Alan Khazei Squares off in Democratic U.S. Senate Debate

Fielding questions on everything from the economy and jobs to in-state tuition and marijuana legalization, the six Democratic candidates vying to take on Republican incumbent Scott Brown in next year’s U.S. Senate race engaged in a debate Tuesday night at UMass-Lowell.

Outside Durgin Hall prior to the debate, sign-holders were plentiful for candidates Elizabeth Warren and Brookline’s Alan Khazei, while smaller contingents were on hand to support Tom Conroy, Bob Massie, Marisa DeFranco and Herb Robinson.

Brookline resident Adam Vartiker said he’d been politically engaged in the past, but had never participated in a campaign until joining Khazei’s. He even took a semester off from Harvard to do so.

“Khazei is by far the best candidate,” Vartiker said. “I think the government needs someone to stop the stalemate. Khazei has a message of negotiation.” 

Warren supporters cheered the loudest for their candidate as introductions were made by moderator and UMass-Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan, though Khazei had the second-loudest group on hand. A panel of four UMass-Lowell students asked the candidates questions, while questions were also asked simultaneously by a focus group and via Twitter.

Khazei, the co-founder of City Year, said he believes he can win because of his experience.

“I’ve had a 25-year career of working from the ground up,” he said. “I’ve been a movement leader and a social entrepreneur.”

In response to a question on candidates’ beliefs on legalizing marijuana, Khazei quipped, “I did inhale, and I did enjoy it,” while noting that he supports marijuana prescribed by doctors for medicinal use, but not general legalization.

Khazei, a son of immigrants, said he supports undocumented immigrants who have lived and gone to school here having access to in-state tuition, noting the Dream Act should have been passed.

“We also have to give people a path to citizenship, to earn the right to participate fully in our society,” he said. 

In his closing statement, Khazei said he wants to work to empower the poor and middle classes, and be a senator who helps real people.

“I want to put the American dream back in the hands of the people who invented it — the American people,” he said.

Following the debate, Weston resident Peter Hill said he had gone into the debate undecided about which candidate to favor. He liked what he heard from several of them, and had hoped to ask a question on divorce and getting dads back into kids’ lives.

“I wanted to hear what the candidates had to say, I am curious about all of them,” he said.

Ultimately, Hill said he believes the Democratic race will come down to Khazei and Warren.

Did you watch the debate? Which candidate did you think answered the questions best?