Somerset’s Justin Thurber looking to oust Massachusetts State Rep. Haddad

Somerset Republican Justin Thurber is looking to take on long-time incumbent Patricia Haddad for State Representative of the 5th Bristol District for a second time.

Thurber shared a campaign kick-off event on his committee Facebook page last week, inviting supporters to join him on April 16 for his official announcement.

Haddad has served as State Representative serving Somerset, Swansea, Dighton, and parts of Taunton since taking office in 2000. Haddad has not yet announced if she will be seeking re-election.

Thurber jumped into the race against Haddad in 2022 first as a write-in candidate in the Republican primary. After securing 80% of the vote, Thurber faced off against Haddad in the general election, running a grassroots campaign that picked up steam as election day neared.

Haddad went on to win the November 2022 election with 54% of the vote to Thurber’s 46%, but Haddad only won that election by 1,437 votes in what some felt was a close race for the long-time incumbent and political newcomer.

Thurber, an Air Force Veteran, vowed to run against Haddad again and has used his platform to highlight where he believes Haddad has fallen short to residents of the 5th Bristol District.

Thurber’s website links voters to Haddad’s voting record which Thurber says speaks for itself. Thurber claims that along with voting to raise sales tax by 25% and to give an average 40% pay raise for public officials, Haddad also voted against term limits for House Speaker, lowering the state income and sales tax, and voted no to publishing full committee votes online.

While Haddad has not made public her decision on whether or not she will be seeking re-election, some fellow Democrats have announced their departure from office. State Representative Paul Schmid of Westport and Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton issued statements that said they will not be seeking re-election in November.

With the Presidential election taking place this fall, many long-time Democrats may feel it’s time to pass the torch to their successors, as Democratic voters tend to dominate the Massachusetts polls when there’s a Presidential race on the ballot.

Bristol County, however, might be the exception. The region had the largest Trump vote of any county statewide in 2020, which was 6% higher than in the 2016 election. Notable area Republicans such as former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and current Taunton Mayor Shauna O’Connell have kept conservative voters coming to the polls for years.

Thurber himself is ready to try again and see if voters will give him a chance at the job after over 20 years of Haddad.