"Why live in Bristol County if you don't have to?" is what Jason Caton, candidate for Register of Probate, asks himself. He lives in Holliston today.

Holliston, Massachusetts is a great town to live in. The average household income is $122,296 and the average value of a home is $460,968.

It is seven miles from Framingham and less than 20 miles from Boston.

It is over 61 miles away from New Bedford.

The average household income in New Bedford is $43,241 and the average value of a home is $213,500.

Jason is the current acting Register of Probate in Bristol County. He was promoted when the elected Register and Bristol County resident Gina DeRossi resigned to become the Court Administrator of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Jason is now making $119,084.53 a year, which is almost as much as the average household in his hometown. He previously made over $109,000 as the assistant to Register DeRossi.

On January 9, 2019, Jason Caton opened a campaign account to run for the job of Bristol County Register of Probate. He listed his home address as 900 Washington Street in Holliston, Mass. That is the same address he used when he donated $350 on December 15, 2017 to his boss, DeRossi. He used a different address, 23 Prospect Street in Holliston in 2014 when he donated $250 to DeRossi.

The Middlesex South Registry of Deeds lists him on mortgage documents for both properties. And that makes sense, because the current acting Register of Probate for Bristol County lives in Middlesex County.

He also listed his Holliston home address on corporate documents filed over the years at the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office. He is the President, Treasurer, Clerk, and a Director for a nonprofit corporation called the Green Line Foundation. The Green Line is a line on the MBTA, but nobody in New Bedford has access to the MBTA the way Jason and the other residents of Middlesex County do today.

How does a guy who lives in Middlesex County get to become the acting Register of Probate for Bristol County? And why would he list his out of district home address on the public documents to open his political campaign?

His political campaign committee's address for Bristol County Register of Deeds is not listed at his home in Holliston. It is listed at 20 Arline Drive in Rutland.

Rutland is almost 100 miles away from New Bedford. Rutland calls itself the "geographical center of Massachusetts," and "with many of its residents commuting to Boston and Springfield on a daily basis." No mention of anybody commuting to New Bedford from Rutland on a daily basis on the website of this town in Worcester County.

A candidate from Middlesex County with a political campaign committee based in Worcester County is trying to keep his $109,000 job by getting elected in Bristol County.

I have to believe a Democrat from Bristol County will wipe the street with Jason and his hardcore political crew from Rutland and Holliston. Something tells me his signature gatherers will be standing on a Green Line platform wondering how to get to New Bedford when the time comes to get on the ballot.

Maybe this lack of a train will finally be good for New Bedford after all.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. 

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