CORRECTION (noon Saturday, December 18, 2021):A previously published version of this story stated that Ken Sweezey, a Republican candidate for state representative, supports legal abortion. After the story was published, Mr. Sweezey contacted NewBostonPost to say that that description was inaccurate. On Saturday, asked by telephone by an editor what his position on abortion is, Mr. Sweezey responded: “I accept that Roe v. Wade is precedent. It’s the law of the land. Abortion is not a focal point of my campaign. I believe that there are more pressing issues in my district. My campaign is focused mainly on economic issues post-pandemic.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ken Sweezey wants to bring new leadership to the South Shore.
A Republican, Sweezey is running for state representative against incumbent Democrat Josh Cutler of Pembroke in the Sixth Plymouth District. Cutler has represented the district since 2013.
The 27-year-old Hanson native is a member of his town’s Economic Development Committee (appointed by the board of selectmen) as well as the Republican Town Committee. He got involved with local politics in May shortly after moving back to Massachusetts. The BC High and Loyola University grad worked for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for four years out of college before coming back to Massachusetts this past April; he now works at an engineering firm in the Boston area.
“Being in public service is something I’ve always been interested in,” he told NewBostonPost in a phone interview this week. “I was a forensic scientist for four years for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. When I got sent home, I had time to reflect and I didn’t want to just contribute to one problem. I want to be able to contribute to the whole part of many problems. I was looking for the best way to help my hometown and my community.”
“It’s something I thought about doing later in life but with COVID I thought, ‘why wait? Let’s get started on it now,'” he added.
Sweezey said that his main focus if elected, would be helping small businesses in their economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said government caused the problem in the first place, and should work to solve it
“I tell people this all the time: the virus didn’t shut businesses down, it was government,” he said. “Now the burden is on the state to rectify the issues they’ve caused for workers and small businesses. To take away as much of that burden to support small businesses. In times of crisis, they suspend a lot of regulations. If you’re able to suspend regulations in times of crisis, then why do we have these regulations at all? It creates unnecessary bureaucracy. It’s really harassment of people and businesses by the state and it’s uncalled for. I’m sure no one in the State House could even tell me the true breadth of the bureaucracy in the Commonwealth.”
He also said that lowering the tax burden would be a major priority. He said that Massachusetts has a budget surplus and that the state should give the money back to the people.
“And they still have ideas about raising taxes,” he said. “They have their wunderkinds on the far left that want a millionaire’s tax while the legislature is going to get more money for the state by legalizing sports betting.”
“The money belongs to the people who have paid it in,” he added. “In no other place except government are you able to set a budget, exceed revenue, and keep operating on that budget–and expand on that budget in the future.”
Sweezey said there are a few ways the state could give the money back to the people, and he’s open to all of them: an income tax adjustment, a rebate check, or a sales tax break.
A couple of other issues he said are important to him include parental rights–including letting parents have a say in their children’s education–and supporting law enforcement.
“Massachusetts has some of the best public education in the country and we should keep it that way and everyone should have a seat at the table to maintain that excellence,” he said on the education issue.
Sweezey also outlined his approach to social issues. He said that he doesn’t think that the government should tell people what to do as long as they’re not hurting anyone else and that he thinks the Republican Party needs to be inclusive.
“We shouldn’t be gatekeeping who is and isn’t allowed in the party based on what they do in their private life,” he said.
On abortion, Sweezey said that Roe v Wade is currently precedent. Sweezey also said that he supports efforts to restore protections for babies born alive following an attempted abortion, something that the ROE Act removed from Massachusetts law in late December 2020.
“As of right now, Roe v Wade is the law of the land,” he said. “That’s been precedent for 50-something years. That’s the law of the land right now. If it gets overturned, we operate with that. I think the bill that was passed by the Democratic majority legislature last year that we tried to pass a ballot initiative on this born alive bill where clinics aren’t obligated to save the life of an infant from a failed abortion. It’s a true tragedy and it should be a crime to not save their life once they’ve been born. I would’ve loved to have seen that measure on the ballot; I think that’s an issue that a lot of people care about and the Democratic majority doesn’t give a lot of time to because they don’t have to.”
Electorally, Cutler has performed well in the district. He won re-election with 59.1 percent of the vote last year, ran unopposed in 2018, and got 64 percent of the vote in his 2016 re-election bid. Sweezey acknowledged that to beat Cutler, he will need a coalition that contains people who don’t always vote Republican.
“The majority is unenrolled in this state so by no means is this district a massive Democratic majority,” he said. “I think the strategy is meeting everyone where they are. Our district is diverse. We have blue-collar working communities and we go down to the coast. Everyone has different needs. I’m not gonna take votes for granted. I’ve gone up to certain elected officials in the district, introduced myself and they tell me that they’re a Democrat. I know they’re a Democrat but I’m not here to just represent 51 percent of the population, I want to represent everyone in the district. I think it’s going to be refreshing in this day and age of divisive politics.”
Sweezey said he has been going to events in the area meeting people, including ones that aren’t especially political. With Christmas approaching, he said he has also been attending tree lightings and toy drives and speaking to people about the issues that matter most to them.
In the 2022 election, the Sixth Plymouth District will include all of Duxbury, and parts of Pembroke, Hanson, Halifax, and Marshfield. The state has not yet announced the exact composition of the district.
Cutler’s office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
New to NewBostonPost? Conservative media is hard to find in Massachusetts. But you’ve found it. Now dip your toe in the water for two bucks — $2 for two months. And join the real revolution.
