Somerset State Rep candidate Melissa Terra won’t be on the ballot after all

Somerset Republican Melissa Terra, who took out papers to run for State Representative in the 5th Bristol District against Patricia Haddad, did not get the required number of signatures certified to make the ballot, Fall River Reporter has learned.

Potential candidates had until April 30th at 5:00 PM to submit nomination papers with signatures to the corresponding town or city clerk’s office. For the 5th Bristol District, those towns include all of Somerset and Dighton and parts of Swansea and Taunton.

Fall River Reporter spoke with election officials in each location who confirmed the number of signatures that were certified by each clerk. Candidates need 150 certified signatures to make the ballot and Terra fell short with only 76.

According to Somerset Town Clerk Caitlin Hadala, Terra submitted 43 signatures for consideration and 33 of those were certified. In Swansea, Terra submitted 19 signatures and 17 were certified. Dighton clerk’s office said 17 signatures were certified, but did not have an exact number of submitted signatures available, although only one sheet was submitted, and a sheet has a maximum number of 28 lines for signatures. In Taunton, Elections Director Mark L. Pacheco shared that Terra submitted 22 signatures but only 9 were certified. Because only a small part of Taunton is part of the 5th Bristol District, Pacheco said many of the submitted signatures were disqualified because the signor was not from the correct area.

“They may have been gathering signatures in the wrong part of the city,” said Pacheco.

Terra was first elected to the Somerset K-8 school committee in 2014 and a second term in 2017. Terra did not seek re-election in 2020 but ran for Republican State Committeewoman that year instead, losing to local attorney Nancy Stanton-Cross. Terra then ran for a vacant seat on the Somerset Board of Selectman in a special election in 2021. That seat became available when former Somerset Selectman Holly McNamara resigned with one year left in her term. Terra lost that race to local environmental activist Kathy Souza.

Democratic incumbent Patricia Haddad is seeking another term and if their signatures are certified, she will face off against Somerset Republican Justin Thurber in the general election this November.