Election Season Kicking in Massachusetts
On September 1, many Massachusetts residents went to the polls to cast their ballots for the primary elections for the governorship and at the local state level. The biggest race from Tuesday was the Republican gubernatorial primary between Former CEO of Abiomed, Mike Minogue, and former chief administrator for MBTA, Brian Shortsleeve. Minogue was declared the winner of the primary winning by 193,921 votes while Shortsleeve won 61,558.
According to Decision Desk HQ, an election watch group, 1,225 voters voted for Minogue in the Franklin district while just 413 voted for Shortsleeve. While Shortsleeve has conceded and endorsed Minogue for the gubernatorial election, his running mate, New Bedford councilor Shawn Oliver, will move forward to the gubernatorial as Minogue's running mate.
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While many people and news agencies were covering the governor primary and the senate election between Senator Ed Markey and Seth Moulton in the Democratic primary, there were also other primaries that were occurring in the commonwealth, mainly in the south shore region. For those here at Dean College who live in the Southcoast area, some important primaries were happening last Tuesday. In 8th Bristol district, which covers parts of Fall River, Acushnet, Freetown, New Bedford, and Westport, a heated Republican primary was occurring between longtime Auchusnett resident and insurance agent Jesse St. Gelais and Westport Committee Member Christopher Thrasher.
Both candidates ran in a very contested race in 2024, with Thrasher being the Republican nominee and St. Gelais running as an independent. Both candidates lost with Thrasher losing just 261 votes against current Representative Steven Oullette, St. Gelais was in won in third place with about 19% of the vote mainly winning the district of Acushnet.
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While the primary was heated at times during the last 3 weeks leading up to the primary, in the end, voters decided to elect St. Gelais as the republican nominee for 8th Bristol. He won about 1,745 votes compared to Thrasher 1,040 votes.
St. Gelais, in a Facebook post on his campaign website thanked his supporters for his support, “Well everyone, I finally got some sleep last night. Boy, when I woke up this morning I could not help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude from every one of you who came out and supported me, I really mean it from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much...I also want to take the moment to thank my opponent Christopher Thrasher. He really did fight in a hard-fought race. You know I'm a firm believer that nothing worth having comes easy...so Chris I want to thank you for the race, I do wish you well. I know the last few weeks got a little noisy but let's put that aside. I believe there is good in everyone, and when you put your name on the ballot, put yourself out there, it's a huge commitment, trust me, you want to serve your community, that really comes from your heart, so I commend you with anyone who is willing to do that.”
St. Gelais will be running against current State Representative Oullette in the November election, Thrasher however has not made any public statement to endorsing St. Gelais in the November election.
Similarly, in 9th Bristol District, which covers most of Darthmouth and New Bedford, the Democratic nomination has been very competitive between transit manager and local bartender Edward Pacheco and Stephen Mederios. Heavy rain last Tuesday dampened the turnout for the polls, however both candidates committed themselves to going out and encouraging people to vote in the heavy rain. Pacheco was outside with about 40 supporters holding signs up for his campaign, while Mederios voted himself and was stopping at polling stations in the district.
The results were very close as Pacheco clenched the nomination with 2,496 votes compared to Mederios' 2,455 votes. Pacheco stated in the New Bedford Light, “I am grateful and looking forward to the general election as the Democratic nominee... we’re talking about the right things that resonate with the people.” It is possible for Mederios to call for a recount as it is in the margin of a recount request.
Mederios stated in the same article about the possible recount, “Tomorrow, I’m heading to UMass Amherst with my family so at this point, we’ll have to wait until I get back ... The numbers are very close.” Pacheco will face off against political newcomer for the Republican party, Chester Tam who also faced a primary against Former New Bedford city councilor Henry Bousquet.
As the Primary election has passed, the November election is starting to kick in. That means getting involved in the most important democratic process in our country's government and state government. The general elections will be held November on November 3rd with the midterm's election happening side by side with the state elections.
