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Both candidates for state representative in Bristol’s 10th District were born and raised on the South Coast and say the values they learned here inspired them to run for public office. But most of the similarities end there.
Mark Sylvia, the Democrat, remembers his parents and teachers organizing to save the old Anthony Elementary School in Fairhaven, and decided he was also the type of person to become a leader. He served as student body president in high school and college, graduated and returned home to serve on Fairhaven’s School Committee, and entered a career in local and state public service, eventually becoming the state’s undersecretary of energy. “What I love more than anything is helping other people,” said Sylvia, who today works for a solar energy company. “And the best way to do that is to run for public office.”
Key 2024 election dates
Nov. 5 general election
The general election is Nov. 5, with a new set of deadlines.
Oct. 19 to Nov. 1: Early voting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Main Public Library, 613 Pleasant St.
Nov. 5: General election. Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Get additional info on voter registration, eligibility, requirements, etc., at the Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth website.
Find a list of Massachusetts candidates in the Democratic and Republican primary races.
Learn more about voting in New Bedford and find applications for absentee ballots and applications for voting by mail at the New Bedford Election Commission website.
Find additional information about voting in Massachusetts at Vote 411, from the League of Women Voters Education Fund.
Joe Pires, the Republican, credits his Cape Verdean immigrant parents with showing him what hard work and the American dream really look like, and says their inspiration drove him to become successful while giving back to his community. Pires, who lives in Rochester, manages a business that does basement waterproofing. He has won three terms on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee — two of which were successful write-in campaigns. “Throughout my upbringing it was always, work hard and you will succeed,” Pires said. “But the last three or four years … it seems like opportunity is a ship that has sailed.”
Both candidates have held multiple community events, distributed signs, and knocked on doors throughout Bristol’s 10th District — which includes Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, Fairhaven, and parts of Acushnet and New Bedford. The district leans blue overall, but Rochester and Acushnet were two among the 14 towns in Bristol and Plymouth counties that favored Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
No matter who wins, the 10th Bristol seat will go to a fresh face; 32-year incumbent Bill Straus, the Mattapoisett Democrat, decided to not seek re-election this year. Both Pires and Sylvia say they have heard that cost of living and political division are top-of-mind issues among the district’s voters.
Sylvia zeroed in on how he plans to address the housing crisis to combat the high cost of living. He said whoever is elected needs to hold the executive branch accountable in implementing the state’s new law, the Affordable Homes Act, including its provision that allows accessory dwelling units, or “in-law apartments,” by right. “We can’t rest on our laurels,” Sylvia said in an interview. “We’ve passed this law, and we can’t think that we’ve solved the affordable housing crisis.”
Sylvia also said he believes the state Legislature can give cities and towns more incentives to work on these issues locally. He said he hopes the state will create local tax credits and establish trusts that are designed to fund innovation on housing affordability with locally-driven solutions, such as rent relief or construction grants. “It would be amazing to see what they innovate on, if only we give cities and towns the tools,” Sylvia said.
Pires did not respond to multiple interview requests in time for this story.
In an August campaign speech in Marion, Pires said his conversations with voters have led him to identify a different root cause behind cost of living increases. One voter, Pires said, told him that, “Our health care insurance costs are skyrocketing because the hospitals, the doctors, medical institutions are paying for the illegals who are getting all this for free.” Pires responded, “You scratch your head and say, shouldn’t we be helping the people who live here first?”
In an interview with The Light before the primary election, Pires discussed similar concerns: “Illegals now have the right to homeless shelters,” which he said had led to homeless veterans being “treated as second-class citizens.”
“If that doesn’t make us outraged, then I don’t know what does,” Pires said. He described his goal in politics as maintaining the standard of living on the South Coast, and said that goal requires “put[ting] the needs of people in this community first.”
On another issue important to the South Coast region, the relationship between the offshore wind and fishing industries, the candidates have taken a different tack.
Pires created a 30-second online ad where he said that he “believes in protecting the environment, but not at the cost of our livelihoods.” In his earlier interview with The Light, Pires argued that the offshore turbines “in actuality are causing more damage to our environment,” rather than benefiting it, and he cited this summer’s turbine accident on the Vineyard Wind project.
To Pires, offshore wind poses a threat to the fishing industry, a conclusion he says he came to after conversations with fishermen and boat captains about restrictions on available fishing grounds during the project’s construction. “We should be proud and support our fishing industry, and [we should] not let the industrialization of our oceans interfere with that.”
Sylvia pointed to his background working as commissioner of the state’s Department of Energy Resources, where he was tasked with finding common ground between environmentalists, businesses, and the state to create guidelines on the burning of biomass (a renewable but carbon-emitting energy source). He said that his experience of “weeks and months sitting at the table and demonstrating I was an honest broker” led to revised, actionable regulations. He said this showed him that fishing and wind “are not mutually exclusive,” and that “we can have a vibrant fishing industry and a vibrant offshore wind industry.”
“I have family in the fishing industry,” Sylvia said, and pointed out that even his campaign treasurer owns scallop boats. He said that “rightfully, a lot of members of the fishing industry are scared.” He said wind developers can do more to communicate with and invest in the fishing industry, including to modernize equipment and ensure their interests align.
“In the same vein, climate change is real,” Sylvia said. He said he thinks offshore wind and other energy solutions, including hydroelectric power, will be part of reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Gasoline and fossil fuels won’t be eliminated completely from the picture, he added, especially in the short term.
Sylvia summarized his campaign by saying that he has lengthy experience working to bring people together, including his 15 years as moderator of Fairhaven’s Town Meeting and his career working with cities and towns in the state’s Department of Energy Resources.
Sylvia has a long list of endorsements, and he pointed out that some Republicans, many union groups, as well as Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, have all offered their support of his campaign. The most recent fundraising reports also show that Sylvia is well-funded, with more than $25,000 on hand.
Pires’ campaign materials on his website say he is focused on bringing positive change to the South Coast region by focusing on the needs of the community. He says that economic struggle, the needs of veterans, and illegal immigration are issues that he will focus on in the State House. Pires is among the co-founders of Tri-Town for Protecting Children, a nonprofit group dedicated to removing “sexually-explicit literature and social influencing” from schools (The Light has previously covered Pires’ involvement in campaigns to remove books from the Old Rochester Regional library.)
Pires’ website does not list his endorsements, and the candidate did not respond to requests for an interview in time for publication of this article. A relatively successful fundraising campaign still sees Pires trailing his opponent in resources, with about $8,000 on hand as of the last campaign finance filing.
The candidates will meet for a virtual forum on Tuesday, Oct. 22, hosted online by the Marion Institute.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
