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Political newcomer Chester Tam won the Republican primary for the Bristol 9th district, beating former New Bedford City Councilor Henry Bousquet.
Unofficial results show Tam received 1,433 votes and Bousquet received 1,144 votes. The candidates did best in their hometowns — Tam beat Bousquet in every Dartmouth precinct, while Bousquet was the favorite among voters in New Bedford’s North End.
Both candidates had emphasized the cost of living and auditing the Legislature as pillars of their campaigns.
Tam was at home with his family in Dartmouth when the results came in. He said he was grateful to the volunteers and family members who helped him get enough support to win.
“I’m feeling good because I put a lot of work for a long time into this, so it definitely is exciting for me,” he said.
Tam will face the Democratic primary winner in the November general election. Unofficial results late Tuesday showed Ed Pacheco ahead in the race by a mere 14 votes over Stephen Medeiros, within the margin for a recount request.
Bousquet, who received the results at home in New Bedford, acknowledged his loss and threw his support behind Tam.
“Good on him,” Bousquet said. “We’re gonna win it for the GOP.”
Bousquet said he may run for office again someday, but as a culinary arts teacher at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech high school, his focus is now on his 36 new sophomores.
This was Tam’s second-ever run for public office, after losing a bid for the Dartmouth Board of Health last year. The candidate said he was interested in legislating on health issues after being let go from a job at Mass General Brigham for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Bousquet has a longer history in politics. He has previously served as a New Bedford city councilor and election commissioner. He said he would try to reverse state-mandated lottery admissions at vocational technical schools and said that collecting demographic data in schools “just creates division.”
But the candidates had similar visions for their top priorities. They both wanted to lower the cost of living by addressing utility bills, with proposals to roll back investments in renewable energy. They also wanted to cut state spending and allocate more state aid to local governments to reduce upward pressure on property taxes.
Both also supported an audit of the Legislature authorized by voters in 2024.
The 9th Bristol seat is open this season because incumbent Chris Markey, a Democrat, is instead running for Bristol County District Attorney. Markey will face Republican Seth Aitken in the general election after running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Democrats have represented the communities of the Bristol 9th for decades, but Tam may have an opportunity to pick up the seat because the district has moved to the right in recent years — President Donald Trump won a narrow majority of the district’s votes in 2024.
Tam said he already was knocking on the doors of both Republicans and Democrats during the primary, and he planned to continue that strategy to win the general election. He said his platform, which focuses on addressing rising property taxes and utility bills, transcends partisan politics.
“It’s not hard to support someone who has our district’s best interest at heart,” he said.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org.
