Ending weeks of speculation, State Representative John Barrett of the 1st Berkshire District says he’ll seek re-election to the State House this year. Barrett has held a succession of public offices in Berkshire County since the 1970s, most notably serving as mayor of North Adams – the hub of the Northern Berkshire constituency he represents in Boston – for over a quarter century from 1984 to 2009. He’ll face challenger Andrew Fitch, the Vice President of the North Adams City Council, in September’s Democratic Primary to stay in the 1st Berkshire seat he’s held since winning a special election in 2017.
After Fitch made his announcement on February 3rd, the incumbent initially declined to confirm or deny his plans for re-election. Now, in an exclusive interview with WAMC, Barrett laid out his argument for why voters in the 1st Berkshire District should send him back to Beacon Hill - and why his experience makes him the best candidate to steer the region through a turbulent time.
WAMC: So, State Rep Barrett, you have announced your reelection bid for the 1st Berkshire seat- Walk us through this. What's going into your thinking as you seek another term on Beacon Hill?
BARRETT: Well, I think the biggest thing that influenced my decision was the need for experience and leadership at this point in time, especially coming from the furthest removed district in the state of Massachusetts from the State House. It's important. I think the relationships that I've established over the past several years, along with the positions of leadership that I've held as being chairman of two different committees has allowed me to have access to better things for my district.
Yeah, when you think about things you brought to the 1st Berkshire District that you think speak to your record, what are some examples that come to mind?
Well, I think the big thing is, in the last session, I was number one in the legislature in bringing money back to the district through earmarks in the budget. I saw that opportunity, we've been very successful in receiving other state grants and making sure that they help agencies such as the Berkshire Food Project and also our food pantries, but as well as our businesses. I think we worked hard to save a couple of the nursing homes up here, making sure that they had adequate funding despite the cuts we were receiving from the federal level. I think the other thing that's very important is the work that we did to get them North Adams Regional Hospital redesignated as a critical care facility, and that's very important to our economy. But there's so many things that have been going on, and that's probably why I'm a little late to the game here in announcing.
When you think about the challenges ahead for the district- You're talking about the importance of experience right now, in this environment of federal cuts and a lot of uncertainty, and moving ahead with conflict in the Middle East and just sort of a very chaotic world. What are you looking out for here in the Northern Berkshires when you think about those challenges?
Well, there are challenges, and they're very serious, especially what's coming from Washington. What's coming on the on the world stage is going to have a very serious negative impact on what's happening here in Massachusetts. I think one of the number one areas that I also want to be concentrating on is making sure that there's equity in education funding for our schools here, especially in Berkshire County. I don't believe that the what we've been doing over the past few years is even close to being adequate. The Student Opportunity Act that was passed in 2019 just isn't cutting the mustard, and we've got to do more to make sure that there is equity throughout the state of Massachusetts in educating our kids.
Now, there is a declared candidate in this race, Andrew Fitch of North Adams. When you think about that path ahead in the primary battle and articulating why you're the right pick for voters, what are you going to put out there to folks who are going to be seeing another option in this race?
Well, I think the important thing is, I don't know much about Andrew and his in his career or anything. I've only met him in the past several months for the first time. But what I'm putting forth is this is the time that we can need, I think, more than anything else, experience and leadership, and most importantly, the relationships that I've built up, not only in the county with the people that I'm representing in my district and the leaders in those communities, but also statewide, the relationships that I've established there. They're so, so very important in bringing things back to the district. And I've been lucky, and I've been successful, but I've worked it hard.
And as far as the issues you want to bring to voters and talk to people on the campaign trail, what do you want to talk to people about as you go out there to seek another term?
Affordability, I think, is the number one thing. I've been very active in fighting our utility companies dating back to 2023 when we brought about changes in the DPU and how they were setting rates, and what is happening in the past several months, with what's been going on, was predicted back then. And if they had listened to some of us that we're trying to change the way that rates were approved in this state, we probably wouldn't be in the situation that we are today, but I think the cost of utilities, affordability all the way around, and now it's even going to get worse with what is happening unfortunately in the Middle East. We're going to see rising fuel prices, we're going to see rising gas prices, and in turn, that's going to impact food too. So, we're not a wealthy area, so that's going to be one of my main concerns. But I've been talking about affordability long before it became popular.
State Rep. John Barrett of the 1st Berkshire District. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Josh.
