While Joe Pacheco is not related to the retiring Senator Pacheco, he is looking to step into the long-time senator’s shoes with his candidacy for the Third Bristol and Plymouth senate seat. 

Joe Pacheco has served as a member of the Raynham Select Board for 17 years, and says he is well aware of the importance of seniority at the state level in bringing resources back to the district. 

“As a local official, I was looking at this and saying we need to make sure we get people up here who can do the job, and I believe that’s me,” he said. 

Joe Pacheco points to his experience on the state level as something that gives him a leg up over other candidates. He has five years of experience working in the legislative branch, including one year working under Senator Marc Pacheco, and five years in the executive branch as an administrator with Health and Human Services. 

“I know the process. I know how to draft a bill, I know how to file a bill, I know how the committee process works, I know the process that gets a bill to be engrossed to the governor’s desk for a signature,” he said. 

His first priority, if elected, would be to address what he calls a “significant gap in the ability for the Commonwealth to protect its residents,” and to close up the “loophole” that let Steward Healthcare close hospital doors without the ability for the state to respond. 

Joe Pacheco also said he would focus on making sure schools across the Commonwealth get the funding they need. 

According to Joe Pacheco, kids lost a lot of learning during Covid, and they’re trying to make it up in an environment where the state has not fully funded its schools. “We still have a chance for those kids who are still in their formative years to make up for it, but the resources have to be there.”

In talking with constituents, Joe Pacheco said he’s hearing concerns around “kitchen table issues” like healthcare and the economy. 

“I think people want to know that Massachusetts is using the taxpayer dollars efficiently and effectively, and that any time there’s a budget shortfall, our first look is not back to the taxpayers for more revenue by way of a new tax increase,” he said. 

He added he wants to build connections with the community and its stakeholders in the Wareham area. 

“For me, Wareham is not just a community. It’s going to be a focal point of a Senator Pacheco administration,” he said.