State Rep. Matt Muratore, a Plymouth Republican, made official his long-expected announcement that he is running for the state Senate, during an event at the 1620 Winery at Cordage Park Tuesday.
Muratore, 62, is running to succeed Susan Moran, a Falmouth Democrat, who is not running for re-election to the Plymouth and Barnstable seat.
The district stretches from Woods Hole to Pembroke. Muratore lives about five miles from the Sagamore Bridge, which he said is about in the middle of the district.
He’ll face Kari MacRae, a Bourne School Committee member, in the Republican primary scheduled for Sep. 3.
On the Democratic side, State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, 33, is running.
Muratore said he considers the Massachusetts right-to-shelter law as an issue in this election. The law guarantees shelter to Massachusetts residents, but it has come under strain in recent months because of an influx of migrants to the state. Governor Maura Healey has set a cap of 7,500 families to be housed in the emergency shelter system, with people put on waiting lists as long as the system is at capacity.
“We have great compassion for people that are coming from other countries,” Muratore said, but he criticized the federal government for not shouldering the expense of housing migrants. “It’s on the backs of the taxpayers of Massachusetts right now, and that’s going to change,” he said.
Muratore anticipates that the economy will be the dominant issue in the next Legislature, particularly the affordability of housing, health care, and education. He predicted that addressing those issues will be complicated by declining state revenues, forcing some difficult choices. He touted his experience on the House Ways and Means Committee as preparing him for addressing budget constraints.
Muratore was first elected as a state representative in 2014. He said he is proud of the work he has done addressing constituents’ problems.
“The best part of this job is the work that people don’t see,” he said. “It’s helping people in so many different ways.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, he helped about 2,000 people who were having problems getting unemployment compensation.
Prior to serving in the Legislature, Muratore served as a Plymouth Select Board member from 2010 to 2015, including four years as chairman – 2010 to 2014. He also served on the Plymouth Advisory and Finance Committee and as chair of the Plymouth Council on Aging.
Muratore is co-owner of the Crayon College childcare and early childhood education center in Kingston. He is also a licensed nursing home administrator and is a founding partner in EF Senior Care, a Plymouth-based nursing home consulting company. Patrick Flaherty, a Plymouth Independent board member, also is a founding partner at EF Senior Care.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.