State primaries are fast approaching, as Tri-Town voters will soon elect a new state representative for the 10th Bristol district for the first time in three decades.

Rep. Bill Straus (D-Mattapoisett) has held the seat since 1992 but announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election.

State primaries are Tuesday, Sept. 3. The voter registration deadline is Saturday, Aug. 24. The vote by mail application deadline is Monday, Aug. 26.

Republican voters in the district will have the opportunity to decide between candidates Robert McConnell and Joe Pires in the primary.

Mark Sylvia is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

McConnell, a Fairhaven resident, has been a deputy sheriff for the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department for more than three decades. He is chair of the Fairhaven Republican Town Committee and a committeeman representing the Second Bristol and Plymouth district for the Massachusetts Republican State Committee.

He ran for the 10th Bristol district in 2022, losing in the primary to Jeffrey Swift of Mattapoisett.

McConnell said some of his goals are to “increase civic awareness and civic participation” as well as community involvement and interaction, and getting people engaged.

Problems facing the state and country inspiring McConnell to run include the “attack on police,” immigration and the condition of roads and bridges, he said.

McConnell also said he wants to push back on the “current trifecta” of a Democratic governor and Democrat supermajorities in the Massachusetts House and Senate.

McConnell is going up against Rochester resident Joe Pires. 

Pires is a managing partner at Pioneer Basement and Grate Products. He is a member of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee. 

Pires has said he is a “moderate Republican.”

Pires’ platform includes addressing property taxes and cost of living, the opioid crisis, supporting law enforcement, first responders and seniors, and “forging partnerships between educational institutions and industries,” according to his campaign website.

On the other side of the aisle, Fairhaven resident and town meeting moderator Mark Sylvia is running as the only Democrat in the race. He is chief of staff at BlueWave Solar. He previously was the undersecretary of energy and commissioner of energy resources for Massachusetts. 

His platform includes affordable housing, protecting reproductive rights, healthcare costs and infrastructure, among other issues, according to Sylvia’s campaign website.

The 10th Bristol district includes Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, Fairhaven and parts of New Bedford and Acushnet.