A Republican State Representative has become the first announced candidate to fill a vacant State Senate seat in western Massachusetts.
State Representative Donald Humason of Westfield said he will run to succeed State Senator Michael Knapik. Humason, who has represented Westfield in the Massachusetts House for ten years, said he will run a grassroots campaign to introduce himself to the people of the much larger Senate district that includes rural Hilltowns and small urban centers.
Several Democrats from Holyoke are said to be weighing possible candidacies. Knapik, one of only four Republicans currently in the Senate is resigning before the end of his tenth term to take a post at Westfield State University
