Technically, there is no incumbent in the 9th Congressional District race. Data from the 2010 Census resulted in a statewide loss of one House seat. With the 10th district gone, Rep. Bill Keating relocated from Quincy to his family home in Bourne, in order to run in the new 9th Congressional District.
Keating arrived in Congress 2 years ago, and the 60-year-old serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as on the Small Business Committee. During a candidate forum on Cape Cod last month, with the two other candidates both touting their business background, Keating discussed his own work encouraging the business community.
"In a do-nothing Congress," he said, "I want to tell you this: we have had some successes in small business. I cosponsored legislation to repeal the 1099 requirement that was part of the healthcare bill, that would have just deluged small businesses with paperwork. That's gone now."
34-year-old Plymouth resident Christopher Sheldon is the Republican in the race. He won the Republican primary by less than 100 votes. The Syracuse University graduate is a self-employed management consultant who has never held elective office.
In many of their debates, Keating and Sheldon appeared to agree more often than not, though healthcare is a notable exception. Unlike Keating, Sheldon — as well as Independent candidate Daniel Botelho — opposes the federal Affordable Care Act. He also stresses reforming the tax code and reducing regulations on businesses. During an appearance on our sister station, WCAI, on Cape Cod last month, Sheldon said that Keating doesn't understand the situation businesses find themselves in.
"Really, he's so far removed now from business and economics that I don't think he really gets what a lot of our local businesses are going through," he said. "I think we do need people who are coming in with a fresh perspective."
Also in the race is Botelho, a 34-year-old from Fall River, who, like Sheldon, comes to politics from the business world.
Botelho attended UMass Dartmouth and is employed by Bank of America as an operations analyst. During a candidates forum last month, Botehlo talked about his private sector experience and growing up as the son of a small businessman.
"Growing up as a kid," he said, "I saw what it takes to employ over 300 people. I saw the worries. I saw the agonizing nights of, 'Am I going to meet that payroll? Are things going to work out. How much are my insurance costs?' All of that I saw."
People paying attention to the race say the discourse among all three candidates has been civil and respectful.
Will Crocker, president of the Cape Cod Republican Club, says that the race is significantly calmer than the one 2 years ago, when Keating faced state Rep. Jeff Perry during a hard-fought, and at times ugly election that highlighted Perry's work as a Wareham police officer.
"It's definitely a lot tamer," Crocker said. "You're dealing with, on the Republican side, a fairly neophyte candidate in Chris Sheldon, and we have a Democrat, Bill Keating, at this point, who is what you might call an incumbent. But as I said, it's a newly defined area in terms of geography, so it's not a race that has a lot of history to it, like the old 10th race with Jeff Perry and Bill Keating."
Bob Isidor, president of the Cape and Islands Democratic Council, agrees the race has been somewhat quiet, with people mostly paying attention to the presidential and senatorial races.
"I believe that both Mr. Botelho and Mr. Sheldon and Bill Keating have really kept a high bar as far as the type of campaign they're running," he said. "I have not heard any negativity from any of the three."
When it comes to Election Day, even without the incumbent label, Keating has the name recognition. But this new 9th Congressional District includes areas of New Bedford and Fall River, where his challengers have been concentrating their efforts.
