Millbury's Michelle Frigon challenges GOP rep for 7th Worcester seat

MILLBURY — It was the masking mandate at her sons’ public schools and watching them struggle to wear masks that motivated Michelle Frigon to take out nomination papers, collect signatures and run for district office, challenging longtime Republican incumbent Paul Frost to represent the 7th Worcester District.

“Government needs regular people to run for office,” Frigon said. “Basically, I’m just a mom. My three sons are my pride.”

It has been a steep learning curve leading up to her name on the Republican primary ballot .

“I realize I knew nothing about how the process works, how to run for office,” Frigon said. “I’m realizing it takes money and time to run.”

Frigon said she chose to run because she believes her district needs a fresh face in office, one that exemplifies the conservative values she hopes to bring to the position. Frost, Frigon pointed out, has been in office since she was 9 years old, and, she said, votes along with the Democrats.

More: Rep. Paul Frost rises to challenge from rival in state primary

Frost of Auburn was elected in 1996 and has been serving in the Legislature in 1997 for 27 years.

“Residents need someone whose values align with theirs,” Frigon said. She complained of stagnation in the seat and lack of transparency and honesty. “There is no advancement of conservative values.”

But the disrespect she felt when addressing her local school officials as she tried to express her views regarding the mask mandate and push for exclusions prompted her to run for office. “It brought to light the condition of public schools, the violence, the bullying and that parents are not allowed at the table.”

A Millbury native, Frigon, 39, rents a portion of the house where she grew up from her parents, and is thankful that her boys are in close proximity of their grandparents. Now “just a mom,” Frigon worked briefly as a court reporter before her first pregnancy, attended graphic design classes at Quinsigamond Community College and has worked at “millions of jobs.” If her bid is successful, Frigon would earn a base salary of $70,537.

“I have been in recovery for 17 years,” Frigon said. A portion of her journey was highlighted in a 2015 Boston Globe article about babies who are born addicted. “I have done outreach work for other women in recovery, especially women in recovery during pregnancy.”

Her concern for her sons’ physical, social and emotional welfare prompted her to remove her children from the Millbury public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The candidate also banded together with three other families to file a law suit against the district , other regional schools and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, its administrators, supervisors and even the state’s education commissioner, as a means to counteract the mandate and collect $24 million in damages.

While the suit has been modified in the court and many of the defendants dismissed, including state officials and agencies, it is ongoing with two scheduled conference hearings Tuesday and September 3 with Judge Michael Ricciuti, sitting in Suffolk Superior Court.

“There were a lot of heated feelings, a lot of politics, when the suit was filed demanding an injunction against the face mask mandate,” said Ilya Feoktistov, the attorney handling the case. “Now, two years later, the clients want compensation for the harm suffered by the children caused by the masks.”

He said the suit was trimmed down to the core question of whether face masks are medical devices and whether manually placing the masks onto children and adjusting them constitutes assault.

Feoktistov said the suit only presses the claims of the parents whose children suffer from disabilities including autism spectrum disorders and other neurodivergent conditions, gag reflex disorders and other medical issues. Claims made for children who do not suffer from disabilities were dismissed.

Frigon’s sons have not returned to the Millbury public schools. She is homeschooling her 17-year-old son and has placed her two younger boys, 9 and 7, in a small private school. Her children have medical conditions that make it difficult for them to wear masks.

While her primary concern is with the lack of transparency and access in the state’s school systems, she is also concerned with some of the legislation signed by Gov. Maura T. Healey during this legislative session, particularly the new gun laws and measures dealing with bodily autonomy.

“Healey talks about bodily autonomy, about protecting our rights to our bodies, but she doesn’t talk about people losing their careers, their livelihoods because they didn’t want to take an injection or wear a mask,” Frigon said. “That motivated me to step forward. I was concerned about the children.”

Mask mandates and vaccination requirements were enacted by former Gov. Charlie Baker in answer to the COVID-19 pandemic. The public health emergency was terminated during the Baker administration in June 2021.

“I feel as if people with conservative values are screaming for someone to listen to them and act in their name,” Frigon said.

Government, in her view, has stepped outside the bounds of its responsibilities. She cited the recent curfew enacted in Oxford as a response to the Eastern equine encephalitis case that involves an elderly Oxford man hospitalized with the virus.

The illness is transmitted through mosquito bites. While there is some contradiction about the survivability rate, a recently updated Rutgers University fact sheet about the virus found that about half of those infected with the illness die. There is no cure for EEE and physicians generally prescribe medications to relieve symptoms.

The fact sheet indicated that children and the elderly are more likely to develop symptoms. The illness commonly begins with low fever, headache and stiff neck. As the disease progresses, the patient can fall into a coma, with death as a likely outcome. Recovery is possible but individuals that do recover usually sustain brain damage.

Government should offer support to the population, Frigon said. The growing trend, she believes, is toward authoritarianism, dictating measures and overreaching its responsibility.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Millbury's Michelle Frigon challenges GOP rep for 7th Worcester seat