Incumbent John Barrett III and challenger Andrew Fitch, vice president of the North Adams City Council, articulated their platforms onstage at a Williamstown League of Women Voters event in Williams College’s Pareksy Center.
Both candidates said they support a ballot measure that would permit same-day voter registration in Massachusetts, eliminating the current system that requires registration at least 10 days before an election. Barrett, who has held the seat since 2017, acknowledged that his stance has changed over time.
“I do support it back to when I was first in the legislature, but I voted no against it for one simple reason: I went to the clerks in every one of the communities that I represented, and I said, can you handle first day registration? The answer they said was no," he said. "They were unanimously opposed to it, and therefore I voted no at that particular time. Times have changed now. I can fully support same-day voter registration.”
Fitch, who has made his comparative youth a staple of his campaign, said same-day voter registration was necessary for the Northern Berkshires.
“First and foremost, it is so important that we are able to pull our younger residents into the fold, and oftentimes our younger residents need that extra support to get to the polls," he said. "Same-day voter registration, I think, would yield very positive results. It is not healthy for our democracy, for our region, to have a limited amount of people voting in our local elections.”
The candidates were asked if they support State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s long effort to audit the Massachusetts Legislature. For years, the issue has pitted the Democrats who control the state government against each other. Voters overwhelmingly supported the audit in the 2024 election, with over 70% backing it. Fitch said the audit would allow the Legislature to recast popular perceptions of the body as being closed off and inaccessible.
“I was one of many who signed this petition to get this on the ballot previously," he said. "I voted in favor of it. It has not been done, and I know the counterargument is that we do not want one branch of our government auditing the other branch of our government. I can totally understand that conflict there, and that that's actually a dangerous precedent to set. However, I do think that the legislature can just agree to audit itself instead to provide the voters what that what they actually want and get this done for the people, because it's an overwhelming majority of us who have voted in favor of this. So yes, I am in favor of at least that approach.”
Barrett both decried DiZoglio’s audit as a joke, traitorous to the state’s Democratic party, and redundant, while saying he ultimately supported it.
“I'm chairman of the committee that sends the letter to her that says it's time for an audit," said Barrett. "The letter I sent this year was, you may pick any auditing firm that you want, Ernst & Young or anybody else that's out there, to do the audits in accordance with what the judge said and what your lawyer asked for. So, this is a big Republican thing as far as I'm concerned, and it's just a game and it's a sad game that's being played, because I'll tell you right now it's just ridiculous how far this got. But do I agree there should be an audit? Absolutely. Absolutely.”
Fitch and Barrett clashed mildly over a question of how to spur development of a long-awaited and currently stalled rail access project that would connect North Adams and the Boston metropolitan area. In response to his challenger’s call for more community meetings across the Route 2 corridor to present a united front, the incumbent said Fitch misunderstood how the sausage gets made on Beacon Hill.
“Things don't just happen at the Legislature," said Barrett. "They just don't happen. It takes years sometimes. How many years did it take to build the Hoosic Tunnel? How many years did it take to build Greylock Glen? It just doesn't move that fast. But you have to be tenacious. You have to keep after them. And if you do that, it will work. Believe me, it'll work. We don't need any more damn meetings. We know what our problems are now. We got to get them to do it.”
Fitch, who biked across Massachusetts last summer to draw attention to the need for west-east rail in the commonwealth, pushed back.
“I think we need a lot more damned meetings to get this project done. I really do. I think there's much more opportunity to collaborate across the Commonwealth," he said. "And I just mentioned collaborating with all the different elected officials across the Route Two corridor- What about also the West-East Rail? That is a project that is even further ahead of this, better connecting Pittsfield to Boston through Springfield and Worcester and all the way. That's also very important for the commonwealth. How about we join forces and advocate for both projects together and strengthen the approach with that?”
With no Republican or independent candidates in the race, the Sept. 1 vote will likely determine the next occupant of the 1st Berkshire State Representative seat.
Audio from the debate was provided by WilliNet Community Television.
