Democrats vie for open Senate seat in Southwick, Hilltowns

Date: 8/24/2022

WESTERN MASS. — Recent redistricting has removed Southwick, Granville and Tolland from the state Senate district they long shared with Agawam and Westfield, and thrust them into the middle of a contested Democratic Party primary race for an open seat.

In the Sept. 6 primary election, Paul Mark and Huff Templeton are seeking the nomination for the sprawling district that includes all of Berkshire County and several towns in western Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties. The district, currently represented by state Sen. Adam Hinds, also includes Blandford, Chester, Huntington and Otis, among others. Hinds chose not to run for reelection this year.

Mark has served as the state representative from Peru for 10 years, in a district that contains 29 Berkshire County communities. Before he was in government, Mark was a lineman for a phone company. It was through his labor union that he said he became active in politics.

Mark describes himself as a “common-sense progressive” and said that he likes to be outspoken about getting people out of poverty and getting Western Massachusetts be better represented in the state government.

“Western Massachusetts always gets pushed down, but we fight our way back,” said Mark. “I want people to have opportunities no matter where they live.”

Mark said he made the decision to risk his seat in the state government by moving to the Senate when redistricting took place, and the district was nearly completely changed.

“In fighting that proposal, I said to preserve the Senate seat, I would risk my safe seat in the House,” said Mark.

He said individual senators also have more influence than an individual representative, mostly because there are fewer of them.

“In the Senate, we are 1 out of 40 instead of 1 out of 160, so we can put more impact from Western Massachusetts into legislation,” said Mark. “Coming from a town of less than 1,000 people, it is really difficult to get our voice heard.”

Mark was a lead sponsor on the Cherish Act, which raised funds for public higher education, and he was a leader on the Green Bank bill, which in part was written to coordinate financing for energy improvements and energy technology throughout the state.

Templeton is a newcomer to running for a state office, but this campaign is not his first time in politics. Templeton once served on the Williamstown School Committee, and is currently on the town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee. He is a former small business owner, after which he worked as a workforce development consultant.

“I really felt like I didn’t like the direction things were going and I wanted to step up and change the direction,” said Templeton on his reasons for running.

He said he wanted to see a united Democratic Party for the November elections, especially if the party wants to hold on to both houses of Congress and many state legislatures.

“I don’t like the way the Democrats are holding, nationally, all three branches but we are losing on Supreme Court decisions. We are losing when we should be winning,” said Templeton.

He said to win in November the party needs to come together and “hash out differences internally” and present a united front for the general election.

Templeton also said he was against the idea of “Medicare for All,” especially after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the court decision that had guaranteed a federal right to abortion.

“In a post-Roe world, it could be very dangerous. If we were to have Medicare for all, it could be used as a tool against people seeking legitimate healthcare,” said Templeton.

Both candidates will be on Democratic ballots during the Sept. 6 primary. There are no candidates on the Republican ballot. Brendan Phair, from Pittsfield, is running as an independent.

In the Senate district covering Westfield, Montgomery, Russell and other cities and towns to the east, state Sen. John Velis is unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot, and challenger Cecilia Calabrese is unopposed on the Republican ballot. They will face each other in the November election.