Mark, first elected to the House in 2010, will succeed former Democratic state Senator Adam Hinds. Hinds stepped down after a failed lieutenant governor bid in the primary. Mark’s roughly 75-25 landslide win over unenrolled conservative Brendan Phair will send him to the upper house in January, where he says he wants to focus on the housing crisis as quickly as possible.
“Especially with this winter coming up and the increases in costs for fuel and energy and heating, making sure that we have every resource at the disposal of people that are in need, that nobody ends up losing a house, nobody ends up foreclosed upon, nobody ends up unnecessarily evicted that we can prevent," Mark told WAMC. "So making sure those programs are in place and fully funded is extremely important.”
Mark’s district was eliminated in the state’s most recent round of redistricting, leaving the Berkshires with just three House seats.