Bellingham will host candidates forum for Mass. House seat
BELLINGHAM – As election season gets into full swing, voters will get their first chance Tuesday to see the four candidates for the 18th Worcester District state representative seat come together at a candidates forum that will be open to voters throughout the district.
The Bellingham Business Association (BBA) is sponsoring a meet the candidates night where Democrats Patrick J. Malone of Uxbridge and Kevin J. Tagliaferri of Bellingham and Republicans Ryan Chamberland of Blackstone and Mike J. Soter of Bellingham will gather under one roof for what may be the only event involving all four candidates before the state primaries on Sept. 4.
The forum will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Coachmen’s Lodge Restaurant in Bellingham, and is open to all voters in the 8th Worcester District, which covers the towns of Bellingham, Blackstone, Millville and Uxbridge.
Although the Bellingham Business Association is non-political and does not
endorse candidates, over the years it has hosted forums as a public service to introduce the candidates to voters.
“Each of the four candidates will be given 10 minutes to address the audience,” said BBA President John Orthman. “After they are done speaking, questions will be taken from the audience as time permits, and all of the candidates will have an opportunity to respond in a rotating order.”
Malone, 21, a lifelong resident of Uxbridge, is the youngest candidate ever to run for the 8th Worcester District seat. A 2014 graduate of Uxbridge High School, he recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he was the treasurer of Pi Sigma Alpha, a member of the National Po- litical Science Honors Society, and marketing director for the UMass Theatre Guild, UMass Amherst’s oldest student organization.
He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and economics.
Malone is a State House administrative assistant for state Rep. Denise Garlick and the Joint Committee on Mental Health Substance Use and Recovery.
He is also a former volunteer for the Paul Feeney for State Senate Campaign and a former American Naval policy research assistant.
Malone is a hardwood flooring apprentice and gardener as well as a guitarist, pianist and composer.
He is a volunteer at Camp Sunshine and the People First Food Pantry in Uxbridge.
Tagliaferri, 57, grew up in Bellingham along with his five siblings. He is a practicing attorney and current chairman of the Bellingham Democratic Town Committee as well as an active member of the Democratic State Committee. He is also a volunteer for several other organizations that serve those in need in the area.
Tagliaferri is an attorney specializing in criminal defense, juvenile law, bankruptcy, consumer law and school law. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Massachusetts School of Law in 2001and before that he was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in education and political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1985.
He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association in 2002.
Tagliaferri is also a member of the Norfolk Bar Association, Lawrence Bar Association, and Essex County Bar Advocates, Inc.
He is a member of and volunteer with several organizations, including the United Way of Tri County, JAG Council (Milford), Metrowest Legal Services in Framingham, and the Volunteer Lawyer’s Project
Soter, 43, is currently chairman of the Bellingham Board of Selectmen, a panel he has served on for the past six years. Soter attended Nichols College and currently works in sales with the Father’s Table Desserts.
As a selectman he helped secure $1.76 million in state funding for safety and infrastructural improvements to a dangerously congested intersection on Route 140, and oversaw construction of a new state-ofthe-art $6.8 million police station.
Chamberland is a lifelong Republican who grew up in the district and graduated from Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School.
A former member of the Blackstone Board of Selectmen, he served as director of legislative affairs for the Department of Correction and worked for Republican candidates across Massachusetts, including Sen. Ryan Fattman and Rep. Kevin Kuros.