Candidate Profile:
State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien was born in the rural Western Massachusetts town of Easthampton. She currently resides in Whitman with her husband Emmet Hayes, a businessman and former lobbyist. O'Brien was elected to the state legislature in 1986 at the age of 27. She later went on to be the first woman to hold the office of state treasurer, a position she has held since 1998. She looks to have strong support among female voters, being the first woman in the state's history to be a major party's nominee for governor. O' Brien is running on her management record in the treasurer's office where she's been successful in cutting costs and reducing the Commonwealth's debt. O'Brien has gained steadily on Republican challenger Mitt Romney since winning the Democratic primary. She hopes to be the first Democrat to hold the corner office at the State House in twelve years.

An Interview with Ms. O'Brien
-- from Greater Boston

Candidate Profile:
Mitt Romney is best known for being president of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, where he was credited with fixing the financial problems that had plagued the Committee before the games. Romney was born in Bloomfield, Michigan, the son of Michigan Governor George Romney, and currently resides in Belmont with his wife Ann. Romney lost a contentious race for senate to Edward M. Kennedy in 1994. A venture capitalist, Romney is the former CEO of Bain Capital & Company. Romney ran unopposed in the Republican primary, but has lost his lead in the polls to Shannon O'Brien in recent weeks. He is running on a platform of reform, citing his experience in the private sector as qualification for fixing Massachusetts' current budget crisis. Romney hopes to be the fourth Republican governor in a row in Massachusetts.

An Interview with Mr. Romney
-- from Greater Boston

Candidate Profile:
Green Party candidate Jill Stein was born in Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Lexington. For the past 25 years she has been a surgeon and instructor in medicine at the Harvard Medical School. Stein is also currently a staff physician at Simmons College Health Center. She is co-chair of the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, where she fought against new incinerator construction across the Commonwealth. Running as an advocate for public health and environmental affairs, Stein easily qualified to be on the ballot but fell short of garnering enough small donations to receive Clean Elections funds. She is the co-author of "In Harms Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development," a nationally recognized report on the effects of toxins on children's ability to learn.

An Interview with Ms. Stein
-- from Greater Boston

Candidate Profile:
Libertarian Carla Howell is running on a platform of smaller government and expanded gun rights. Howell has spearheaded the effort to pass Ballot Question 1, which would eliminate the state income tax and return $9 billion to taxpayers. In 2000 she challenged Sen. Edward Kennedy and received 308,860 votes, 12 percent of the total number cast. In addition, she received 6 percent of the vote in 1998 when she ran for State Auditor. Howell has worked in the private sector for the past 25 years and is currently employed as a management consultant. She chaired the Massachusetts Libertarian state party from 1997 to 1999. Howell currently resides in Wayland.

An Interview with Ms. Howell
-- from Greater Boston