Election Day is just a few days away and all candidates for governor are making sure constituents across the state understand their views. Democratic candidate and incumbent Gov. Maura Healey, Republican candidate Mike Minogue, and Independent challenger Andrea James visited NEPM’s studio recently to address issues specific to residents in western Massachusetts.
Whether you live in Boston or West Springfield, voters this year are facing issues around affordability, housing, and food assistance.
But, residents in western Mass. are currently dealing with an age-old problem in the state: the distribution of resources. In this case, water. Communities around the Quabbin like Belchertown and Orange feel like resources are being pulled from them and given to residents in eastern Mass.
“They feel as if they're being colonized by Boston,” Andrea James said. “How else do we address the needs of the communities around the Commonwealth in terms of water and other natural resources that are being placed in jeopardy? And so we really have to figure this out.”
And, recently, Great Barrington officials have asked Governor Maura Healey, who’s seeking re-election, to bring the Housatonic water works utility company into receivership. Healey did not comment about calling a state of emergency on the issue, but said her team is working with town officials.
“I will do anything and everything to make sure that the people in Great Barrington have safe and clean water. That entity, that company, has got to be held accountable. They need to do a better job, a much better job,” Healey said.
Mike Minogue said he wants to learn more about water resources in both the Quabbin and Great Barrington. He said he’d look for proposals and brainstorm for the best solution.
“We need to figure out what the resources are,” Minogue said. “Is there a problem with Eastern and Central Massachusetts drawing and pulling 10% more? What is the alternative to that? And what else can we do in eastern, central and basically the Bristol and Bristol County and Plymouth County? But I think what happens is everything gets regionalized and then problems don't get solved and it becomes a political issue.”
Primary Care in Massachusetts
There is also a primary care shortage in western Mass and across the country with doctors feeling burned out by the workforce shortage and administrative policies, according to a report by the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Andrea James said she is acutely aware of the issue.
“Primary care doctors are leaving because of the quagmire, the weight, and the toll of the administrative process that is placed upon them simply to get reimbursed for the health care that they're providing. Well, that is absolutely ridiculous,” James said.
Healey said she’s actively trying to address the issue in the statehouse with bills that would increase how much clinics and hospitals spend on the provision of primary care, boost support for neighborhood health centers and help train future doctors.
“I'm going to try to grow an army of mental health care providers and primary care providers so that people are able to get the care that they and their family members need when they need it,” Healey said.
Mike Minogue said primary care providers are leaving the state because of the high cost of living here.
“If we push the care back into the communities, back to the clinics, back to the counselors and the primary care doctors, it's going to get better outcomes,” Minogue said. “It'll give us accessible, affordable, quality care. And no matter where you are in the Commonwealth, you're paying taxes. You are entitled to emergency maternity care, cardiac care and stroke care.”
Affordability crisis
In addition to these pressing local issues, residents are experiencing an affordability crisis and food assistance getting defunded by the federal government.
Healey said she’s actively working to combat policies enacted by President Donald Trump.
“Organizations and residents should know that no matter what Donald Trump is doing, I am going to be fighting for you,” Healey said. “When he takes away SNAP and food assistance, I'm going to find ways to feed people. When he tried to throw 300,000 households off of health insurance last year, I found a way to keep those subsidies going and to keep people covered.”
She said the state of Massachusetts can’t make up for all of the “destruction at the federal level,” especially with the $1 trillion dollar cut to health care in Trump’s Big, Beautiful bill passed last summer.
“But I'll tell you what, we're doing everything that we can and hopefully we'll get a change in Congress and Congress will restore some of that funding,” Healey said.
Independent candidate Andrea James said it’s not enough to blame Trump for the state of the economy.
“Our current governor has used the federal government and Trump administration to blame for everything. Yes, on that. But also, we already know that,” James said. “And a lot of the issues that we're fighting for are issues that didn't just pop up today. They have been kicked down the road term after term by legislators, by governors.”
Republican candidate Mike Minogue said he doesn’t associate with a party, despite running as the Republican candidate. He didn’t comment on Trump’s handling of the economy, but said he has a plan on how to address high cost of living expenses in the state.
“Anyone that wants to label me as something is just name calling. They want to name call me because they don't want to talk about their record. I don't need to name call. I have a plan for accountability with the audit. Affordability by lowering the energy costs and bringing in natural gas pipelines, I can grow jobs,” Minogue said.
Ballot Question on Transparency
Another issue on voters' minds is around transparency and the public having access to accurate information from the local, state and federal government.
Question 1 of 9 on the ballot this year asks voters whether or not they want to make records in the Legislature and office of the Governor subject to the state's public records law. This law allows journalists and the public to access municipal and state documents. Right now, those rules apply to state agencies, as well as every city and town except for the state Legislature and the Governor's office.
Massachusetts is the only state in the country that exempts all three branches of government - the Legislature, governor’s office and courts - from the public records law.
All candidates said they’d vote “yes” on question one.
Republican candidate Mike Minogue said he wants to push for a state audit in addition to voting “yes” on expanding public records law.
“We want open records law. There's only one state in America where the governor and the legislature don't have open records law, the most corrupt, incompetent state: Massachusetts,” Minogue said.
James wants public records that are open.
“We need to know what is being done. We need to understand why the legislature and the governor reached decisions that they make,” James said.
And Healey said she’s in support of subjecting all offices to public records law.
“I'm going to vote yes on that. I think it's important. Particularly, at a time when we've got a president in the white House who is banning media, banning the press, attacking the press, taking away First Amendment freedoms, it's really important that we as a state, make sure that we are supporting a free press,” Healey said.
Polls open in Massachusetts on Tuesday, November 3rd from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
