Huff Templeton, a Williamstown resident with a passion for issues of social justice and a record of involvement in town politics, is running for the Democratic nomination for a four-county Senate district.

“I’m running for state Senate to make a difference in the lives of marginalized people,” said Templeton, 56.

The Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire District stretches from the New York border to Whately. It is the successor district to the one currently represented by Rep. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, who opted not to run for re-election to pursue an ultimately unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor. Templeton will face state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru in the Sept. 6 primary.

The Hampshire County towns in the district are Williamsburg, Westhampton, Goshen, Chesterfield, Huntington, Cummington, Worthington, Plainfield and Middlefield.

Templeton, who announced his candidancy in May, is a married father of two adult daughters, the oldest of whom is the treasurer for his campaign. He is a former member of the Williamstown Elementary School Committee and currently serves on the Williamstown Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

He was also the author and petitioner of Articles 36 and 37 at Williamstown’s 2020 annual Town Meeting, which helped frame a discussion around diversity, equity and belonging in the town. One of those initiatives committed the town and its representatives to the Not in Our County Pledge formulated by the nonprofit Multicultural BRIDGE, and both were approved by voters overwhelmingly.

“As an organization we respond with best intention and practices to not stay silent in the face of intolerance or hate based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, country of origin, ability or any other factor,” reads part of the pledge.

The article states the town and its representatives would report “all hate, exclusion, or intolerance they may witness as being directed towards an individual or group based on any of the above demographics,” an addition formulated by Templeton.

The second article put forth by Templeton asked that the town bodies re-examine policies and create policies and practices committed to accessible housing, make changes to allow for a town more supportive of a wide array of racial and economic backgrounds, and consider community input, particularly from marginalized groups — and that the town commit to providing equity training to its employees and office holders.

Templeton is also a former small business owner who once owned a small grocery. He said his campaign is going well thus far and that he’s collected signatures from across the district.

“I enjoy this — getting out and talking to strangers,” he said.

Asked about his priorities if elected, Templeton said, “I really think we need to get more serious about fighting climate change.”

He expressed support for mandatory composting in the commonwealth, as well as more subsidies for electric vehicles. He also spoke in favor of abortion rights.

“I think we need to be a beacon for people seeking abortion,” he said.

On economic policies, Templeton said he thinks we must work on getting people more income and expressed support for both the Fair Share Amendment and looking at some of Massachusetts’ regressive tax policies.

Templeton also expressed a desire for more affordable housing in the state.

“It’s a crisis at this point,” Templeton said, on housing affordability. “It’s not just home ownership, it’s rent.”

He gave an anecdote of a woman he met who, while working two jobs, had to leave her apartment in Great Barrington because the rent got too high.

On housing, Templeton said he’s interested in increasing the Chapter 40B requirement that Massachusetts communities have at least 10% of their housing stock be affordable to 15%.

Communities below the Chapter 40B requirement can have projects with 20-25% affordable housing built in them that bypass much local zoning.

On transportation, Templeton expressed support for more state funding for roads in rural communities.

“The potholes seem very bad,” Templeton said, in speaking about his experience driving around the district.

He’s also a supporter of east-west rail, and a rail line from North Adams to Boston.

Mark, who currently represents the 2nd Berkshire District, saw his district eliminated in redistricting after he expressed his intention to run for state Senate.

Mark announced his run last year, and was endorsed early on by state Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and John Barrett III, D-North Adams, as well as former state lawmaker Steve Kulik of Worthington.

Templeton said that the endorsements that Mark garnered at the beginning of his campaign were designed to intimidate challengers.

“We need to embrace competition,” he said.

Additionally, Templeton said that he hadn’t entered the race until May because he was looking to see if a woman or person of color would run.

Templeton has expressed opposition to establishing a state single-payer health care system, also known as Medicare for all, a policy Mark has supported.

“I think it would be a disaster,” said Templeton.

He noted that the nearest hospital to him is in Vermont, and questioned how a state single-payer system would work with that. He also expressed a worry about how it would affect companies like Moderna, and that a move to single payer might cause them and other companies in the medical field to leave Massachusetts.

Another worry Templeton expressed about single-payer health care is that it would cause a centralization of health care that could negatively affect abortion care and trans health care. He said he thinks health care should be more affordable, and expressed support for a national move to allow people to buy into Medicare at age 50.

Templeton also said that Democrats “need to work on policies that can get done.”

“Where I come from, there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” he said.

The winner of the primary will face off against unaffiliated candidate Brendan Phair of Pittsfield in the Nov. 8 general election.

Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.]]>