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I remember running into state Rep.-elect Jesse St. Gelais a few years ago when I was writing a Thanksgiving column.
I had decided to see how my beloved Missionaries of Charity were doing with the annual turkey meals they prepare for many of the city’s elderly and disabled people.
There in the driveway of the nuns’ County Street convent was St. Gelais on the back of a pickup truck. He was busily hauling boxes of Thanksgiving dinner goodies that the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick donate each November to the nuns and lots of other folks.
It was just a few weeks after St. Gelais had finished third in an unusual five-way race for the then open 8th Bristol District state rep seat. In that race, the conservative St. Gelais had run as an independent in the sprawling district that stretches from Westport to Acushnet.
But a few days before Thanksgiving, the race was well over and the voters were no longer paying attention. But there was St. Gelais and his brothers and sisters doing the Lord’s work as they say.
I always like a politician who does good stuff when nobody is looking, especially if it involves doing good that requires you to roll up your sleeves as opposed to writing a check. In that County Street driveway there was no press release and no media, just an unanticipated columnist showing up when no one but the nuns in their white and blue saris were around.
St. Gelais, of course, is a good man but I don’t think he’ll mind if I say neither he nor I are close to saints. And by no means is St. Gelais even the only local politician involved in doing praiseworthy public service when no one is looking. The man he defeated Tuesday, Steve Ouellette, has long been the indispensable man around the town of Westport, serving his community in a variety of paid and unpaid public service positions for many, many years.
Guys like St. Gelais and Ouellette are just as common as the scoundrels and narcissists in the political class. Both local and otherwise.
But when local guys do good, their fellow guys and gals have a chance to see that good up close and personal. They know who’s walking the walk and who’s not.
In this era of widespread public corruption, and an ever-present internet that brings it to us relentlessly, much has been said and written about the deep divides in this country, and about our cynicism toward those whose ways of life differ from our own. We are all from either blue states or red states, we are all either progressives or conservatives, either capitalists or socialists, city dwellers or surburbanites. Maybe so. But I’m here to tell you there are many good, generous, kind-hearted people from every side of an aisle that you can come up with.
Now, based on election results from a few years ago, some have said that the South Coast is trending conservative, that this new way will be the best way and the old way not so much. But the reality is that across the region good men and women from both the right-wing and left-wing are out there doing good things and getting elected and reelected for it.
So the 8th and 9th House districts voted for President Trump two years ago but a couple of nights ago, the 8th elected a Republican and the 9th elected a Democrat. St. Gelais switched from an independent to a Republican and mobilized the growing organizational and media might of South Coast conservatives. But Ed Pacheco defeated a more moderate opponent in his Democratic primary, and did it using strong backing from the progressive Coalition for Social Justice.
Our good friends and neighbors are both Democrats and Republicans who have long helped move us forward on the South Coast.
Over in the Fairhaven-based 10th Bristol District, freshman Rep. Mark Sylvia easily won reelection and promises to be an important leader at the State House from the moderate to left side of the aisle. But Chris Markey, a conservative Democrat, also easily won election as district attorney. And anyone who knows Chris Markey knows that though he may be conservative on some issues, he’s more than forward-looking on others.
The 2026 South Coast election results were very much a mixed bag, and not at all part of the big Blue Wave we saw sweep the state and national elections. The truth is that though we divide the world into red, blue and purple, most people when they go into that voting booth are thinking about who the best man or woman is. It’s the quality of the candidate, and how good a heart they have, that is what we are often looking for.
Jack Spillane is a news and opinion columnist for The New Bedford Light. You can reach Jack at jspillane@newbedfordlight.org.
It goes to show – we are all just people, trying to get by – trying to do the best we can. Middle of the Road – and compromise should be the way things get done. If we could shut out the noise – we can get along so much better and accomplish so much – like helping our neighbors! When we have a hurricane, a major snowstorm or when a food bank needs food – nobody asks who did you vote for – you just roll your sleeves up and do! That’s who Americans really ARE!
I really appreciate the article by Jack Spillane, who sees the good in some of our local politicians, regardless of their affiliation. This kind of reconciliation is exactly what our politics needs now. And by the way, the State of Massachusetts is not a big loser, and whether you agree with her or not, our governor is not a lunatic.
It will be interesting to see how Rep-elect St. Gelais, who opposes the “climate agenda” works with our area delegation to deliver needed resources to our region. It’s one thing to be a “good guy;” but the policies you espouse ultimately matter more.
I would have appreciated Jack do a deeper dive into his article. What are the political agenda and positions of these two candidates, climate being one of them, as potential state reps. It’s one thing to be a “nice guy,” it’s another to work against those issues that serve the needs of the South Coast. I guess we’ll find out.
It is hoped that the last ten years of the MAGA movement has opened people’s eyes to the corrosive effects of divisive politics and on society as a whole.
It’s my firm belief that everyone wants to lead a good life…and a little respect & compassion for others (along with a willingness to compromise) would be a great step in the right direction.
Well written Jack. The problem is that you don’t put the real Scoundrels in bad light.
Good article, Mr. Spillane, about Jesse St. Gelais who worked tirelessly for the past two years and, to my knowledge, was the only local Republican to win office. I have no doubt that he will serve the 8th Bristol District well for he as the energy, character and desire to help all, regardless of who you are.
In one of those strange coincidences that occasionally occur, Jesse’s grandfather was a Doyle fellow, who happened to be my father, Joseph D
Saulnier’s nephew. When my father was state rep for twenty years, for most of that time he represented the 8th Bristol District.
I’ve been working the polls for close to eighty years and this Tuesday had to be the warmest November election day in my experience.
A special shoutout to some great people whom I met at the Macomber School in Westport (all of them Democrats) – O’Brien, who was holding both a Oullette and a Rodrigues sign and who bought me a Dunkin donut coffee,
Fitzy, campaigning for Rodrigues and who refused to sell me his secondhand chair even though I made him a”generous” offer, Maurie May (a Oullette man) who was going to Charlton the next day for a heart procedure (Good luck Maurie) and Mike Rodrigues himself who gave me a bitty sandwich. Much appreciated at the time.
I enjoyed this quiet reveal of the candidates. Nice job Mr. S!
Just what makes a good guy? Is it personality, doing good deeds or being able to relate to people. Sure all matter, but if you’re a politician your position on issues supersedes all of the above. A nice guy who opposes climate justice, is critical of gun safety regulations and is against progressive initiatives, is not serving the interests of the public in the long term. So being a nice guy is great, but being wrong on the issues isn’t so great.