Senate Candidate Conroy Strolls Into Watertown to Talk to Voters

Tom Conroy took over a corner of the Monday to talk to local Democrats about his plan to turn the country around and, of course, beat Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

Conroy said his experience in the private sector and time working in Washington sets him apart from the other Democrats, and he said he knows Scott Brown well.

The Watertown voters and officials who came to speak to Conroy had some policy questions, but all were interested in how he proposed to beat Brown.

"I will get him into a debate with the guy and I'll bury him," Conroy said, who added that he thinks Brown makes gaffes when he has to think on his feet.

He added that he knows Brown quite well, because his House district coincides with part of Brown's district when he was a state senator.

Should Conroy win the senate seat, it would not be the first time he unseated a sitting Republican. When he was elected to the State House his district – which includes Wayland, Lincoln and Sudbury – he defeated incumbent Susan Pope and took over a seat that had been occupied by the GOP for 40 years.

Conroy works for Marsh McClennan, where he studies risk management. He also worked with firms to improve their efficiency at Mercer Management Consulting.

Attracting and investing in the live sciences is a key to building the Massachusetts economy, Conroy said. He would like the state to see some return in the investments.

"If we invest half a million dollars, we need to extract part of the equity when the firm goes public," Conroy said. "We can sell the equity and recycle it back in to the life science industry."

During the Reagan administration, Conroy went to work in Washington to try to make the military more efficient and cost less, and then worked for senators Gary Hart and Barbara Mikulski. 

He sees the military budget as something that can be made more efficient.

"We are spending too much on Iraq and Afghanistan," Conroy said. "When I was in Washington, the military budget was $300 billion and it is over a trillion dollars now."

Conroy would like to see the money save in military spending used for infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges and dams. He also would like to see the MBTA's Green Line extended to Somerville and the Blue Line extended to Lynn, as well as investment in broadband access in Western Massachusetts.

The stop in Watertown was part of Conroy's walk across Massachusetts. He has walked more than 600 miles, and after the Deluxe Town Diner he went to before heading to Newton and Brookline.