New Bedford Metropolis Councilor Leo Choquette has had sufficient of the Democratic Social gathering, formally switching his enrollment and becoming a member of the Republican Social gathering this week.
Choquette emphasised fiscal duty as the primary driver behind his swap in occasion affiliation. With financial growth issues in his metropolis, together with hovering housing and vitality prices statewide, Choquette says he can be “better suited” as a Republican to sort out the fiscal issues of New Bedford residents.
“I’ve probably, overnight, gone from being the most conservative Democrat in Massachusetts to being the most liberal Republican in Massachusetts,” Choquette instructed the Herald. “In order to get done what I want to get done and to achieve what I think is right for people in the City of New Bedford, like small business development and economic growth, these are the things that the MassGOP is going to help me work toward.”
He additionally went on to criticize Democrats on the state degree, notably Gov. Maura Healey, for a number of financial issues throughout Massachusetts, together with waning financial competitiveness by the state together with hovering vitality and housing prices that appear to have no finish in sight.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research lately comparing Charlie Baker to Maura Healey. Now, I know there are people in the Republican Party who aren’t fans of Charlie Baker, but I’m going to tell you right now that looking back on his performance as governor, based on metrics surrounding job growth, job creation and economic strength by state, when Baker was in there, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was in the top ten for those things, across multiple sectors, especially in technology and the medical industry. Under Maura Healey, this has translated to Massachusetts being close to the worst in the country,” Choquette stated.
“When you have states like West Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi outperforming Massachusetts in job growth it is bad. We are driving away the amazing brains and businesses and infrastructure and we’re giving it to the deep south? That’s a problem.” he stated.
The Massachusetts Republican Social gathering launched a press release on Tuesday, saying Choquette is the second Metropolis Councilor from New Bedford to hitch the GOP. Metropolis Councilor Shawn Oliver switched his resignation from unenrolled to Republican in August.
“The Republican Party is growing because voters are looking for leaders who will put affordability, public safety, and accountability first,” stated MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale.
Choquette is a New Bedford native who works within the monetary providers trade. He was elected to the New Bedford Metropolis Council in 2023.
