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Contenders Seek Open 4th Hampden District House Seat, Vacant Since Spring

An individual wearing an 'I voted' sticker.
Daniel Morrison
/
Creative Commons / flickr.com/danielmorrison
An individual wearing an 'I voted' sticker.

In Tuesday's election, three candidates are on the ballot for the 4th Hampden District in the Massachusetts House, representing Westfield. And a write-in candidate has emerged.

The seat has been vacant since the spring, when Democrat John Velis resigned after winning a special election for state Senate. The three candidates on the ballot to replace him met for a couple of debates on Westfield Community Access TV.

One issue they discussed was charter schools.

Democratic nominee Matt Garlo, who graduated from college a year and a half ago and grew up attending Westfield schools, said he’s concerned about the impact of charters.

"Charter school tuitions are absolutely taking money away from our funding for public education in Westfield," Garlo said. "I would certainly work in the state to see that charter school tuitions don’t take so much money away from our public funds."

The Republican nominee, Army veteran Kelly Pease, said he supports the concept of charter schools — but would also work to limit their impact on public school funding.

"As your representative, I will work aggressively to fight for higher reimbursement rates that are impacted by students attending charter schools," Pease said.

Independent candidate Ethan Flaherty, a UMass student, noted the state does provide some funding to districts who lose students to charter schools – and said he supports the model.

"If charter schools can provide a more appropriate education and give parents and kids a choice in what kind of school that they receive, then of course I support having those options available," Flaherty said.

Complicating this election is the fact City Councilor Dan Allie is trying to win it as a write-in candidate. Allie lost to Kelly Pease in the September Republican primary by 116 votes.

Allie said he understands some people may be concerned that by staying in the race, he could split the Republican vote.

"More people are questioning how Kelly won the primary," Allie said, "and concerned about the deceptive practices involved. People are concerned about big money in politics and outside special interest groups."

Allie is referring to a mailing sent before the primary to Westfield Republicans by a Boston-based PAC.

Allie objects to it, because it shows Pease with Westfield Mayor Don Humason — even though Humason did not endorse a candidate.

But Humason, who represented Westfield in the legislature for 17 years, said he doesn’t think the mailing put Pease over the top.

"Voters are smart," Humason said. "They’re not going to be swayed by a single picture of a politician with another would-be politician. I’m just a little confused about Councilor Allie’s concern about this kind of thing, because it’s sort of done all the time."

At the debate, the three candidates on the ballot also discussed where they stood on additional restrictions on guns.

Garlo said he thinks enforcing existing state laws is sufficient. Flaherty said he’s concerned about the burden on legal gun owners of additional restrictions. Pease said he’s a strong Second Amendment advocate, and insisted that additional gun control laws won’t stop criminals from getting them illegally.

Before joining New England Public Media, Alden was a producer for the CBS NEWS program 60 Minutes. In that role, he covered topics ranging from art, music and medicine to business, education and politics.
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