Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Thomas Moakley, a Democrat, is gearing up to run for the Cape Cod House seat that Rep. Dylan Fernandes is not seeking re-election to as he mounts a state Senate bid.
Moakley, a 28-year-old who filed paperwork with the state campaign finance office Friday, said he grew up in Falmouth and wants to be an “energetic leader” who has personal experience in the district. He ticked off the opioid epidemic, housing, reproductive rights, and climate change as issues at the forefront of his mind.
He said transportation is also a key issue to the area, especially for people who commute to and from the islands.
“I’ve been taking the boats to work every day ever since I was assigned to the Vineyard,” he told the Herald. “I have personal experience with what it means to work on the Vineyard. And I have had my own frustrations when boats are canceled or delayed as a result, not of weather, but understaffing.”
The Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket House seat covers parts of Falmouth, Gosnold, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.
Moakley is no stranger to running for elected office. After former Sen. Viriato deMacedo left office to take a job at Bridgewater State University, Moakley threw his hat into a five-way special Democratic primary that Sen. Susan Moran ultimately won.
Moakley earned just over 20.5% of 34,066 ballots cast in the special Democratic Primary. Moran walked away with 26.8% of votes cast in the election while John Mahoney came in second with 26% of the vote, according to state data.
“I think we exceeded everyone’s expectations except for our own,” Moakley said of his Senate run. “That introduced me to a lot of the folks who are active in social causes, Democratic politics in the area, who I’ve kept in touch with over the years.”
Moakley had just under $20 in campaign cash as of the end of December, according to state records.
Moakley has worked as an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands office for two years. He previously worked at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office as a grants administrator and paralegal and support staff for the Major Felony Bureau, according to his resume.
As Moakley looks to the House, Fernandes and others are preparing for what could be a blockbuster race for a South Shore and Cape Cod Senate seat that Moran said she would not be seeking reelection to next year.
One Republican, Bourne School Committee member Kari MacRae, has officially declared her candidacy and another, Plymouth Rep. Mathew Muratore, said he plans to make a decision at the start of the new year.
Fernandes is the only Democrat who has filed paperwork to run for the seat, according to records with the state campaign finance office.
Moakley said he “certainly admire(s) all the work” Fernandes has done in the House.
“I look forward to his campaign in a different sort of part of the district that I got to know very well during my last campaign. So it’s an interesting sort of switcheroo. But I think he’s going to do an incredible job during that campaign just as he has been for Falmouth and the Islands,” Moakley said.
