Soter narrowly tops Malone in Dist. 8

d BELLINGHAM — Republican Michael Soter, of Bellingham, defeated Democrat Patrick Malone, of Uxbridge, for the 8th Worcester District state representative seat, which represents Bellingham, Blackstone, Millville and Uxbridge.

The unofficial tally was f 9,142 votes for Soter and 8,605 votes for Malone.

“I want to thank the entire t 8th Worcester District of Bellt ingham, Blackstone, Millville d and Uxbridge,” Soter said. “I met so many great people. Whether you voted for me or Pat I’m ready to serve everyone. We need to start work- ing for everyone. I’m ready to bring our district together. Over the next few days I’ll be out thanking everyone in all the towns. I’m ready to get to work and I’m honored to be your state representative.”

Soter said Malone called him Tuesday night to concede the race.

“I personally want to thank Pat Malone for running a fabulous campaign,” Soter said. “I enjoyed meeting his family. In today’s political climate I feel that Pat and I set an example on how campaigns should be run. I asked Pat to sit down next week so that we can discuss his ideas for the district so that I can bring two great agendas to Boston.”

Malone, 21, a lifelong res- ident of Uxbridge, was 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 Political Science Honors Society, and marketing director for the UMass Theatre Guild, UMass-Amherst’s oldest student organization.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics.

Malone is a Statehouse 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.

Soter, 43, is 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 selectmen 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-of- the-art $6.8 million police station.