One way or another, one of the most rural districts in western Massachusetts will have a new state representative. It could end up being one of the two Democrats on Tuesday’s primary ballot.
Despite as many as five candidates voicing interest after Natalie Blais stepped down, only two will be on a primary ballot in the 1st Franklin district Tuesday.
Corinne Coryat and Lora Wondolowski are looking to replace Blais, months after she vacated the seat for a position at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Coryat was previously Blais’s chief of staff and a legislative aide. Her tenure included helping assemble various key reports and bills tackling rural issues in the district – including school funding measures.
“We created the Office of Rural Affairs, we created the Office of Outdoor Recreation and maybe most importantly, we ran the 2022 Commission on the Fiscal Health of Rural Schools,” Coryat said at a recent candidate forum. “I've been doing that work since 2022 - I wrote that report and the legislation that followed it, and we've made a lot of progress. We've now gotten the number up to about $16.5 million dollars annually in just four years, from the initial $2 million that was piloted by Senator Adam Hinds at the time.”
A Deerfield resident who has spent the last five years getting familiar with the 450 square miles that make up the 1st Franklin district, Coryat is running against Greenfield City Council President Lora Wondolowski.
Overseeing the City Council of the county seat, Wondolowski has pitched herself as a candidate with experience navigating budget crunches in Greenfield, advocating for climate justice and, more recently, trying to find housing solutions in a market complicated, in-part, by its own rural-ness.
“I moved here 23 years ago when I was looking for a community that was affordable, that had a downtown center and that had a rural character - I'm so lucky that we found a house here in Greenfield,” she said during the same Aug. 20 forum. “That is not the case for families today. It is very hard to find rental units, houses for new families or folks who are just looking for somewhere to call their own.”
Climate change, fighting for rural dollars and advocating for the numerous farms that make up Franklin County have also made up significant portions of both candidates’ platforms.
Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary will face unenrolled candidate Amy Lavallee of Whately in the general election.
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Audio for this story was provided Greenfield Community Television.
