Mass. 9th District congressional race: William Keating vs. Dan Sullivan

Voters will decide who will represent the South Shore, South Coast, and Cape district this November.

Republican Dan Sullivan is trying to unseat Democratic incumbent William Keating in the congressional race for Massachusetts’ 9th District, covering the South Shore, South Coast, and Cape Cod.

The race to represent the district will be on the Nov. 5 election ballot.

Keating, a Cape Cod resident, is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he serves of chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment Subcommittee. He’s also a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Elected in 2010, Keating was one of nine new Democratic members that year.

Raised in a middle class family, Sullivan obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Marquette University and went on to work in business development and sales before becoming a registered nurse. Sullivan is an active union member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, SEIU Local 1199 United Healthcare Workers East, and the American Nurses Association.

Questions were submitted in writing to the candidates. Their responses were very lightly edited for style but otherwise unaltered.

Dan Sullivan

What is motivating you to run in this election cycle?

I’m disturbed about the current state of affairs. I’m perturbed by the career politicians who care more about themselves than us. I’m tired of the elitists and entitled classes who game the system at our expense. I’m troubled by the existential threat of Massachusetts’ rapid unaffordability and expansive political monopoly. Our Congress has just a 16% approval rate. It’s no wonder. They have failed, fooled, and forgotten us. I want to help restore the balance of power to our government, common sense in our governance, and greater opportunity and justice for our people. I want to help make Massachusetts more affordable.

The reckless federal overspending under Bidenomics, Biden’s Build Back Better Bust, the fraudulent American Rescue Plan, and the failed Inflation Reduction Act triggered historic inflation, high interest rates, and a higher cost of living —making Massachusetts unaffordable for many of its residents.

Massachusetts is the least affordable state in which to live in the United States. The annual income needed to afford a median-priced home is $195,000 — a 40% increase in the past 3 1/2 years. The median sales price for a single-family home exceeds $950,000, up from $510,000 in 2021. Starter home prices are approaching $1 million. Massachusetts has the highest cost of living — requiring an average household income of nearly $302,000 to live comfortably.

Massachusetts has experienced a 1,100% increase in the exodus of young wage earners and high-net income taxpayers exiting in droves to pro-business, tax-friendly states such as Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas. The largest segment of people leaving based solely on numbers are aged 26 to 34, and the largest segment of people leaving based on adjusted gross income level are aged 55 to 64. This increasing brain drain and tax-base erosion is unsustainable and nonsensical. Mass illegal migration and the Beacon Hill political monopoly have made matters worse. Massachusetts is the most one-party-ruled state in the country. Monopolies like the one on Beacon Hill are not diverse, equitable, or inclusive.

What experiences — personal and professional — make you the best fit for the job?

Personally, I am blessed to have been raised by a mother and father who loved my siblings and me and filled our home with love and laughter. I am blessed that my parents taught my siblings and me the value of a good education and a strong work ethic. The common core of any peaceful and prosperous community is a vibrant family. Pro-family is a good policy and an even better way of life.

Professionally, I worked in business development and sales in various companies ranging from Fortune 1000 firms to locally-owned start-ups. I learned that 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I learned the art of negotiation and the value of compromise.

Our politics are rabidly divisive. Our politicians are pathologically partisan and ideological. Everything is a zero-sum game. They made no room for common sense or compromise. I would not let perfect be the enemy of good.

For the past eight years, I have worked as a registered nurse in a safety-net, acute-care community hospital, serving a broad demographic, including a large immigrant population, and in a forensic psychiatric hospital, serving persons involved in our criminal justice system. I advocate for my patients and help them achieve optimal health outcomes.

The fact that I would bring common sense and compassion makes me the best fit for the job. We need political leaders that will do the greatest good for the greatest number, and not submit to extremist special interests.

The fact that I am not a politician and do not want to become a career politician makes me an ideal fit for the job.

What’s the most important issue facing people in Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District?

Unaffordability is the top issue facing people in the 9th Congressional District and across the Commonwealth. The reckless overspending by the Biden-Harris administration has caused high inflation which drove up consumer prices across the board, including housing, education, healthcare, prescription medicine, groceries, gas, and utilities.

Rising labor costs, energy prices, and interest rates are driving inflation even higher which is making Massachusetts increasingly unaffordable for an increasing number of our residents. Those people who could afford to leave are thriving and those who can’t afford to leave are barely surviving.

