Saunders claims 7th Hampden District seat victoryDate: 11/15/2022 WESTERN MASS. – An election night that took longer than expected for those involved resulted in Aaron Saunders beating out James “Chip” Harrington to secure the 7th Hampden District state representative seat.
The seat became available after incumbent Jake Oliveira vacated it to run for state Senate.
Saunders, his family, friends and supporters all gathered at Villa Rose in Ludlow to wait for the election results to come in live.
Belchertown and Ludlow revealed their results not too long after 8 p.m. but the northerly towns in the newly drawn district took a little longer.
“It was a great win and had Shutesbury and other towns up North began reporting their results at the same time as Ludlow and Belchertown, it would have been more of a shorter night,” Saunders said.
After three hours of patiently waiting, friends of Saunders began to see polls online projecting Saunders to win but he still did not want to celebrate too early.
After 11 p.m., Shutesbury results came public that propelled Saunders’ friends and family to consider declaring victory, but he wanted to wait until after midnight to hear the results from Wendell.
Saunders realized he had the votes to win after midnight, but Harrington did not concede until after 1 a.m. on Nov. 9.
Saunders said the reason he wanted to wait for all the official results was so that he did not replicate what happened two years ago during a race for the same seat.
In 2020, Harrington lost by a few hundred votes to Oliveira after prematurely declaring victory because of an accidental typo by the town clerk in Belchertown.
Saunders said that even though he was hesitant to declare victory, he was confident with his chances because of how well he campaigned.
“One of the things I went into the beginning of the campaign with was that 7th Hampden is the district. There is the assumption that there are new towns and old towns, but the district is the district. Wendell is as important as Ludlow as Belchertown is as important as Petersham.”
Saunders, who was born in Ludlow but has since moved to Belchertown, credited his work across the entire district for every vote and added he won every community by double digits except for Ludlow.
“I think that was a testament to the hard work and effort to represent the entire district,” he said.
While campaigning, Saunders learned that everyone in Western Massachusetts wanted their “fair share” of representation and he plans to hit the ground running immediately.
Saunders said that he looks forward to getting right to work and dealing with the issues he heard from different towns.
“I have been saying since the beginning of the campaign, working to make sure to remove public subsidies for the clear-cutting of our forests for industrial scale solar energy is going to be at the top of my list,” Saunders said.
He added, “I am also going to be working to refocus our public health spotlight to help tackle the opioid crisis. I also need to make sure the district gets their fair share of resources coming back to continue investing into the rehabilitation of the Ludlow Mills and Belchertown State School and that communities receive the funds they need for roads, bridges and schools.”
Saunders has over 20 years of experience in local, state and federal government including six years as chief of staff to former state Sen. Gale Candaras and seven years serving on the Ludlow Board of Selectmen.
In addition to his public sector work, Saunders is co-founder of Loophole Brewing and serves in several additional civic roles.
Saunders has been told he has a strong history of working collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders to get the project done, like opening the Ludlow Reservoir to the public.
On Oct. 18, Congressmen Richard Neal talked highly about Saunders, who he assumed would win the seat, while the they appeared at an event in the Ludlow Mills.
Neal said, “I know that Saunders is going to hit the ground running. He is someone who won’t need on the ground training when he gets to Boston. He will immediately know what it takes and how the handle the role as state representative.
Harrington
Following the 2020 defeat, Harrington said he did not plan on running again. However, after learning that the seat would be vacant, he decided to give it another go. He noted that the election results sparked even greater passion within him for political involvement.
Over the past year, Harrington shared that his campaigning went “very good.”
“The biggest difference [from 2020 is that] 2022 was a non-COVID-19 year,” he said. In 2020, he went door knocking, but he noted that people weren’t comfortable interacting with others. This year, between Harrington and his team, he shared that they knocked on over 8,000 doors.
He went on to say that a lot of his time was spent in the Hilltowns along with visiting the transfer stations on the weekends. For the most part, he said a lot of his campaigning was the same. “I worked my tail off,” he added.
Harrington, a lifelong Ludlow resident, has been involved in public service for 32 years. He currently serves on the Ludlow School Committee and was a prior selectman in town.
Based on his experience and efforts, Harrington went into election day with a positive outlook.
“I feel good about everything I’ve done,” he said.
He continued, “This year, there is a different mood in Massachusetts and the country. People are looking for change.” With hopes of being that change, Harrington expressed his disappointment with the Nov. 8 election results. “I’m not surprised. I knew it was going to be difficult,” to claim the victory, said Harrington.
When he began the campaign process, Harrington said he was aware that the new configuration of the district would make it difficult for anyone on the Republican side. He went on to describe himself as a “moderate, middle of the road Republican.” Regardless of his own views, he said people usually focus on the party itself. In his hometown of Ludlow, Harrington won by 68 percent. “That was a very positive takeaway,” he said. “To everyone in town – supporter or not – I am thankful to everyone.”
He went on to recognize those across the district that voted for him. “I am very thankful for their support,” he said.
After Saunders declared the win, Harrington called to congratulate him. “I’ve known him for 25 to 30 years,” said Harrington. “We had a 10-minute conversation, and I congratulated him.” Based on their familiarity with one another, Harrington told Reminder Publishing that he doesn’t look at Saunders as “just an opponent.” He shared that he plans to congratulate Saunders when he sees him in person and looks forward to continuing their election night conversation.
Throughout the race, Harrington said he believes that both sides ran a fair, respectful campaign. “That’s the way politics should be,” he added.
When asked if he would have done anything differently, Harrington replied, “Not at all. I did every possible thing I could’ve done.”
Moving forward, Harrington said he plans to remain involved and help the community in any way he can. As far as elected politics goes, he shared, “I don’t see myself doing this again.
“I still have a passion [for politics] but I don’t see a scenario where I would do it again. I enjoy what I do now,” Harrington said, which includes working full-time for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, part-time as a police officer and being enrolled in graduate school.
On top of that, Harrington has been on the Ludlow School Committee for 18 years. When his term expires in March, he said he will not run again for reelection. “I’m looking forward to stepping back and for new visions to take over,” he shared.
As his time in politics has come to an end, Harrington said, “I am grateful for the opportunity and people in the community who supported me.”
|
