Moulton makes Senate campaign stop in Holyoke

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton talks to the community at the Holyoke Public Library about his priorities to run for U.S. Senate.
Reminder Publishing photos by Tyler Garnet

HOLYOKE — Seth Moulton thinks the U.S. Senate could use a bit of a tune up.

The United States representative stopped in Holyoke on April 9 to host a “Fireside Chat” roundtable to talk with the Holyoke and Springfield community about his goals for U.S. Senate if he were elected.

Moulton is currently the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ Sixth District, covering the North Shore. He is running to capture U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s seat this fall and has begun his campaign tour by visiting Western Massachusetts to listen and learn about people’s biggest concerns. Moulton stopped at the Holyoke Public Library, where 20 people shared their thoughts and he shared his plans.

“The old playbook is just not working,” Moulton stated. Although Moulton shared that he has “great respect” for Markey, he also expressed a need for change. Markey was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1976, two years before Moulton was born. He has served in the Senate since 2013. Moulton was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014.

“I’m running for Senate at a time when a lot of people are hurting across Massachusetts,” Moulton said. “When we know that the status quo in the country and the Democratic Party is not getting it done.”

Moulton, a candidate in the Democratic primary, also spoke about his American Affordability Agenda, a comprehensive plan focused on housing, health care and education.

“I’ve put forward a very aggressive affordability agenda that as a principle, as a first principle, just plant the ground and say things; housing, health care and education should just be human rights. Those should be basic human rights expectations this day and age,” Moulton said.

He also stated that he believes Massachusetts needs new leadership to lower costs and address national challenges. Other issues that Moulton said he has heard so far across the state include rising rent prices and high utility bills.

“It’s tough to afford rent. It’s tough to pay our heating bill. Electricity bills are of the highest in the entire country, and so we’ve got to figure this out, and we’ve got to do better, and I just don’t think that we can afford to wait six more years for new leadership,” Moulton said.

Moulton said that Massachusetts needs to improve its tax revenue and do a better job of bringing more businesses to the state and keeping them here.

“I know there are a lot of businesses that get started here because we have a great environment for starting businesses,” Moulton stated. “But then many of them move out of state because of the cost of continuing to do business here is too high.”

Other issues Moulton touched on during his stop were transportation and the West-East rail, mental health, education and the current conflict in Iran.

Although Moulton agreed that transportation to connect the state is needed, he urged the state to focus on updating the standards of the construction. He explained that, right now, the plan is to build the train to “1910 standards,” which would take it two and half hours to get from Springfield to Boston, “which is slower than the trains did in the 1950s.”

He continued, “I think that’s pathetic. I don’t think we should be spending a dollar on that kind of rail service. Now, Morocco on the other hand, a country over in Africa, which has a third of the GDP just of Massachusetts, just built a rail line the same as Springfield to Boston and it goes 186 miles per hour. That would make it a 40 minute trip. Imagine if you could get from downtown Boston in 40 minutes from Western Massachusetts. That would open up amazing job opportunities for people out here.”

For education, Moulton also urged for a change to the Department of Education for a more modern approach, universal pre-K and a more precise focus on vocational opportunities for seniors in high school.

Moulton also called the Iran War a “terrible idea,” and ‘illegal,” and thought the ceasefire is the right step. He said he would like to see a deal reached “for long lasting peace” so that this conflict doesn’t keep happening every few years.

Moulton admitted he did not have all the answers for every problem discussed, but expressed the importance of hearing from the people.

“Someone told me once that there’s two types of politicians. Some of them get elected to be someone, and some get elected to do some things. I’m all about doing some things,” Moulton stated. “I want to get things done in Washington, and that’s the attitude I think that we need from our elected officials and integrity would sure help.”

He concluded, “What I want you to know is that there is a choice in these elections. There’s a choice to just continue with the status quo, to continue with using the same old playbook and look if you think things are going well in the country right now, then you should support the person I’m running against, because that’s the status quo choice, but if you think we can do better, if you think we need to do better, then you should know that there is a next generation, a new generation of leaders who want to serve.”