McGovern, Sossa-Paquette face voters in race for Worcester Congressional seat

WORCESTER — A longtime Worcester Democratic congressman is running against a Shrewsbury businessman in the race for his 14th term in office Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. James. P. McGovern, 62, faces voters again while first-time Republican candidate Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette, 52, promises to be an outsider voice for the 2nd Congressional District.

The district includes much of Worcester County including Worcester, as well as parts of Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Norfolk counties.

Rep. Jim McGovern

McGovern was born and raised in Worcester. His mother ran a dance studio while his father owned a package store. His sisters were lifelong Worcester public school teachers.

Representing Central Massachusetts since 1997, McGovern said that he became an elected official to serve families and fight for his beliefs.

"I got into public service because I love this country, I care about our people and I want to fight for all our families. I’ve always tried to do what’s right in Congress," McGovern said, "not what’s popular - stopping endless wars, standing up to bullies like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, getting money out of politics, getting government back on the side of working people."

McGovern is one of the most liberal members of Congress and chairs the House Rules Committee. However, McGovern said that he is able to work across the aisle in Washington, D.C.

"Every single president I have served alongside, even Donald Trump, has signed one of my bills into law," McGovern said.

In making his pitch for reelection, McGovern said that he is not beholden to special interest, adding that he does not take money from corporate PACs and he goes to every community he represents to hear out their needs.

"I go to every single community to listen to the people I work for - sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t," McGovern said. "It’s my job to represent you no matter who you are or what you believe. And every vote I take in Congress is with you and your family in mind."

McGovern also said that the Democrats have a thin majority in Congress. Many election analysts project they are likely to lose the House majority Tuesday, but he has touted their record with that majority and criticized Republicans in Congress.

"Democrats have a razor-thin majority in Congress, but we’ve fought to put government back on the side of working people," McGovern said. "I will go back to Congress to make sure your voice is heard – not the voices of the radical Republican extremists who want to cut Social Security and Medicare, ban abortion nationwide and incite political violence when they lose."

McGovern referenced tax cuts for working families, direct relief checks for families, infrastructure investments and fighting corporations on high oil and pharmaceutical pricing.

McGovern is married to his wife, Lisa, who works for a cancer nonprofit. The couple have two children, Molly and Patrick.

Improving the economy, securing abortion rights and protecting American democracy would be McGovern's key focuses if reelected.

"Rising prices are out of control and I am committed to lowering costs for people. That means I’ll keep standing up to billionaire corporations who are price gouging us," McGovern said. "It means fighting for continued investments in cleaner, greener energy that secures a healthy future for our children and grandchildren, and lessens our dependence on 'big oil.'"

He touted securing over $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support infrastructure improvements in Douglas, such as 2.4 million square feet of new warehouse and industrial space. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also delivered $480 million to Ascend Elements in Westborough to research batteries for electric vehicles and create green-energy jobs, McGovern said.

He recounted being the last member of Congress on the House floor before they were evacuated during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

"I came face to face with the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others who invaded the Capitol building because of the 'big lie,'" McGovern said. "They want to overturn a free and fair election and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. I will continue standing up to Republican extremists who spread lies and conspiracy theories."

In Central and Western Massachusetts, McGovern said he has supported veterans' care while in Congress.

"The fact that there is a single homeless veteran anywhere in America is completely unacceptable to me," McGovern said.

He said that he worked to secure a veterans affairs outpatient clinic in Worcester so that Central Massachusetts veterans did not have to drive to Boston, Northampton or out of state for care.

In addition, McGovern said he secured $430,000 in federal funding for Veterans Inc., a Worcester-area nonprofit addressing homeless veterans in Central Massachusetts. McGovern said a law he authored called the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program passed Congress in 2020. The law funds the training of service dogs for veterans with disabilities.

Inflation is one of the most pressing topics for Americans across the county. McGovern said that it is also his, "No. 1 concern.

