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Date: 11/11/2020
WESTERN MASS. – In the Nov. 3 general election, Republican state Rep. Nick Boldyga defeated Democratic candidate Kerri O’Connor for the 3rd Hampden District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Boldyga, who has represented Agawam, Southwick and Granville since 2011, won by what he considered to be a “pretty big margin” of almost 3,000 votes, sweeping all eight precincts as well.
“It was a relatively early night for me since I had people out getting the results, so we were really happy,” said Boldyga. “And that was about 8:45 [p.m.], we knew we had won in a pretty big landslide victory.”
Despite COVID-19’s creeping presence, Boldyga told Reminder Publishing that he and his team utilized proper safety measures when campaigning door-to-door, which is something he has been doing since August.
“This year was unique for me,” said Boldyga. “It was the first primary challenge I have had, so I’ve been campaigning since the beginning of August; knocking on doors, putting out lawn signs, and that never stopped.”
When he did travel door-to-door, Boldyga said that he made sure to keep a safe distance from residents in his specific community. He said some people spoke behind the door, too, when he visited.
“In some regards, [campaigning] was almost easier, because people were more excited to pick up a phone this year, and call if they have too,” said Boldyga. “I was on the phone pretty regularly throughout the campaign.”
Most of the time, residents would call to present a state or local issue, or they would call for lawn signs and volunteering.
“There wasn’t too many challenges, but there were a couple things here and there that were a little bit different than the past,” said Boldyga.
District support and a higher voter turnout compared to the 2016 Presidential Election were keys to Boldyga’s re-election, he said, especially seeing as he received a higher percentage of votes from Agawam than he had past election nights.
“I’ve had pretty resounding victories, and that’s because I’m doing the job every day,” said Boldyga. “I’m working, I’m door-knocking in election years; I’m calling people back personally, and I think people in the district know that.”
Boldyga believes that his daily involvement with the community is much of the reason why he received 58 percent of the vote in Agawam, a city that’s registered as a Democratic community.
“I think that says a lot about me as a person,” said Boldyga. “Being responsive, being visible in the district, calling people back on a daily basis like I’ve always done, regardless of party affiliation.”
On Election Day, Boldyga and 15 to 20 of his volunteers traveled around to polling places to wave, greet supporters, and hold signs as people entered the voting location.
“This Election Day was pretty cold, so we had people out until it got dark out,” said Boldyga. “I usually have supporters go to all the polling places on election night, and get the results, and send them back to headquarters.”
Now that he’s been officially re-elected, Boldyga indicated he wants people to know that he will continue to be accessible by phone and email, which is important to him since most in-person meetings will not be an option in the future.
Currently, Boldyga said that there are going to be budgeting discussions and talks surrounding the legalization of sports betting over the next couple of months. The other short-term issue in the district, as with the rest of Massachusetts, is the high unemployment rate.
“If businesses haven’t bounced back, and there’s still a high unemployment rate, how do we get people back to work, get businesses hiring, and basically get the economy back up to where it was?” he said.
According to Boldyga, these next six months will be crucial, especially with regards to businesses reopening safely without higher taxes. These obstacles will all be discussed in the near future with other state legislature.
“My office and my door are always open if people need help,” said Boldyga. “I want them to know (people), even if they didn’t vote for me, I’m here if they have any concerns…We’re going to still come together as a community after the election.”