Meet Robert Burke, the Republican challenging Rep. Stephen Lynch in District 8

Robert Burke is running against incumbent Stephen Lynch to represent Massachusetts District 8 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic incumbent Stephen Lynch is running for his 12th term in Massachusetts District 8. Republican challenger Robert Burke, who ran against Lynch in 2022 for the same House of Representative seat and lost, is running once again.

It’s an uphill climb for Burke: In addition to electing Lynch in every election since 2001, District 8 has consistently voted for a Democrat for president. Data from the Commonwealth Secretary’s offfice shows District 8 has voted a Democrat into their House seat since 1972. Latest polling from the Hill gives Burke a less than 1 percent chance of winning the election.

Raised in Milton, Burke described himself on his campaign website as an amateur journalist and videographer. On the website, Burke said he is a “regular guy running to make Massachusetts Great Again.”

Stephen Lynch was born and raised in South Boston public housing projects, according to his official House of Representatives biography. Before representing Massachusetts in Congress, Lynch was an ironworker and lawyer, according to the biography. Lynch did not respond to multiple requests to answer questions for Boston.com.

District 8 covers a wide swath of Eastern Massachusetts, including some of South Boston. It stretches into Norfolk, Plymouth, and part of Bristol counties. The deadline to register to vote in Massachusetts is Oct. 26, and early voting begins Oct. 19. Mail-in ballots must be returned by election day, Nov. 5.

Q&A with Robert Burke

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity but otherwise unaltered.

You ran for this same office in 2022. What has changed in the last two years that makes you confident in running again?

Although I am confident … It’s the incompetence of the Congress that drives my confidence. Take Steve Lynch as an examples of the incompetence; since being elected to Congress he has only passed one [balanced] budget. The main job of Congress is to pass the Federal budget. It’s criminal that as Boston families pinch pennies squeezing budgets: Steve Lynch, Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson use the trick of continuing resolutions and baseline budgeting so that they never actually examine expenses vs. income and pass a budget.

As of right now, polls indicate that Democrats and Republicans have an even chance of controlling the House of Representatives next term. If Democrats win the house, would you be willing to work across the aisle to pass legislation that benefits people in District 8? Why or why not?

Polls are designed to shape news and opinion, not reflect it. It’s apparent to most neutral observers there has been a shift in the Presidential race and more Americans are quietly admitting that Kamala Harris because of plagiarism; and unwillingness to differentiate her proposed policies in any way from her policies in the Biden-Harris administration. Simultaneously, Trump is campaigning in select far flung House districts like Coechella Valley, California to build on the coming Republican sweep of the House, Senate, and White House. Unlike the sitting Congressman I will represent my district and the country with any and all parties in Congress, not just my party. My first act will be to pass a [balanced] budget, the first since 1993. As I explained, in my first answer Steve Lynch puts his district last when he refuses to pass a budget which is foundational to good governing.

Reproductive rights have become a defining issue in this election. If you were elected and a bill banning abortion entered the House, how would you vote on it?

I reject the premise of your question, inflation and the economy are THE issues. Lynch’s vote with 46 other Democrats in favor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act clearly underscores that Lynch agrees with me that life of a child growing inside a women, and attacks on pregnant women deserve special attention of Federal prosecutors. The science is clear that after 15 days what ever you choose to call that fertilized egg growing inside a woman’s womb is a unique sequence of DNA and it feels pain.* It would be against the law to harm a kitten or a puppy that is 15 days old. I don’t think it’s good to cause pain to any creatures.

*Editor’s note: According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, the science is conclusive that a human fetus cannot experience pain until it is at least 24-25 weeks old.

During his time in Congress, Representative Lynch has sat on the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs since its inception in 2010. What makes you more qualified than Lynch to tackle illegal immigration in Massachusetts and beyond?

If service on Congressional Committees proved qualifications to solve America’s problems America would be a utopia. Lynch stood next to Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as he said, “We have consistently said we do not support a medieval border wall from sea to shining sea.” A country is not a country if it doesn’t protect its borders. I am more qualified because I do support protecting America’s border from Logan Airport to Texas, Arizona, California, and places like Dedham, Norfolk, South Boston, West Roxbury, and Westwood. Citizen voters in the 8th Congressional District are being forced to have their tax dollars used on border crossers, who are being given special status that used to be used for only for a handful of aliens … All that tax money should be used for Massachusetts kids, Massachusetts roads, and Massachusetts schools. That desire to safeguard the tax money of CD-8 voters, and close the border qualifies me to be a Congressman.

Eva Levin is a general assignment co-op for Boston.com. She covers breaking and local news in Boston and beyond.