The Berkshires sends four legislators to Boston to represent the Westernmost region of Massachusetts — three state representatives and one state senator shared with three other counties.
The incumbent Democrats who represent the 1st and 2nd Berkshire State House districts – John Barrett and Tricia Farley-Bouvier, respectively – face no opposition as they seek new two-year terms.
In the 3rd Berkshire District, the retirement of Democratic State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli after two decades in office has resulted in a rare contested election in South County.
After winning a three-way primary race, Great Barrington selectboard vice chair Leigh Davis will represent the Democratic Party on Election Day. Davis says her experience in local government, working with an affordable housing nonprofit, and being a single mother has prepared her to head to Beacon Hill.
“I've raised three kids here, single handedly, from the time that they entered Muddy Brook Elementary school to now, when they're off in college and working," said the candidate. "And so, I've dealt with a lot of issues that people are facing right now. So, it could be issues with mental health. It could be issues with substance use, affordability. Childcare is huge, transportation. So, I really, through that thread line, I know what families are going through. And then on a parallel track, I've been a director of development on an $80 million revitalization of a paper mill. So, I've done the economic development. I sit on the 1Berkshire board, I sit on the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 advisory council. So, economic development is something that I’m embedded in.”
Marybeth Mitts of the Lenox select board is running as an independent after missing the deadline to enroll as a Democrat. She has since framed her independent status as a unity message to all residents of the Southern Berkshires.
“I'm probably going to align myself with the Democrats, because they're the majority. My personal agenda is very progressive," said Mitts. "I have three daughters, two of them are queer. I believe very strongly in a woman's right to choose, because I have three daughters, and I had that right growing up and they don't. It's really, really frustrating. So, I am going to be fighting tooth and nail to preserve women's health, to making sure that there are housing options available for everybody at every income level, and that there are mental health resources available for everyone in the community.”
In the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire District State Senate race, Democrat Paul Mark is seeking a second two-year term in the legislature’s upper chamber after spending over a decade in the House. Mark says he’s proud of his first term in the Senate and has the receipts to show his impact in Western Massachusetts.
“We've been able to bring a majority of the Senate to this district. I can't imagine any of my predecessors were able to do that," said Mark. "As far as I'm concerned, it's the first time I've ever seen such a thing, and I think it's had results. I think we've had results in funding available for rural communities and the attention being paid to rural communities, and it's kind of bridged the gap between East and West, Boston and the Berkshires.”
Eastern Massachusetts Republican longshot candidate David Rosa is hoping voters will want to send a message to majority Democrats in Boston.
“It's not necessarily to peculiar Paul Mark, but it is to offer the people of Western Mass an alternative," he told WAMC. "I feel, right now – and they're not alone in this, by the way – they have somebody who's essentially a party puppet and in a rubber stamp for a state government that has become callous not only to its own constitution, but to the Constitution of United States, and is showing little care for the poor, the working poor and the middle class.”
As America braces for the outcome of yet another bitterly fought presidential race, Mark says he’s confident that the people of Western Massachusetts will pull together either way and noted that divisive elections aren’t novel in American history.
“The third presidential election, you had the vice president running against the secretary of state, and then the fourth presidential election, the vice president who came in second then challenged the incumbent president and the incumbent president lost," said the state senator. "So, I mean, it's always been a politically charged atmosphere. It's nothing new, but every time that I can remember, except the most recent election, after that election was over, people found a way to find consensus and found a way to coalesce. And I think it's time to refine that and then unify and heal as a nation and figure out, what are we best at, what makes us stronger, and how do we get there together.”
In Pittsfield, the largest municipality in Berkshire County, more than 27% of the city’s almost 33,000 registered voters have already early voted through the mail or in-person balloting. Across Massachusetts, almost 32% of the registered electorate voted early.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday.
