WORTHINGTON — The chairman of the Worthington Democratic Town Committee announced his run Monday for the 1st Franklin District seat in the House.
Casey Pease is the third person to announce their candidacy for the seat after state Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, said he would not seek re-election this year.
“Rep. Kulik has been phenomenal for our district and it’s sad to see him go,” Pease said. “But now is a great time for more young people to get involved.”
Two other Democrats are running for the seat — Natalie M. Blais, of Sunderland, the executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, and Kate Albright-Hanna, of Huntington, an Emmy-award winning journalist.
The 1st Franklin District covers 19 towns in Hampshire and Franklin counties as well as the town of Chester in Hampden County.
Pease, 20, was the youngest paid staff member on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign as a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He said that encouraging more young people to get involved in politics has been a main goal of his since the election.
“Now, more than ever, we need more young people to get involved,” he said.
In addition to getting more young people involved in politics, Pease said a top priority is making sure the regional economy is supported.
“That means making investments in agriculture and listening to our farmers,” he said.
High speed internet, making investments in public education, and single payer health are also topics on Pease’s list of priorities.
“We can fight for and win single-payer health care, get proper funding for public schools and regional transportation, create clean energy jobs, expand access to broadband internet, support agriculture, and build a strong economy and vibrant Commonwealth that works for everyone who calls Massachusetts home,” Pease said in his campaign announcement.
Pease became chairman of the Worthington Democratic Town Committee in 2016 and wrote in an op-ed for the Gazette that his goals for the committee included “actively work to reform the party and build on the energy created this election season.”
He credits his early interest in civics to his grandmother, who he said was the first woman to be named to Worthington’s Select Board, on which she served for 25 years. She spent many of those years serving alongside a young Kulik, until he was elected to his seat in the House in 1993.
“I was raised by my community and inspired by my grandmother and other community leaders,” Pease said. “I can’t say enough about how tremendous Rep. Kulik has been for the 1st District.”
Pease is in the process of working with the University of Massachusetts Amherst to finish his degree from UMass Boston while in office, just like Kulik did in the 90s, according to his campaign.
Western Massachusetts will have new leadership in the House next year. In addition to Kulik’s seat, Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, who has been a state representative for 16 years, also announced he would not seek re-election to the 2nd Hampshire District this year, and state Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, died last week while serving in 1st Hampshire District. Kocot had been elected to the House in 2002.
One candidate, Easthampton City Councilor Daniel Carey, 33, a Democrat, announced last week his intentions to run for Scibak’s seat. The 2nd Hampshire District contains Easthampton, Hadley, South Hadley and Granby’s Precinct 2.
Emily Cutts contributed to this report.