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For the first time in two decades, South Coast residents have a choice on November’s ballot of who will represent them in the State Senate.
State Sen. Mark Montigny, a Democrat, will face off against Republican Robert “Bob” McConnell this November, marking the first time Montigny has had a Republican challenger since he was elected in 1992, and his first competitive general election since 2006. The district, which encompasses New Bedford, Dartmouth, Acushnet, Fairhaven, and Mattapoissett, leaned 50% Democrat and 47% Republican in the 2024 general presidential election.
Montigny and McConnell offer vastly different approaches to serving the South Coast — entrenched, insider expertise versus enthusiasm unencumbered by experience. The State Senate race, much like every other race in Massachusetts, hinges on the region’s climbing cost of living and calls for greater transparency in the state Legislature — particularly in Montigny’s own office.
Since his election in 1992, Montigny, now 65, has been embroiled in multiple controversies, first with accusations that he helped an ex-girlfriend get a job at the Bristol County Probate and Family Court and most recently for chairing two State Senate committees that seemingly never convened. (Montigny has chaired four committee hearings this year, The Light reported in August.)
A 2024 initiative law would allow the state auditor to audit the Legislature. Asked how he would make his office more transparent to constituents, Montigny said he has never opposed accountability in the Legislature.
“Every single attempt to weaken the audit and weaken transparency, I voted no,” he said.
In a phone interview with The Light, the state senator also addressed criticisms that he had become less present on the South Coast. He acknowledged there was some legitimacy to them — early in his tenure, he said, he made more of a point to attend press events and fundraisers. With seniority — and a $735,000 war chest — Montigny said he’s had greater freedom to focus on the issues he cares about most.
“Mostly my passion has always been children and seniors,” Montigny said. “But when you don’t see people on the cocktail party circuit or you don’t see them at the dog and pony stuff, there’s a little price of criticism you pay for that.”
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Montigny has spent a little over $47,000 this calendar year, $4,199 of which was spent on rental cars for what were labeled as in-district events.
Should he win reelection, Montigny hopes to prioritize a recent animal abuse bill and his ongoing efforts to hold the nursing home industry accountable for widespread noncompliance. He also expressed outrage at the state’s ballooning energy prices and stood by his calls to cut the Mass Save program to offer ratepayers relief.
“You’ve got to completely start from scratch and say, ‘All right, this is working in certain places like New Bedford, where people cannot afford to do some of these improvements,’” Montigny said. “The only thing it’s not good for right now is how much it’s costing those same constituents and all the others who aren’t taking advantage of MassSave because their bill’s too high.”
At the Light’s candidate forum on Oct. 7, candidates universally panned the state’s formula for local funding. Montigny, who did not attend the forum because of a prior commitment, also called for a revamp, while defending the local aid he’s been able to secure for New Bedford. He pointed out that under the current formulas, 60% of the city’s budget came from state funding.
“I find it disingenuous when people say we haven’t delivered the billions,” Montigny said.
Throughout the interview, Montigny reiterated that his seniority in the Senate would bring funding back to New Bedford and its surrounding communities.
He also touted the recent earmark he secured for New Bedford’s Fire Station 9, which had been scheduled to close under the mayor’s proposed budget. The $500,000 in one-time local aid, included in the current fiscal year’s budget this summer, has kept the station open temporarily.
The earmark, he said, was proof of his strong ties to the community he grew up in and calls home.
“There are transplants that become really passionate about their community, and I totally respect that,” Montigny said. “I just feel privileged because it’s my home and I know that I’m fighting for people that I grew up with, or their kids and grandkids.”
A rare Republican challenge
Longtime Fairhaven resident Robert “Bob” McConnell is passionate about civic participation. He’s run in each of the past three statewide elections.
After two failed primary bids for the 10th Bristol state representative seat in 2022 and 2024, the 69-year-old ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for state Senate this year. For McConnell, the race is not about winning. The competition is the point.
“Having a candidacy changes the landscape of whatever political race it is,” McConnell said. “To not have challenged candidates, even if it’s an unenrolled candidate, is not good for transparency or civic awareness and participation.”
McConnell acknowledged he has a vast financial disadvantage, with just $3,356 in cash on hand at the end of September. Since January, he has spent $4,912, according to campaign finance reports, mostly on printing and lawn signs.
A licensed nurse and current Plymouth County deputy sheriff, McConnell, like many other candidates, has made affordability the center of his campaign. In Wednesday’s New Bedford Light and League of Women Voters candidate forum, he called for an end to the state’s gas tax and spoke out against the state’s climbing energy bills, attributing the cost crunch to the state’s clean energy goals.
“Climate change policy is the wrong road,” McConnell said at the forum. “I wouldn’t be surprised if people are breaking up their furniture and burning it to keep warm this winter.”
In an interview earlier in the campaign season, McConnell shared other ideas to lower costs. He argued that the state’s affordability crisis went hand in hand with its “open door” immigration policy. He said many voters attributed the high cost of housing in the region to an influx of immigrants, although he acknowledged that perception may not align with reality.
After the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency operations in New Bedford last month, McConnell, who worked with ICE for nearly a decade in his role as deputy sheriff, struck a balance between supporting the operations while also criticizing the agency for some of its more aggressive methods.
“I see a lot of cruelty,” McConnell said, “But the federal government’s not gonna let these people go, so what does it mean taking them away from their community, continuity of medical care, legal representation, interaction with their family, and taking them out of the state to places that they’ve never been? It is frightening.”
McConnell has also called for greater transparency in the Legislature, urging lawmakers to cooperate with the audit that 72% of voters authorized in a 2024 initiative. On the campaign trail, he said, the legislative audit was the “No. 1” issue he heard from everyday voters.
As the chairman of the Fairhaven Republican Town Committee, McConnell has decades of local organizing experience under his belt. He sees this election as a turning point for the party on the South Coast.
He credited the region’s immigrant community for that success.
“It seems to me that the newcomers are much more interested in preserving the American way of life than Americans are,” McConnell said.
If elected, McConnell would be charged with advocating for local aid for New Bedford and its surrounding communities, including funding for sore spots like the State Pier, Fire Station 9, and the Bristol County jails. Asked how he’d go to bat for his community, especially as a member of the minority party, McConnell had few specifics — but emphasized a willingness to listen and learn.
“God does not call the qualified,” McConnell said. “He qualifies the called, and I believe this is a calling to me.”
Brooke Kushwaha can be reached at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
