HAVERHILL — No Republican has won election to the state senate from the lower Merrimack Valley since 1958, when the late James "Jake" Rurak was elected to the seat.
A prominent GOP figure, former Newburyport Mayor and state Secretary of Communities and Development Byron Matthews came within 320 votes of beating then-state Rep. Nicholas Costello, D-Amesbury, in a special election in 1983. But aside from that close call, no Republican has come close to unseating Rurak, Sharon Pollard, Costello, James Jajuga or Steven Baddour, the Methuen Democrat who currently represents the 1st Essex Senate District on Beacon Hill.
Yet two Republicans from opposite ends of the district are trying to change the status quo. Sean Downing, a scientist from Methuen, and Stephen Cole, a retired engineer who lives in Newburyport, are competing in the Sept. 14 Republican primary for the right to take on Baddour, who has no primary opponent.
Both Cole and Downing have taken aim at the state sales tax, which the Legislature raised from 5 percent to 6.25 percent last summer.
Cole said he wants to chop the sales tax by more than half, to the 3 percent it was when then-Gov. John Volpe and the Legislature enacted the "temporary" tax in 1965. Downing said he thinks the state needs some sales tax to keep operating, but he supports a reduction to 5 percent — and more if voters approve an initiative calling for a further decrease.
Cole also said he wants to keep lobbyists out of the State House and supports a right-to-work law, which would make it illegal to force employees to pay union dues.
Neither Cole nor Downing is an experienced politician. Cole ran for mayor of Newburyport in 2005, but was eliminated in the preliminary election. Cole is a veteran, having served for 21 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve.
Downing has never been a candidate, but his uncle, Delbert Downing, represented Salem and surrounding towns in the New Hampshire Senate, while his cousin, Michael Downing, has served in both houses of the New Hampshire Legislature and is now running for Rockingham County sheriff.
While it's been many years since 1st Essex voters have sent a Republican to Beacon Hill, they have been known to rough up Democratic incumbents.
Rurak was upset in the 1976 Democratic primary by Pollard, who went on to serve as secretary of energy under Gov. Michael Dukakis and mayor of Methuen from 2000 to 2006.
In 1990, Costello was defeated in the primary by Jajuga, who had just retired as a lieutenant from the state police.
The 1st Essex District, once known as the 3rd Essex District, is made up of Methuen, Haverhill, Merrimac, Amesbury, Newburyport and Salisbury, plus precincts 1, 4, 6 and 8 in North Andover.
Candidate bios
Stephen Cole
Age: 70
Hometown: Newburyport
Profession: Retired engineer; 29 years of service with Western Electric, which became known as AT&T, CBS Electronics and Raytheon; worked on the Hawk missile, ground to air defense and communication installation engineering.
Personal: Single
Education: Lowell State Technical College, now University of Massachusetts Lowell, associate degree in electronic engineering; Northern Essex Community College, associate degree in liberal arts; Salem State College, courses in math and science
Biggest issue facing the district and your plans to address it: I have the energy and the time. I believe that I have creative, good ideas. Good ideas for the working class of people, right to work. Ideas on lowering state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent. Lowering state sales tax to 3 percent will bring in more revenue to Massachusetts.
Sean Downing
Age: 40
Hometown: Methuen
Profession: Scientist and educator; taught at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Northeastern University; worked for biotechnology companies and academic institutions, most recently Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital, with an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School. Recently laid off.
Personal: Married, expecting first child.
Education: Bachelor's degree, Rochester Institute of Technology; master's degree, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; doctorate, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Biggest issue facing the district and your plans to address it: I decided to run because the citizens deserve better government. The Legislature continues to increase our taxes and ignore the will of the people. I would like to restore balance to Beacon Hill. I would like to reduce our tax burden and end the corruption and patronage that pervade our state government. We need to restore a true two-party system to Massachusetts so that we can have a meaningful dialogue on the issues.
