Matt Patrick Officially Enters Race for Third Barnstable District

CCB MEDIA PHOTO Matt Patrick, a Democrat from Falmouth, is seeking to win back the Third Barnstable District seat that he held for 10 years.

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Matt Patrick, a Democrat from Falmouth, is seeking to win back the Third Barnstable District seat that he held for 10 years.

EAST FALMOUTH – Falmouth Democrat Matthew Patrick of Waquoit, who served for 10 years as a state representative, is looking to get back into politics.

Patrick is running for his former seat, now held by Republican David Vieira of Teaticket.

The election in 2016 comes during a Presidential election year and Patrick believes that bodes well for him.

The Third Barnstable District has also changed since he last held the seat. Gone are the two precincts in Cotuit and Osterville in the town of Barnstable. The district now includes all of Mashpee, in addition to precincts in Falmouth (Precincts 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9) and Bourne (3, 4, 5, and 6).

Just before a campaign kick-off and fundraiser Friday at Oysters Too in East Falmouth, Patrick explained why he is running.

CCB MEDIA PHOTO Matt Patrick speaks to a room of supporters at Oysters Too in East Falmouth at his campaign kick-off Friday evening.

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Matt Patrick speaks to a room of supporters at Oysters Too in East Falmouth at his campaign kick-off Friday evening.

“I think of the state representative seat as an opportunity to do a lot of good things. People deserve to be represented up on Beacon Hill. I don’t think they are really being adequately represented at this time and I’m going to make sure they have a voice up on Beacon Hill,” he said.

Patrick said during his term he worked on the Energy Committee and the Veterans Committee, among other committees, and worked on a number of bills, including the Green Communities Act.

“The net metering part of the Green Communities Act, I wrote and it made it possible for people to get near retail rates back from the utilities for the solar on their roofs or the wind turbines generating electricity,” he said.

Patrick said that he was a more active representative than Vieira is proving to be.

“Just look at the record. . . . Look at my 10 years versus the current representative’s five years and there’s just no comparison. He hasn’t produced anything legislatively,” he said. “Of course, that may be his theory of government. My theory of government is an active government, a pro-active government. You go out, you try to do things; you try to do things. It’s the basic difference between a Democrat and a Republican in my book.”

At the fundraiser, Falmouth Selectman Mary (Pat) Flynn, who is also a county commissioner, introduced the candidate, saying that they had served on the Falmouth Board of Selectmen together for six years before Patrick sought the state representative seat.

Patrick spoke about the issue of income inequality, pointing to a list of figures drawn on a large note pad.

The number 1 referred to the position of the United States as the richest country in the world, and the number 2 referred to the position of Massachusetts as the second richest state in the country.

The number 80 referred to the number of millionaires in the Third Barnstable District, and the figure 6.5 percent referred to the percentage of income those millionaires pay in state and local taxes.

The next figure, 9.4 percent, referred to the percentage of income everyone else in the district pays in state and local taxes.

Patrick also said that in 2013, the average income in East Falmouth was $24,044, according to census data, well below the state average.

“We’ve got a problem. I’m going to work to do something about it,” he said.

By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com News Editor

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