State Representative Michelle Badger is running for reelection.
“It has been a true honor and privilege to serve the residents of the 1st Plymouth District,” said Badger in a press release. “I am seeking re-election to continue delivering responsive leadership and focusing on the issues that directly impact Plymouth residents.”
If she wins the Sept. 1 Democratic primary, Badger would likely face Select Board Chair David Golden, who currently is running unopposed in the Republican primary. Badger is currently running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Badger was first elected in 2024 to represent the Plymouth 1st district, which encompasses all of Plymouth except for downtown, North Plymouth, and parts of West Plymouth. She defeated Republican Jesse Brown with 50 percent of the vote to his 46 percent. She took over the seat from Republican Matt Muratore, who ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate against Democrat Dylan Fernandes. The House seat had been held by Republicans since 1998.
Badger was the only Democrat to vote in favor of auditing the state legislature, as proposed by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio. The proposal was defeated 24-127, even though voters had overwhelmingly supported a ballot question to give DiZoglio the authority to audit the legislature in a 2024 referendum.
Along with Plymouth’s other state representative, Democrat Kathy LaNatra, she pushed unsuccessfully for legislation to relieve Plymouth taxpayers of the $11 million bill to bus public school students across the town’s 104 square miles. Calling herself a “school transportation nerd”, Badger has advocated for school transportation reform since her days chairing the Plymouth School Committee.
Badger secured a $10,750 earmark for the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe to build a wetu – a traditional Native American home at the tribe’s meeting house on Herring Pond Road, in Pondville, $50,000 for police barriers for public events such as parades, and $15,000 for men’s mental health programs at High Point, the State Road facility that provides services to treat substance abuse and mental health issues.
Badger grew up in Plymouth and graduated from Plymouth South High School in 2002.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org