"In almost every conversation I have, families consistently bring up the impact of inflation. I see it for myself at the grocery store and at the gas station," McGovern said. "The truth is, inflation is a global issue. It’s not Joe Biden’s fault, and frankly, it’s not Donald Trump’s fault."

He said that while inflation has causes linked to the global economy, major industries are using the situation to price gouge. The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August caps insulin prices and McGovern said Biden releasing oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve will help with gas prices.

Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette

Sossa-Paquette, a native of New England, is a businessman who has founded a chain of pet stores, worked in the banking industry and founded a series of child care facilities. He previously intended to run against McGovern in 2018, but a minor stroke left him sick and unable to talk for a period.

He is married to his husband, Julian, and has two children whom the couple adopted, Ashley and Rylan.

Sossa-Paquette has frequently discussed fighting to adopt his two children as a part of a gay couple in New Hampshire and Massachusetts before gay marriage was fully legalized.

As a gay man, Sossa-Paquette said he has had to challenge some members of his own party on his role as a candidate and fears that the national and state party may not be funding his campaign partially because of his sexuality, but he said Massachusetts Republicans are generally accepting of gay candidates.

He operates Access Futures Child Care Center in Worcester, which cares for the children of parents under the poverty line.

Sossa-Paquette said that McGovern has little to show for his long tenure in Congress. He said that most Worcester families of four are living below the poverty line, that homelessness in the city has skyrocketed, that schools in the district are graduating most children at eighth-grade reading and math efficiencies and that the number of generations dependent on the social safety net has grown to three since McGovern's tenure.

"Jim McGovern started his career in D.C. in 1984. After 41 years in D.C. and 26 years as our congressman there is little success to look at that you can call success," Sossa-Paquette said. "None of this is success. In business if that was the performance it would go out of business."

Sossa-Paquette listed various issues he would tackle as a member of Congress.

He said he would, "reimagine the safety social net programs that break the dependence on broken government programs.

"I want to put in a place program that lifts two generations at once over a 10-year period freeing our working poor to the middle class," Sossa-Paquette said. "Let’s start with not taking benefits away from families the minute they earn one dollar too much. That just kicks the family or young mother down the social ladder all over again, resulting in mom and child trapped with no way up."

The closed factories that dot the district should be repurposed to create manufacturing jobs or new facilities, Sossa-Paquette said.

The factories could be repurposed for affordable housing, rehabilitation facilities, or senior or veteran housing, he added.

"We cannot allow these factories to continue to rot away when our citizens have a use for these buildings instead of watching them burn down," Sossa-Paquette said.

Sossa-Paquette also wants to create new rules for government grants to end backroom deals that he feels could enrich politicians. All government grants should have no attachment to a politician. Elected officials cannot donate, campaign for or make any political statements about these grants under the rules Sossa-Paquette proposes.

In addition, Sossa-Paquette called for immediate immigration reform, making childhood beneficiaries of the DREAM Act citizens.

To combat the flow of drugs coming into the country, Sossa-Paquette said China and Mexico need to be held accountable.

"The federal government must declare war on the cartels, designating them a terrorist group allowing our military to move in if Mexico doesn’t stop the cartels themselves," Sossa-Paquette said.

To control inflation, Sossa-Paquette said he would cut government spending and work to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

In addition, Sossa-Paquette said that having all forms of energy produced in the U.S. and reviewing all federal agencies for waste will combat inflation. He said wasteful funds should go to affordable housing and education costs.

Sossa-Paquette was also at the center of backlash over the reading of a poem by a Shrewsbury High School student. He and others said the poem was emblematic of critical race theory in schools that demonized police officers while others claimed the poem was an exercise in taking on the perspective of George Floyd's mother.

McGovern and Sossa-Paquette took part in a debate hosted by Springfield-area TV station WWLP-22News. The two candidates traded views on inflation, the environment and the conflict in Ukraine among other topics.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette vie for Congress