In my travels and conversations with the longtime residents of our district (many who have known for a long time or even grew up with my opponent), many of them say to me something to the tune of:

Well, we already have moderate State Rep, so why do we need an independent/moderate if we already have that in our existing representation?

Fair question…and I get that when my opponent was elected over 17 years ago…that might have been the case (before politics devolved into the extremes we now have seen over the past 10 years).

I also get that your average voter is not looking into the actual votes that their State Rep is making…never mind how difficult that would actually be when you have a Rep who does not public post any of his votes or positions.

So, when I get this comment, here is my response.

Since 2015 my opponent has voted with and in step with his party’s leadership 100% of the time…except in 2020 when it was 96.5% of the time:

2015: 100%

2016: 100%

2017: 100%

2018: 100%

2019: 100%

2020: 96.5%

2021: 100%

2022: 100%

2023: 100%

2024: 100%

(1,677 out of 1,668 total votes)

I don’t know about you…but in my opinion it’s not very moderate, independent, or bi-partisan to vote the way your party tells you to vote almost 100% of the time.

Keep in mind…that this was not the case for all Reps who have a (D) after their name…many of them broke from their party’s grip and crossed the aisle to try and find compromise (see chart below).

We need representation for Dedham/Westwood/Walpole P8 that will work to find more common ground and compromise on legislation. Remember…+/-64% of our district do not solely subscribe to Left or Right political ethos.

DATA: Beacon Hill Roll Call