Our South Coast Bureau Reporter Ben Berke broke down the elections on the South Coast with Morning Edition host Luis Hernandez.
Transcript:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: So Ben, two years ago, there was a very high profile race for Bristol County Sheriff. Is there a similar race that’s got people’s attention this election?
Ben Berke: The sheriff’s race became this big proxy battle about Trump and criminal justice reform, which resonated with all these people outside the region in Washington and Boston. There’s no national PACs donating to local elections on the South Coast this year. These elections are about small cities and towns picking who’s going to represent them in the State House and in Congress. They feel more like local elections this time around.
Hernandez: So what kind of impact could these local legislative races have?
Berke: The various districts that make up the South Coast account for about nine seats in a 200-seat state legislature, which has a huge Democratic supermajority. So these South Coast elections aren’t going to tip the balance of power on Beacon Hill, but a bunch of those nine seats do have competitive elections this year, and voters are considering whether to flip from Democratic representation to Republican or independent representation.
If any of those South Coast seats flip, that could affect the region’s ability to work collaboratively on state policy. It could also affect how much local communities are getting from the state legislature. Republicans are probably going to have a much harder time bringing home money for local projects in a heavily Democratic legislature.
Hernandez: Are any of those legislative races particularly competitive?
Berke: Yes, there are three fully open seats on the South Coast, meaning the Democratic incumbent has retired and it’s open season this year. The 8th Bristol District — which is this smorgasbord district connecting Westport to parts of New Bedford, Fall River and Acushnet — has five candidates running for an open seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. A Democrat is running against three independents and a Republican.
Over in the Taunton area, they’re picking a new state senator. Taunton and the surrounding towns are what we would call a purple district, and there’s a Democrat running there against a Republican and an independent, all for this open seat.
In Somerset, State Rep. Patricia Haddad, the Democratic incumbent, is facing a competitive challenge from a Republican for the second election in a row. And then east of New Bedford, there’s an open House seat in the 10th Bristol District with a competitive race between a Republican and a Democrat. So for a region that’s had a very established Democratic delegation with a lot of the same legislators in office since the early 1990s, this is an unusually competitive election season.
Hernandez: There are five statewide ballot questions this year. Let’s talk about them in more detail. One big question asks whether Massachusetts should eliminate the MCAS exam graduation requirement. What are people saying about that?
Berke: It’s the teachers union that’s really pushing for the end of standardized testing as a graduation requirement. Kids are still going to have to take standardized tests, but it wouldn’t be this high pressure test anymore that could prevent them from graduating.
Some people think it’s going to make school better if we can free up teachers and students to focus on other things besides a standardized test. But other people fear that schools are going to start graduating students that aren’t really ready to graduate, and that this could ultimately be a disservice to kids who might otherwise have gotten more attention if teachers had to get them to pass a standardized test.
Hernandez: And what about the question asking voters whether to extend the $15 minimum wage to tipped workers? What are you hearing about that?
Berke: If that question passes, it’s going to reshape the economics of restaurants. Waiters wouldn’t be relying anymore on tips to get a decent wage, and restaurants are going to have to come up with ways to cover the cost of paying waiters $15 an hour instead of $6.75 an hour, which is the current minimum wage for tipped workers. It’s really worth reading up on what waiters and cooks and restaurant owners are saying about this ballot question, because opinions vary widely within each group.
Hernandez: Alright, what are the other questions on the ballot?
Berke: One asks whether the state auditor should have the power to audit and investigate how the state legislature works, which she currently can’t do. The other two questions affect people’s lives in pretty direct ways. One of those questions asks whether rideshare drivers should be able to unionize. They’re unable to right now because Uber and Lyft currently classify them as independent contractors. And the other ballot question asks whether psychedelic drugs should be legalized for therapeutic and personal use.
Hernandez: The Public’s Radio South Coast Bureau reporter, Ben Berke. Always a pleasure. Thanks for talking with me.
Berke: Sure was a pleasure, Luis.
This year’s elections coverage by The Public’s Radio is sponsored in part by Ascent Audiology & Hearing, Providence Picture Frame and Rustigian Rugs.
