Lieutenant governor candidate Leland Cheung lays out enthusiastic vision for Massachusetts at Springfield meet-and-greet

Leland Cheung in Springfield

Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung met with local supporters at the International Biergarten in Springfield on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. In the background is Springfield City Councilor Orlando Ramos, who has endorsed Cheung's candidacy. (DAVE ROBACK / THE REPUBLICAN)

SPRINGFIELD — Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung's campaign to become the next lieutenant governor of Massachusetts hasn't been as proactive in holding public events as the campaigns of his opponents, but that doesn't seem due to a lack of optimism and energy on the candidate's part.

Cheung, who has served as an at-large councilor in the Boston suburb since 2009, held a meet-and-greet this week in Springfield. And although only a dozen or so supporters turned out for the event, Cheung spoke as if he was working to win over thousands, and the state as a whole, with a vision based on optimism, excitement and progressive values.

"The reason I got into this race is because the role of lieutenant governor has been under-appreciated and under-utilized," Cheung said. "To me, the office isn't a stepping stone but an opportunity in itself to dive into the issues which are important to the citizens but not on the radar of the governor."

Cheung described to the Western Massachusetts residents who met him at the International Biergarten on Thursday how he built his reputation in Cambridge as a progressive bridge builder - from the ground up. He talked about helping organize the first joint meeting of the Cambridge and Boston city councils and his promise to work to build equality across the commonwealth, regardless of area code.

"We have to think of ourselves as one Commonwealth. I see our Gateway Cities as providing an opportunity to do the most good for the most people," Cheung said, pledging to open satellite offices in cities like Springfield, Pittsfield, New Bedford and even Worcester, if elected. "Ideally, I'd prefer to serve as lieutenant governor by working on Beacon Hill only one day a week and spending the other days in the satellite offices. I think we could accomplish more that way."

Candidate for lieutenant governor and Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung. (DAVE ROBACK / THE REPUBLICAN)

Cheung talked about the ongoing immigration crisis in the U.S. and how it made him angry when the unaccompanied minors taken into custody at the U.S. border were being called illegal immigrants.

"These are refugees. These are children. People say to send them back, but to what? Many times their parents are lied to and killed," Cheung said. "Instead of thinking about how to cut up a pie that's already too small for everyone, we need to think about how to best grow the pie."

One woman in attendance who described herself as an ex-teacher asked Cheung just how he intends to pay for his policy priority of universal pre-school for all children in the commonwealth.

"I'd like to look at a more progressive tax structure in Massachusetts but if that became a sticking point, I'm flexible on it," he said.

Cheung's in-party competitors include Mike Lake, a 2010 candidate for state auditor and the current CEO of the Boston-based company Leading Cities and Steve Kerrigan, a former staffer to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and former Attorney General Tom Reilly.

As of July 31, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance reports that Cheung had raised a total of $266,820 with just $36,073 left on hand; Kerrigan had raised $261,128 with $136,299 left, and Lake had raised $117,187 with $66,821 left in his campaign account. The aforementioned totals include various amounts of cash contributed to the campaign accounts from the respective candidates themselves.

Cheung, who oddly enough was once an anti-tax Republican candidate for the state house in Virginia, finished third among the trio at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in June.

"I'm not the inside guy with a ton of endorsements. I'm the guy trying to change the system from the inside," Cheung said. "Polling I've seen shows me down by a small margin, but with so many undecided voters, everything is possible."

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