Republican Bruce Chester Launches Campaign for Mass. State Senate Special Election

GARDNER — Retired US Army Capt. Bruce Chester is launching a campaign for the newly opened State Senate for the Worcester & Hampshire Senate District. With incumbent Democrat Anne Gobi stepping aside to join the Healey administration, the seat will be filled by a special election later in 2023. The primaries will be on October 10, with the general election on November 7.

“We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines while the Democrats conduct business-as-usual on Beacon Hill,” Chester said. “My campaign is about our shared individual freedoms, it’s about fighting for parents’ involvement in their children’s education, and it’s about finally giving this region a voice in the Massachusetts State House.”

Chester brings experience and district-wide visibility to the race, having built name recognition in a previous run for State Representative in the 2^nd Worcester District.

This is a seat that Republicans have been consistently competitive in, with Gobi unable to break 55 percent of the vote except when Barack Obama was at the top of the ticket. But previous GOP challengers to Gobi haven’t been able to take that last leap and get over the top. The Chester campaign has good reason to be optimistic that their candidate’s background and persona, which cuts against the traditional Republican grain, could be the difference this time around.

Chester is a college professor, currently at Fitchburg State University, with a background in music, English, civics, and computer science. Chester, an African-American conservative, shatters Democratic narratives on everything from race to identity politics to understanding what matters in our education system.

Furthermore, Chester served his country overseas, as an Army National Guard Captain during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His candidacy provides a real alternative to voters who have grown weary of choosing between increasingly extreme left-wing Democrats and corporatist Republicans who don’t connect with ordinary people. By contrast, Chester is a candidate for voters who simply want a regular person to represent them in the State Senate.

“As a veteran, I know firsthand that freedom is something that can be taken away, and that it’s absolutely worth fighting for,” Chester said. “What we’re seeing right now are Democrats embracing unconstitutional mandates and Massachusetts citizens who are yearning to have their freedoms restored.

“I’m running to make sure we never, ever, lose those freedoms again. This open seat is an opportunity for the people to elect a Senator who will fight for them.”

Make a plan to vote on October 10, and again on November 7. Chester is running to represent the following cities and towns in the State Senate:

·      Barre

·      Brookfield

·      East Brookfield

·      Gardner

·      Hardwick

·      Holden

·      Hubbardston

·      Leicester

·      New Braintree

·      North Brookfield

·      Oakham

·      Paxton

·      Phillipston

·      Princeton

·      Rutland

·      Spencer

·      Sterling

·      Templeton

·      Ware

·      West Brookfield

·      Westminster

· Worcester: Ward 7 Precincts 2, 4, 5, 6, and Ward 9 Precincts 3 & 4.