Biden-Harris’ industrializing the waters of Cape Cod and the Islands with hundreds of the world’s largest wind turbines without a maintenance schedule or a contingency plan to address eco-disasters poses an existential threat to the marine ecology and natural beauty of Cape Cod and the Islands. The lightning strike of one of the 351-foot-long blades of one of the turbines polluted the waters and beaches of Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Barnstable with seventy tons of fiberglass debris, and Avangrid took days to acknowledge the disaster and weeks to assemble a salvage team to attempt to clean up the mess. Notwithstanding the risk of catastrophic failure due to typical New England weather, the electricity from the wind turbine generators travels to transmission substations, that convert the extremely high voltage, built atop the aquifers and groundwaters, which is the sole source of clean drinking water for the residents of Cape Cod. The transmission lines that feed onto the transmission grid weave through highly residential and densely populated neighborhoods. Without a maintenance schedule or contingency plan, the risks posed to the residents of Cape Cod are incalculable and existential.

Sullivan cited the following sources for the data points mentioned above: Pew Research Center, The Warren Group, Zillow, Greater Boston Real Estate Board, and Boston University Magazine.

William Keating

What is motivating you to run in this election cycle?

Democracy itself is on the line. I come from a Gold Star Family where my uncle was killed in action fighting fascism and defending democracy. So many have sacrificed so much over the course of our history to move this country, our democracy, and democracies around the world forward. It’s all at stake in this election. I was there when Trump summoned, assembled, and lit the flame for the insurrection on January 6th in the Capitol. That day every American’s vote was in danger of not being honored, and the core of our democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, was in jeopardy. We cannot allow our democracy to come so close to crashing down again. In conjunction with the threat to democracy are the threats to our personal rights and security — rights that preserve Medicare coverage and Social Security, and importantly, a woman’s right to make healthcare decisions for herself. Trump and the Republican Party have shown time and again that they believe they have a right to be in your doctor’s office, in your bedroom, and in your election booth. Their policies and plans are the very antithesis of the freedoms so many before us have sacrificed for.

I am also motivated to continue the enormous work we did building our infrastructure in the Congress before this current one. So many of those projects are now in the process of moving forward and I can best position them to ensure our district gets a lion’s share of the funds needed. These projects include rebuilding the Cape Cod bridges, of which we have already secured approximately $2 billion, as well as one of the biggest water improvements projects in the Northeast. And we’re securing grants on vital issues such as ground water quality, wastewater, and coastal resiliency. Failure to deal with these issues severely undercuts progress in addressing housing, economic, and healthcare needs throughout the region.

What experiences — personal and professional — make you best fit for the job?

I know the legislative process inside and out, and more importantly, I know how to resolve issues through federal agencies for both the region and for people who have had their individual concerns addressed by my offices. I also know the unique needs of the South Shore, Cape Cod, the Islands, and the South Coast and have been able to deliver on many of those issues.  While these experiences are important, equally as important is realizing the priorities for the future of the district and having plans to address them. Realizing the oversight on Holtec in Plymouth that’s necessary as they decommission and threaten to dump gallons of contaminated water into Cape Cod Bay.  Realizing the particular challenges of a seasonal economy, especially with H2B visa staffing, which is directly threatened by Project 2025 and Trump and which would decimate Cape Cod’s multi billion dollar hospitality industry. Realizing that one of the main obstacles to a huge district issue — employment — is the accessibility and cost of childcare.  We need someone who will support affordable and accessible childcare and universal Pre-Kindergarten.

As a former District Attorney, I know the importance of rule of law, of supporting law enforcement, protecting civil rights, advancing gun safety laws, and resourcing mental health and preventative policies. According to numerous studies, this Republican House has been the least productive since the 1860s. They were in turmoil, removing and picking a Speaker numerous times. When there was the turmoil of multiple instances where the government would have shut down, I crossed the aisle to help them pass a bill to keep the government open, staving off economic disaster. We don’t need to elect another person who would be part of that pack and we have to put people above politics.

What’s the most important issue facing people in Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional District?

Without your health, everything else pales by comparison. Access to and the cost of healthcare is paramount in our district, and really around the nation.  In Cape Cod, 40% of the population are 60 years or older.  The Republican Party has put forth plans that jeopardize Medicare and Social Security as well as the lower prescription drug pricing secured by Democrats. In fact, those threats to Medicare and Social Security have been signed onto by 100% of the current House Republican leadership. On the South Coast, we have a Medicare and Medicaid dependent hospital serving an economically disadvantaged population.  That is potentially in jeopardy depending on the outcome of this election. We have a large veteran population and the most recently advanced Republican budget proposal made dramatic cuts to veterans’ healthcare, and those cuts are echoed in the planned Project 2025 policies.  The already realized attacks on women’s healthcare decision making will only get worse.  The Republican Party policy takes away health care security which particularly affects our older citizens and those with pre-existing conditions. When asked in the Presidential Debate what the party would replace it with, Trump had no answers.  We need to strengthen our healthcare systems for all not leave our citizens high and dry.

Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England.