that people can find him at the senior center at least once a week.

In their closing words

Each candidate had 60 seconds to speak to voters.

Christina Delisio named "affordability, accountability and local control" as her three pillars, said she has signed a taxpayer pledge not to raise taxes, and said zoning changes such as MBTA zoning and accessory dwelling units should come to communities "in a standalone bill and not piled into an omnibus bill."

Gil Frieden read a poem he wrote in the style of "First they came," ending, "And then they came for the ballot and there was no one left to ensure that my vote still mattered." He said he would bring "frontline community work and that real world financial experience to Beacon Hill."

Dru Tarr said he has served about six months after nearly 10 years on the staff of former Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante. "Housing affordability is a huge, huge part of what the work we're doing right now," he said. "We want to make sure that Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Essex are a good place to live."

What they did not discuss

The League's questions focused on the audit, two ballot questions, immigration enforcement and constituent service. Several issues that shape daily life on Cape Ann did not come up, so these interviews do not tell voters where the candidates stand on them.

Where to find more. The Cape Ann Current sent all three candidates the same written questionnaire on Oct. 2, covering housing, the working waterfront, the coast, town budgets and school aid, transportation, a first bill and all nine ballot questions, with a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16. Gil Frieden's answers ran Oct. 6: read them in his own words. Dru Tarr sent his answers Friday afternoon, before the deadline: read them in his own words. Christina Delisio did not answer the questionnaire by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline and politely declined to comment. If she sends answers later, we will publish them the same way and update this write-up.

How to vote

• Early voting: Saturday, Oct. 17, through Friday, Oct. 30. Hours differ by town.
• Register to vote: by Saturday, Oct. 24.
• Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Find your polling place, early voting hours and every race on your ballot in our free voter guide, see the Fifth Essex race page, or read our write-up on the state's voter booklet and the nine ballot questions. The candidates also met in a public forum at Gloucester High School on Oct. 13.

About the League of Women Voters of Cape Ann

The Cape Ann Current does not endorse candidates or ballot questions and does not accept political advertising.

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