Props to Gendreau for State Rep Bid [OPINION]

Evan Gendreau is a young man from Westport who has seen enough of how business is done on Beacon Hill to make him want to do something about it.

Gendreau, a Republican, is challenging four-term Democrat Paul Schmid for the 8th Bristol District State Representative Seat this fall and he intends to win.

At 21 years old, Gendreau is preparing to graduate from the University of Massachusetts this summer with a Bachelor's Degree in political science.

Gendreau traveled the Commonwealth in 2018 as part of Geoff Diehl's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign. The experience provided him with an opportunity to listen to the concerns of Massachusetts voters from the Berkshires to the tip of Cape Cod. He learned a lot.

Gendreau has witnessed the negative impact of heavy taxation and burdensome regulations on working families and businesses and is prepared to fight against plans to increase that burden. He also opposes plans to make Massachusetts a sanctuary state and would vote against legislation to diminish the police in Massachusetts.

Paul Schmid has done little else but go along to get along which has only served to bolster the power of the radical Democrat leadership on Beacon Hill. After eight years, Schmid is not entrusted with the chairmanship of a single committee and wields no influence at all with the power brokers. In other words, he is ineffective and not taken seriously.

Schmid once compared legislation he supported to open women's bathrooms to men to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

If Massachusetts is ever going to break free of one-party domination and end the death grip the radicals have on power, there has to be more Evan Gendreaus with the courage and conviction to step forward and accept the challenge.

The reign of the radical and the incumbent has got to come to an end if Massachusetts is to survive.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.