Housing and affordability dominate 9th Bristol House race

Housing and affordability are once again at the fore of the Bristol 9th state House race in the general election.

The race to represent Dartmouth and part of New Bedford’s Far North End places Democrat Edward Pacheco, who built his candidacy on his working-class credentials, against Republican Chester Tam, who emphasizes his conservative bona fides. 

“I’m someone [that] didn’t really have any aspirations to become a politician,” said Tam, 51, an information technology professional, who unsuccessfully ran for the Dartmouth Board of Health in 2025. “I just feel that we need some change here in Massachusetts.

“I’m a product of the American dream,” he added. “I feel that dream is being squandered and is no longer available for my children.”

Pacheco, 51, a transportation manager at a Fall River nonprofit and part-time bartender, won an acrimonious Democratic primary against real estate consultant Stephen Medeiros by just 14 votes. He previously ran unsuccessfully for the Dartmouth Board of Selectmen.

“All I can do as a candidate is bring forward the ideas of what best serves the 9th Bristol District,” Pacheco said. “If what I’m saying makes sense to you beyond the rhetoric, then you should be casting a vote for Ed Pacheco.”

Pacheco unsuccessfully ran for the Dartmouth Select Board in 2007,  and his personal financial troubles, including two bankruptcies and evictions for non-payment of rent, came to the fore during the campaign, The Standard-Times reported then. Pacheco told The Light he learned his lesson from those troubles two decades ago.

“Financial hardship is part of many working people’s lives,” he said. “It’s not something to use as political fodder, particularly in this economy.

“I’ve done what I needed to do as an adult for the past 20 years to keep my head above water, like many working-class people,” he added.

The race may be an uphill one for Tam, who beat former New Bedford City Councilor Henry Bousquet for the nod. Twice as many Democrats voted in the primary as Republicans, and no Republican has represented Dartmouth in decades. But Tam’s party has been increasing in popularity on the South Coast, and the 9th Bristol voted for President Donald Trump by a narrow margin of 247 votes in the last federal election.

As of Oct. 13, Pacheco’s campaign had raised $35,129 and had $10,706 cash-on-hand, according to state records. Tam’s campaign raised $18,056, in addition to a starting deposit of $4,417. By Oct. 13, he had $12,107 cash-on-hand.

Tam and Pacheco are vying to replace state Rep. Christopher Markey, who is running for Bristol County District Attorney. 

Affordability and housing

As in many races nationwide, affordability is front and center in the race. 

In the 9th district, the debate centers on three housing developments in the construction pipeline in Dartmouth. They include The Residences at Hawthorne, 138 units; Sherbrooke Farms, 152 units; and The Hathaway, 280 units. All have received local approval, the latest in September. Of the 570 total units, 149 units would be classified as affordable, restricted to those making 80% or less of the town’s average income. (In Dartmouth, the average is $95,960 for a family of four.) 

Their construction brings the town significantly closer to meeting the state’s 40B housing law, which mandates 10% of a municipality’s housing stock be classified as affordable.

Both candidates, while acknowledging the need for more affordable housing statewide, expressed anxiety over the speed of the approvals and what they described as a lack of local input into the decisions. Both said they’re interested in changing the 40B law.

“I feel like they’re too big for the town, just because we don’t have the sewer and water [systems] to support it,” Tam said. “I think that Chapter 40B is something that is good and that it could bring housing. But when it comes to infrastructure for the towns and cities that it comes into, it could be detrimental to them just because they don’t have the infrastructure in place for them.

“I’d like to try and reform something like 40B so that the state may have to help out with roads, schools, water, sewer,” Tam continued. “All the things that, in terms of infrastructure, that comes with it.”

Pacheco has maintained a similar position. He said he hopes to work with the governor to increase local input into the system. He also wants greater state financial aid to help municipalities implement the law and prepare existing infrastructure for new housing.  

“It’s flawed, and that’s okay,” he said. “The point of the law is being able to amend it when something is identified that’s a problem.”

Now, he’s also putting out opposition to the statewide Ballot Question 7 as part of his campaign. If approved, the measure would require cities and towns to allow the construction of single-family homes on lots 5,000 square feet and larger that have access to public sewer and water. The Light reported in March that the proposal would significantly change zoning in parts of Dartmouth and Fairhaven. 

“Question 7 would very adversely impact most of the communities on the South Coast,” Pacheco said. “It further works to peel away local control on how their communities are developed.”

ICE raids

A recent operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the South Coast — mostly targeting New Bedford — resulted in the detention of at least 40 people. It also led to a depressed business environment for many businesses in the city.

Tam, whose grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from China and Hong Kong, said he understands what motivates people to move to the U.S. He also supports the idea of deporting those in the country without authorization, adding that he thinks the government needs to be thoughtful in its approach.

“I am someone who believes in legal immigration,” he told The Light. “I think it should be done in a respectful manner where you detain them, but obviously you have to identify and make sure that’s the right person that you’re getting to.”

Tam added that people should be careful about critiquing ICE’s moves on the city. 

“I’m not familiar with what really happened in each case,” he said. “I’m not in the purview of speaking on that. But I do feel as though there’s a reason for them trying to detain someone,” he added. “Yes, it’s disruptive, but at the same time, [ICE is] trying to do the best job that they can.”

An analysis by The Light of those detained last month found a Massachusetts felony charge against only one of the dozens taken into custody. Many were also in various stages of legal immigration processes. 

Pacheco doubled down on his condemnation of the ICE raids that he posted to his website that same week. 

“It’s very, very concerning,” Pacheco said, “that people would do this type of thing to other people and think that it’s OK. 

“If we’re going to have enforcement of a law, it has to be lawful, it has to be fair and it has to be humane. And as far as I’m concerned, none of those criteria have been checked.”

The candidates agreed that federal law limits the state’s options to counter the moves. Tam added that if he were in the Legislature, he would have voted against the PROTECT Act. 

“Our local police and state officers should work with the federal administration when it comes to what they’re trying to do,” he said. “It only makes our community safer.”

Pacheco, who has repeatedly voiced support for the law, said he still questions how much more the state can do to push back on federal immigration policy.

“The folks that they’re rounding up are being treated as if they’re beneath the law and they’re not giving the right to due process,” he said. “Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.”

Contact Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org.

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