SOUTHAMPTON — Democrat J.D. Parker-O’Grady of Southampton has entered the race for the state Senate seat currently held by Donald F. Humason Jr., a Westfield Republican.
It remains to be seen whether Humason and Parker-O’Grady will face challengers from their own parties in the Sept. 8 primary elections. But Parker-O’Grady’s entrance into the race sets up a contest against Humason for the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District seat. If neither is defeated in the primary elections, they would be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
The district includes Easthampton and Southampton in Hampshire County and Holyoke, Westfield, parts of Chicopee and several other towns in Hampden County.
Parker-O’Grady, 31, is in his second year at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. He also has a master’s degree in law and public policy from Northeastern and a bachelor’s in political science from St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont.
He grew up in Southampton and graduated from the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton.
Parker-O’Grady said in a telephone interview last week that it was his time working in New Hampshire on the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 that inspired him to enroll in graduate school to study public policy.
After completing his master’s degree, he was hired by then-state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, who at the time held the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire seat.
As part of his law school studies, Parker-O’Grady recently completed an internship with U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman in Worcester. At Northeastern, he said he was involved with the Student Bar Association, co-chairman of the Intellectual Property Society and a staffer at the university’s law journal.
If elected, Parker-O’Grady said one of his top priorities would be working on solutions to the opioid crisis.
“I think we need to do more,” he said. “I’m sick of seeing stories of people my age dying from overdoses.
Parker-O’Grady said the bill signed recently by Gov. Charlie Baker that puts tighter controls on painkiller prescriptions is a step in the right direction, but lawmakers must focus on increasing access to treatment programs.
“We need treatment programs, we need beds,” he said.
His other two priorities would be pushing for economic development and focusing on education.
“We have a lot of potential,” Parker-O’Grady said. “There’s still a lot of old mill buildings to rehab.”
He said that he would work with local officials to first identify the funding needs for communities and then work with state representatives to get money for projects.
Parker-O’Grady said Easthampton would benefit from a parking garage, for example, and that he recognizes the redevelopment potential of the former Mount Tom coal power plant.
And Parker-O’Grady said while he is not necessarily against charter schools, the formula used to fund them must be reassessed to ensure that public schools are adequately financed.
Parker-O’Grady said he currently splits his time between Southampton and Boston. He will move back to Southampton full time after the end of this semester and take a leave from school in the fall for his campaign, he said.
Humason, 48, of Westfield, is currently in his second term. He won a special election to replace Knapik in November 2013 when Knapik left to take a job at Westfield State University. Humason was re-elected the following year for a full two-year term.
He represented the 4th Hampden District in the House from 2003 to 2013. Before that, he worked as Knapik’s chief of staff and as a legislative aide.
Humason sits on the joint committees on Ways and Means; Veterans and Federal Affairs; Transportation; Education; Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities; and Public Service. He also sits on the Senate committees on Ways and Means; Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets; and Intergovernmental Affairs.
He graduated from what was then Westfield State College in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and minors in psychology and Spanish.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.