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DARTMOUTH — Edward Pacheco, a bartender and transit manager, barely scraped by in the Democratic primary race for the Bristol 9th state House district, a race focused on development and political donations.
Pacheco ended the night with 2,469 votes, just 14 more than his opponent, Stephen Medeiros, who received 2,455 votes. The vote is within the margin for a recount request.
“I am grateful and looking forward to the general election as the Democratic nominee,” Pacheco told The Light, adding that his showing demonstrated, “we’re talking about the right things that resonate with the people.”
In comments to The Light, Medeiros said he would be weighing his options when it comes to the results.
“Tomorrow, I’m heading to UMass Amherst with my family so at this point, we’ll have to wait until I get back. … The numbers are very close.”
According to the Dartmouth Town Clerk’s Office, 4,376 voters voted in the Democratic primary in Dartmouth; some left the Pacheco-Medeiros race blank. Data from the New Bedford City Clerk’s Office showed another 850 voted in the race in the city.
Pacheco will now face the Republican victor, Chester Tam, in the midterm election on Nov. 3.
Last minute sprint
Heavy rains throughout the day dampened turnout at polling locations throughout the Bristol 9th District, which encompasses all of Dartmouth and parts of the Far North End of New Bedford. But the deluge did not stop the candidates and their phalanxes of volunteers from surging one last time to get out the vote.
Pacheco spent most of the day outside of the polling station at the Dartmouth Youth Soccer Association Soccer Field House on Russells Mills Road in Dartmouth.
He said about 40 volunteers had helped his campaign on primary day.
“It makes me feel good that they’re supporting me,” he said, “in good weather and in bad.”
Benjamin Lobo, a New Bedford resident, showed his support for Pacheco outside Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Massachusetts in New Bedford. He said he’d met Pacheco at a meeting of the Working Families Party. Lobo added that Pacheco’s progressive policies appealed to him.
“I found that his policies compared to his opponent were much more substantive,” he said. “And in terms of the working class, Ed Pacheco has the support of a multitude of unions.”
Medeiros told The Light he voted at 7:15 a.m. before running out to visit all polling stations in the district.
“The thing that is the most meaningful to me is the fact that I have people in the rain holding up signs for me,” he said while standing outside the Christian Fellowship Center on Church Street in New Bedford. “That is pretty remarkable for people to do that for you.”
Medeiros also expressed concern about the rain driving down turnout but continued to laud the efforts of the 78 volunteers campaigning on primary day. Among those was Karen Rocha, a Dartmouth resident who held a sign outside the Soccer Field House and held cordial conversation with Medeiros’ opponent.
“I’ve known him since he was a little boy,” Rocha said of Medeiros. “He has great morals and lots of respect. He has dignity and I want to support him.”
Rocha said Medeiros’ faith and his thoughts on approaching Dartmouth’s expansion drew her to the candidate.
“I’ve lived in this town for a long time,” she said. “So with the growth of the town and all the changes that are being made, I think Stephen will make a big change for all of us here.”
Issues
The race largely revolved around three large proposed housing developments — one of which has already been approved — that would aim to bring affordable housing in Dartmouth across the 10% threshold required by the state’s affordable housing law.
The projects would bring 549 new units online in the town; 149 of them would be reserved for those making 80% or less of the average area income.
Medeiros and Pacheco both argued against the developments throughout the campaign.
“It’s a large amount all coming in within a certain amount of time that is going to put a strain on [local] resources,” Medeiros recently told The Light. “We need smart development.”
Pacheco said there are better options for tackling the crunch.
“We need affordable housing,” Pacheco said. “But I don’t think that by stacking people in [300 units], we’re really doing what we can be doing.”
Mailers accused Medeiros of supporting MAGA Republicans. Medeiros told The Light he donated $4,500 to nine Republican candidates since 2015, while also donating to Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, who represents Dartmouth and New Bedford.
He said that if candidates had “become more extreme since I contributed, that is unfortunate and they are not a consideration for me in the future.”
Kevin G. Andrade can be contacted at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
