Two news faces are squaring off for a chance to represent the First Worcester District at the State House, with state Rep. Kim Ferguson, R-Holden, who held the post for the last eight terms, deciding not to run for re-election.
Krista Ferrante of Princeton is the Democratic nominee for the state rep post. Ferrante is a corporate archivist at a nonprofit technology company who has been working as a data governance lead and records manager for over 12 years.
Stephanie Mulroy, of Holden, is the Republican nominee. She has a background in business, as the business manager of Mulroy Family Dental and owner of Seven Saws Brewing and has been a member of the Board of Selectmen in Holden.
The district covers the towns of Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland and Westminster.
Mulroy
Of her inspiration for running, Mulroy said “I was on the Board of Selectmen in Holden and loved serving my community. It was an honor to be the person that people reached out to when there was a problem or even a good idea.”
One such idea was putting hanging flowers up in town, a project that was suggested by a town resident and which they worked on for two years to make it a reality in Holden.
“I have a proven track record,” said Mulroy.
She said she’s been doing a lot of door-knocking, talking to people in the district, and “Everything people are talking about from their doorsteps is that Massachusetts is too expensive.”
She said young adults starting out can’t afford to live here, and neither can seniors. “They’re getting priced out of their homes.”
And Mulroy said a move to do away with the Proposition 2 1/2 annual limit on property tax increases would just make it worse.
Another issue she mentioned is the state audit that was approved by a ballot question in 2024, but that hasn’t happened yet.
“Seventy-two percent of us voted to approve the audit,” and she thinks the will of the people should be followed.
“I’ll be the independent, transparent voice that fights for our communities and push back on these decisions that serve the interests” of the legislative leaders on Beacon Hill, and not the people, Mulroy said.
She noted that Gov. Maura Healey proposed a temporary gas suspension, and pointed out that the state Legislature rejected the idea despite people struggling to afford to pay for gas due to the spike in prices.
“It’s not political party or ideology or agenda, I would be a representative with an independent voice.”
On schools, she said she worked closely with Rep. Ferguson in the past to get the maximum funds from the state every year.
“When it comes to our schools we need to relook at the way we calculate Chapter 70 funding.”
She also said that, with Wachusett Regional School District being the largest school district in the state by area, it’s important to fight to have the state fully fund transportation costs, which they promised to do when the regional schools were created.
Mulroy noted that when she was a selectman she served on the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, which involved making sure the town got an additional $10 million to improve its roads.
She said she will be responsive to the public, saying “I’ve proven that I will always be there on the other end of a phone call or email. … I always pick people over party politics.”
“I’m a small business owner, I know what it takes to stick to a budget, and I have experience in local government. … The choice is very clear. You can choose experience and a proven track record … I’ll be an independent voice that speaks for the people.”
Ferrante
“I’m running largely out of a sense of duty and service,” Ferrante said. “I feel like this is a great opportunity to give back to the community.”
“Top of mind for me is how we can regulate AI and data privacy issues,” she said. “We should work toward guardrails to protect our privacy rights.”
Part of the discussion as of late in that area is Flock cameras, she noted, saying “In Big Tech, there’s this notion of moving fast and breaking things and we just have to be careful that the imposition of the Flock cameras haven’t (impinged on) our protections from improper search and seizure. … We should make sure there are some rules behind when they can use this very powerful tool.”
Ferrante also wants to boost farming in the area and in the state, saying, “I’m a big proponent of local agriculture.”
“There’s this idea that farms are optional and we need to support local farm production. Because getting our food from thousands and thousands of miles away has proven to be unsafe and unsustainable.”
Ferrante said she wants to boost the state Healthy Incentives Program, which allows Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to get fresh food directly from local farms.
“How are we making it so people can stay in business as farmers? We need to be making sure we can keep our farms.”
Ferrante is also a big proponent of transparency in government.
“Folks voted for the audit. I think that’s really important to acknowledge.”
She said she would be able to help people find certain records, adding, “I think there is a lot of information that is available, but the state needs to make things easier, simpler.”
She pointed out how using the Registry of Motor Vehicles keeps getting more complicated and time-consuming. “You have to go online to make an appointment to make an appointment.
Also, as Princeton and Westminster in particular have a lot of land owned by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and she noted the state gives towns a payment in lieu of taxes for keeping that land in conservation status, but she said the rates need to be equal, saying at this point towns in eastern Mass. get higher payments.
She also supports helping workers in various ways.
“I do stand by working people. I think we need to have a real look at labor practices in this state.”
One area she noted was the difficulty in maintaining a job if a person gets sick or has to care for an elderly relative or child.
“We need to make it easier for people to stay in the workforce and support workers. … (Companies) need to treat people as people … it shouldn’t be dependent on whether you have a nice boss.”
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