SHREWSBURY — A Republican candidate looking to challenge Rep. James P. McGovern said that opposition to human trafficking, the national debt and states rights are key to his campaign.
Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette, 51, of Shrewsbury wants to unseat McGovern, a Worcester Democrat and 24-year incumbent, whom Sossa-Paquette called “the ultimate insider” for his long career in Washington, D.C.
At his recently opened campaign office in Shrewsbury, Sossa-Paquette said he is not coming to the race as a seasoned politician and emphasized how his personal and professional life have informed the core tenets of his campaign.
“What got me into politics really started at looking at what our children’s futures are. I’ve got 10 years between my two kids, my daughter is 20 years old and my son is 10. And when we’re making decisions on what their future looks like, I said, ‘This is crazy,’ ” Sossa-Paquette said. “Instead of worrying about our retirements and things like that, we’re trying to put money aside so we can buy their homes now.”
SHREWSBURY — A Republican candidate looking to challenge Rep. James P. McGovern said that opposition to human trafficking, the national debt and states rights are key to his campaign.
Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette, 51, of Shrewsbury wants to unseat McGovern, a Worcester Democrat and 24-year incumbent, whom Sossa-Paquette called “the ultimate insider” for his long career in Washington, D.C.
At his recently opened campaign office in Shrewsbury, Sossa-Paquette said he is not coming to the race as a seasoned politician and emphasized how his personal and professional life have informed the core tenets of his campaign.
“What got me into politics really started at looking at what our children’s futures are. I’ve got 10 years between my two kids, my daughter is 20 years old and my son is 10. And when we’re making decisions on what their future looks like, I said, ‘This is crazy,’ ” Sossa-Paquette said. “Instead of worrying about our retirements and things like that, we’re trying to put money aside so we can buy their homes now.”
Sossa-Paquette said he was concerned about the Biden administration’s spending programs in the president’s first year and its impact on the national debt, laying blame on prior presidents from both political parties for not doing enough to control the debt.
“If I was in Congress, there’s no way I would have voted to raise the debt limit,” Sossa-Paquette said. “We need to start cutting and look at where our spending is.”
Government-funded research that Sossa-Paquette does not consider essential was one example of an area that Sossa-Paquette said he would cut.
While he likes Gov. Charlie Baker as a person, Sossa-Paquette was critical of the fellow Republican from the perspective of a small-business owner. He said taxes that Baker and the state Legislature put on small businesses for social programs will hurt business owners looking to pay their bills. He said that he is hoping a Republican candidate for governor in 2022 can provide solutions.
“I look at things from a small-business perspective…I’m looking at all of them and I am looking for solutions,” Sossa-Paquette said.
However, Sossa-Paquette said his “No. 1 issue,” one that has impacted him personally and he intends to keep working on win-or-lose, is human trafficking. Sossa-Paquette’s husband, Julian, was trafficked in Colombia at 9 and did not escape until he was 15.
“You’re going to see me raising my voice in anything that I can do to call attention to what is going on,” Sossa-Paquette said. “In July and August, we had 130,000 unaccompanied minors cross our borders with no guardians. Where are those kids? And if America’s supposed to be a free country, as long as we have slavery in America, we’re not free.”
Sossa-Paquette said McGovern, who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, has taken stances regarding countries such as Cuba and Venezuela that have created humanitarian crises leading to refugee children being trafficked.
The candidate also said that human trafficking of minors in the U.S. largely involves U.S. residents and not children crossing the borders, and he said the foster care system leaves children vulnerable to being trafficked. Sossa-Paquette faulted both Baker and state Attorney General Maura Healey, saying both have been unwilling to give their full attention to sex trafficking.
As a gay man, Sossa-Paquette said he has had to challenge some members of his own party on his role as a candidate, but he said Massachusetts Republicans are generally accepting of gay candidates. Earlier this year, emails from Republican State Committee member Deborah Martell were obtained that showed she was sickened about having Sossa-Paquette run as a married gay man with adopted children.
“We’re not in 1954 anymore, families don’t look the same. You got white-Black families, you’ve got gay families, you’ve got all of the above,” Sossa-Paquette said.
Sossa-Paquette faulted both parties on gay marriage, saying that Democratic politicians largely changed their minds on the issue when gay marriage became popular. He also criticized LGBTQ activists for unruly behavior at demonstrations and for watering down the meaning of the rainbow Pride flag by carrying flags symbolizing groups such as bisexuals and transgender people.
Though Sossa-Paquette is vaccinated, he said he got the shots at the insistence of his husband and that his doctors were worried about how rare blood clots found among vaccinated people could affect his health after extensive brain surgery.
Sossa-Paquette believes that people should have the choice over whether they get vaccinated, adding that he will not vaccinate his 10-year-old adopted son, who was born addicted to heroin.
“As a parent, no state agency or governor or whoever it is is ever going to tell me that you’re going to vaccinate him,” Sossa-Paquette said. “Parents have to have the right to choose. The federal government has no authority to mandate down a vaccine.”
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