Braintree Official 'Not Threatened' in Post-Gomez Visit Talk with Rep. Cusack

Last Wednesday evening, during a reception for retiring Superintendent Dr. Peter Kurzberg at Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy, Jim Regan said state Rep. Mark Cusack approached him, upset that Republican Gabriel Gomez had visited Regan's home earlier this month.

Gomez, running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Ed Markey, sat down with Regan's in-laws on May 14 in their apartment at the rear of Regan's house on Hobart Avenue.

Regan, chair of the Braintree Electric Light Commission, is also a member of the Democratic Town Committee.

On Saturday, an article in the Boston Herald characterized the conversation between Cusack and Regan as the state representative threatening Regan on behalf of the Markey campaign.

In an interview Saturday afternoon, Regan said that the Herald article misrepresented what happened. He said that Cusack said he had spoken with the Markey campaign, which was concerned about the visit, but that Cusack approached Regan on his own with the warning of discipline.

"Nobody threatened me," Regan said.

Spokesman Andrew Zucker denied any involvement by the Markey campaign.

"Absolutely not," Zucker said. "Our focus is on highlighting the differences between Gabriel Gomez and Ed Markey. ... Not on these ridiculous false charges coming from the Gomez campaign."

Cusack did not respond to a call Saturday afternoon.

At the end of their brief conversation, Regan said he told Cusack that he hoped he would not take any action against him within the town committee. Cusack said that he would not, Regan said.

Still, for Regan it was an unsettling exchange. Afterward, he said he spoke about it with several other people at the party and then received a call from a Herald reporter Friday.

"For Mark Cusack to say what he said to me was totally out of the blue," Regan said. "He hasn't said 30 words to me in the past four years."

Regan's relatives David and Pat Lear supported their Congressman, Democrat Stephen Lynch, in the primary race that ended with Lynch losing to Markey on April 30. Soon after, the Braintree couple reached out to the Gomez campaign.

The Lears sat down with grandson Dan Regan and Pat's sister Judy Starr at their kitchen table with Gomez for about 30 minutes. They spoke about the Balanced Budget Amendment, Obamacare and a divisive Congress.

Regan was there during the meeting, but sat to the side as an onlooker. A Patriot Ledger story noted that the conversation took place at Regan's home and that he belonged to the Democratic Town Committee – a mention that Regan said he believes started the ball rolling on the latest campaign kerfuffle.

Based on the response to the Herald story – Regan's phone was ringing all day Saturday – Regan said that if he could he would go back and not respond to the paper's questions, as the entire episode is a microcosm of problem politics nationwide.

"There was no vote taken that day," Regan said. "It was just citizens having a discussion with a candidate."