While August traditionally is a time for summer relaxation, former Hopkinton Select Board chair Muriel Kramer has ramped up her campaign for the District 2 seat on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, crisscrossing the district as the Sept. 3 primary approaches.

Kramer is one of four Democrats vying for the open seat in District 2, which encompasses 37 communities from East Bridgewater to Hopkinton. Her competitors include Tamisha Civil, Sean Murphy and David Reservitz. The winner of the primary will face off against Republican Francis T. Crimmins Jr. in the Nov. 5 state election.

“The campaign is going really well,” Kramer said in an Aug. 13 phone interview with the Independent. “Because this is an open seat, this race has engendered a lot of interest because there are four candidates. It’s getting a lot of attention, which is great because a lot of people aren’t aware of what the Governor’s Council is.”

The Governor’s Council is comprised of representatives from eight districts across the state as well as the lieutenant governor, who serves as an ex officio member. Members serve two-year terms in a part-time position. They advise the governor on issues ranging from pardons and sentence commutations to the appointment of judges, clerk magistrates, public administrators, notaries and justices of the peace, among other duties.

Kramer decided to run for this office because the role “spoke to my heart.” She plans to add layers of compassion and understanding through her decisions to what can be a challenging legal and judicial system to navigate.

Kramer said she was optimistic about her chances. She noted that several Hopkinton residents told her they already voted for her through the early voting process.

Candidates connect on campaign trail

“It’s been really hard trying to get out to every town,” Kramer admitted, noting she has taken time off from her job to devote to her candidacy. “But all of the candidates are doing their best. It’s super challenging, but we’ve all gone to special events.”

Kramer said she has appeared in interviews on several public access cable stations, including HCAM in Hopkinton, Easton, Medfield and Franklin. She also participated in a debate on Aug. 7 that was held in Norfolk and sponsored jointly by several area Democratic town committees.

“It was not a hot debate,” she explained. “It was more of a chance for the candidates to differentiate themselves with answers to some of the questions.”

Focus on ‘social equity lens’

What sets Kramer apart from her competitors is her approach to the position “from a social equity lens.”

Stressed Kramer: “I am the only one who doesn’t work within the legal system, and that is important.”

Murphy and Reservitz are attorneys. Civil has worked as an associate probation officer and a community advocate in the criminal justice system.

“Because of my career in social service, I can view the situations of a person accused of a crime, the victim of a crime or even a person involved in a worker’s compensation case from a different perspective, a deeper perspective,” she explained.

One of Kramer’s goals as a member of the Governor’s Council would be to ensure that judicial and other political appointments are more reflective of the communities they serve.

“Diversity is very, very important,” she said. “One of the things I hope to see is some data and metrics to find out how people are being represented. There are open positions now, so there are a lot of opportunities to really focus on appointing people who represent different backgrounds, ethnicities and gender identities.”

Added Kramer: “The more we appoint people who are truly representative of their communities, the better the system will work.”

She noted that, because of the way the legal and judicial systems currently operate, lawyers and judges tend to form relationships that span many years.

“The truth is that, in a collegial professional system like the legal system, there is a lot of possibility for bias,” Kramer continued. “Whether we like it or not, that is how we shape our decisions.

“What I hope to do is really dig in and see the effects of systemic bias and work to correct them,” she said. “I want to make inroads and really grapple with decisions that will make the system better.”

While she noted that Massachusetts is a leader nationally in regard to social justice issues for women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities, Kramer hopes election to the Governor’s Council will allow her to contribute to even more progress.

“We need to ask lawyers where they practice,” she said as one example. “Are they getting all of their clients from one place? That shapes their viewpoint. Because of inherent bias, we know that people aren’t always prosecuted with equity.”

One area where Kramer hopes to use her background in social work is improving options for people with substance use disorders.

“I am very careful in my use of language,” she pointed out. “I use terms like ‘people with substance use disorders’ because these are people who have medical conditions. For a lot of people, their first exposure to possible treatment is through the legal system. They interact with judges, police and parole boards.

“These officials need to understand how this disease works and that there are chronic, remitting and treatable stages to this disorder,” explained Kramer. “The path to recovery is not a straight line. The judges and other officials we select need to understand that relapse is part of the recovery process and assign some people additional treatment rather than automatic punishment.”

Opportunity exists to make difference

Kramer hopes a Governor’s Council role will help her expand “who is being listened to” and “focus on destigmatizing language.”  She related this to her support of the Hopkinton Freedom Team and its focus on being an “upstander,” a person who speaks up when incidents of discrimination or bias occur.

“It is our human condition to see things as we experience them,” she explained. “We need leaders who can see things more broadly. If a crime has been committed, we need officials who will look more deeply at the circumstances. This is part of the greater movement for a reformed, more constructive system.”

Kramer said she became more cognizant of the challenges that people with disabilities face when she experienced medical issues, including a knee injury and a stroke. Activities like grocery shopping and walking her dog became more challenging.

Said Kramer: “It really made me think about how we can’t really relate to things until we actually experience them.”

If elected, Kramer said she will attend every weekly Governor’s Council meeting and “spend time thoroughly vetting candidates” for appointments by Gov. Maura Healey.

Said Kramer: “I am very hopeful that I can work with the Healey administration on the goals I described.”