WESTFIELD – There are eight Democrats vying for Rep. Stephen Kulik’s seat in the First Franklin District who will be competing in the primary election on September 4, 2018. Kulik announced in February that he would not be seeking reelection after thirteen terms in the House of Representatives. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Ways and Means.
No Republican candidates are running for the seat.
The Democratic candidates running for the seat include:
Kate Albright-Hanna, of Huntington. Albright-Hanna is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, grassroots organizer. and a progressive Democrat. She wants to cultivate a strong local economy, healthy family farms, robust public education, and a reinvigorated grassroots politics.
Andrew Baker, of Shelburne. Baker is the chair of the Shelburne Select Board, and serves on the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. Baker works for the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board as Special Projects & Business Outreach Coordinator.
Natalie Blais, of Sunderland. Blais is currently Executive Director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce located in Greenfield. Under her leadership, the Chamber has supported area businesses and advocated for state policies that benefit the rural economy. She has been an outspoken proponent of expanding the region’s reputation as an outdoor recreational hub and exploring ways to enhance the creative economy.
Christine Doktor of Cummington. Doktor is a lawyer, farmer, and mother who grew up in Western Massachusetts. She has worked for both a Governor and a State Representative in the MA Statehouse. She is a civil, constitutional, and women’s rights attorney. Doktor’s position is to protect and strengthen our public schools, environment, agriculture, local businesses, healthcare, and infrastructure.
Jonathan Edwards, of Whately. Edwards is a graduate of Skidmore College and whose roots in the region date back to earning his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the late 1980’s. Edwards is a 14-year, five-term member of the Whately Selectboard, first elected in 2003. He is an original staff member of SmartPower, an award winning non-profit that increases public demand for and access to clean energy and energy efficiency products and practices.
Casey Pease, of Worthington. Pease, a 2015 graduate of the Gateway Regional High School, is a student at the University of Massachusetts, a local volunteer firefighter and former Bernie Sanders staffer who chairs the Worthington Democratic Town Committee. He’s a lifelong resident of the district who knows the district’s struggles because he’s lived them—from going through public schools to trying to connect to the internet.
Nathaniel Waring, of Sunderland. On his Facebook page, Waring describes himself as “34 years old, married, and the father of 9 year old twins. He grew up in Shutesbury and has lived in Sunderland for most of his adult life. He calls himself an ardent liberal, a lifelong democrat, and a millennial.
Francia Wisnewski, of Montague. Wisnewski currently serves as Chair of the Hampshire/Franklin Commission on the Status of Women and is a member of the Montague Town Meeting and the Montague Democratic Committee. She also serves on the boards of the Shea Theater and Leadership Pioneer Valley.
The First Franklin District, located in the western Massachusetts counties of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin serves 19 towns, and is geographically the second largest House district in the state.
The towns in the First Franklin District include the Hampden County town of Chester, the Hampshire County towns of Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Whately and Worthington, and the Franklin County towns of Ashfield, Buckland, Conway, Deerfield, Leverett, Montague, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland and Whately.
