BREAKING: Sousa Wins Framingham State Representative Race

First posted at 9:29 p.m. Last updated at 11:47 p.m.

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FRAMINGHAM – Based on the unofficial results from the Framingham City Clerk’s office School Committee chair Priscila Sousa won the 6th Middlesex District’s state representative seat.

She defeated former City Councilor Margareth Shepard with 51.7% of the votes.

Voter turnout across the City of Framingham was at 24.2% but the newly-created 6th Middlesex state representative seat serves 15.5 of the 27 Precincts in the City, with 90% of the Precincts south of Route 9.

Sousa received 1,647 votes on Tuesday, while Shepard received 1,409 votes. Unofficially, Sousa won by 238 votes.

Dhruba Sen, who paused his campaign in August, received 129 votes on Tuesday, September 6.

There is no Republican on the ballot, so Sousa, unless there is a write-in campaign, will become the new state representative for the newly-created 6th Middlesex Seat.

The seat serves Framingham Precincts 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-11-12-13-14-15-16 and a portion of Precinct 9.

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“Thank you to the voters of the 6th Middlesex District! I am honored to serve our community as our new State Representative. Whether you voted for me, did not vote for me or did not vote at all, now is the time for all of us to come together and work for the best interests of everyone in Framingham. From the moment I announced this campaign, it has been about our kids, our small businesses, our environment and our future. Framingham has a bright future. But we must come together to make that future a reality,” wrote Sousa in a statement. 

“A special thank you to my supporters. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful for your support, words of encouragement, helping me make phone calls, write Dear Friend cards and emails, share my social media posts, knock on doors. This was a campaign about all of us. And you all stepped up in a big way. A deep appreciation to the organizations who joined the campaign: the Carpenters Local 336, the Framingham Firefighters, Professional Fire Fighters of MA, AFL-CIO, National Association of Social Workers, PACE, IUPAT DC35, Painters and Allied Trades, and the SEIU 1199.  Thank you for joining me on this journey. The work has only begun,” wrote Sousa.

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Sousa will be sworn in as the new state representative in January 2023.

She was elected in November 2021 for a second 2-year term as District 5 School Committee member.

Sousa told SOURCE she plans to finish her School Committee seat through December 31, 2023.

Shepard sent SOURCE a written statement at 9:42 p.m.

“As we come to the end of this election, I’d like to thank Senator Jamie Eldridge, State Representatives Jack Lewis and Danillo Sena, former State Representative Pam Richardson , City Councilors Cesar Stwart-Morales, Tracey Bryant and Adam Steiner, School Committee member Beverly Hugo and (Everett School Committee member) Marcony Almeida, former School Committee member Geoffrey Epstein, and vice chair of the Framingham Public Library Leslie White, and to all organizations and hundreds volunteers that contributed for this vigorous, positive, honest, and educative campaign,” wrote Shepard.

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“For the past seven months, we spoke with the voters about our shared values, and despite all challenges we remain true to our beliefs that “the end doesn’t justify the means,” and that campaigning is not a game of illusions to gain votes, but a real opportunity to bring honest informations to the voters. And candidates, for any position, are only vessels that embody the people’s vision and pledge to become their servants,” wrote Shepard. “I congratulate Priscila Sousa for her election and wish her the best on representing us at the State House.” 

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