Kate Donaghue vs. Boyd Stewart Conklin for the State House

Democrat Kate Donaghue is seeking her second term as state representative of the 19th Worcester District. The district includes all of Southborough and parts of Framingham, Northborough and Westborough. She is facing a challenge from Boyd Stewart Conklin, who is running for office without party affiliation and identifies himself as a supporter of former President Donald Trump. Donaghue and Conklin are both Westborough residents.

Donaghue is reluctant to claim any legislative victories for herself during her first term, explaining that writing, reviewing and passing bills is a team effort. She calls out lawmakers in her region for their ability to work together and work together for the benefit of residents across the region.

In that spirit, Donaghue is quick to point out the lawmakers she has worked with to get funding for local initiatives approved:

Senator (Robyn) Kennedy, D-Worcester, took the lead in securing $50,000 for a road redesign
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, on securing grants for firefighting equipment and supplies in Southborough
A grant for the Northborough Fire Department to update its radios with Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, and Rep. Hannah Kane, R-Shrewsbury

“Hannah Kane and I support each other,” Donaghue said, adding that sharing communities with many lawmakers gives her many people to turn to for support. Other achievements include new radios for Westborough ambulances; the restoration of the Cedar Swamp; and security cameras for one of the senior centers in her district, plus a large television for another.

“Some grants are more tangible than others,” Donaghue says.

High on her list of accomplishments is securing $10,000 in funding for a wellness application for use by law enforcement. It monitors and treats both physical and mental health problems.

During this past term, Donaghue focused on seniors living in her district and improving the downtown areas of her communities. She surveyed local city officials and administrators to ask about their needs.

As she completes her first term, Donaghue has come to appreciate the value of the borough’s services: She was able to help a Westborough woman plagued by construction noise due to the reconstruction of the Mass interchange. Pike/Interstate 495. The staging area for construction vehicles was located miles away from the actual work, in the resident’s backyard.

At Donaghue’s urging, she said, the contractor placed box trailers around the perimeter of the staging area.

“When I drive, I see the box trucks and I think they’re in place because of me,” Donaghue said, adding that any day she can help someone is a good day. “It’s a rewarding job.”

Donaghue, whose husband died in 2021, lost her son, Brian Donaghue Simpson, to an overdose in 2018. He was 32.

“I don’t just want to be the representative who lost a child to an overdose,” Donaghue said.

But in her role as a lawmaker, she has worked on issues related to substance use disorders and overdose deaths, including sponsoring a first-ever Narcan Day of Demonstration at the State House last year.

She has also addressed the issue of administrative discharges from treatment centers. Her son was kicked out of a program for smoking a cigarette, a decision she says led to a downward spiral that included his arrest, a night in a police station, an overdose, transport to the emergency room and three days in the intensive care unit .

“There has to be a more compassionate way to deal with someone who has smoked a cigarette,” Donaghue said, adding that she managed to address this in a substance abuse bill currently stuck in committee.

Conklin said that while he identifies as a Republican and a supporter of Donald Trump, he failed to register his party affiliation in time for this election cycle. However, he said it was easier to get the necessary 150 signatures on his nomination papers without having to commit to specific parties.

In the past, he has run for school committee and library trustee, and has applied for a spot on the Council on Aging and Sustainable Westborough.

Conklin does not support efforts to control climate change because rising temperatures are promising because they will bring milder winters, and because he claims more people die from the cold than from the heat. (There is a lack of consensus on this topic.)

“We’re spending all this money on green technology, while China and India are building new coal-fired power plants,” Conklin added.

Conklin said he opposes mandatory vaccination and believes public health departments have overstepped their bounds by mandating masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also opposes transgender surgery for minors.

Conklin also accused the Healey administration of falsely charging that migrants currently in Massachusetts have been vetted by the federal government.

“I don’t believe in open borders; there is an invasion of the United States,” Conklin said.

At 66, Conklin has been married twice and has four children.

Kate Donaghue vs. Boyd Stewart Conklin for the State House

By Sheisoe

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Kate Donaghue vs. Boyd Stewart Conklin for the State House

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