ATHOL — State Rep. Susannah Whipps is seeking reelection to a fifth term and is once again being challenged by Republican Jeffrey Raymond.

Whipps represents the 2nd Franklin District, which stretches from Winchendon to Greenfield. Raymond last challenged her in 2022. There is no Democratic nominee.

Whipps said she believes it is important to note her status as an Independent. She is the only member of the House of Representatives who does not belong to a political party.

“I think that’s a really important piece,” she said. “I am absolutely different than my colleagues in the sense that I don’t toe any party lines and I’m focused on people more than partisan politics. I never realized how few Independents there are elected nationwide.”

Whipps said her main reason for seeking another term is the people in the district and those who come to her office. She noted her family has been a part of Athol for the past seven generations.

“I’m really proud of the constituent services we offer. My aide Rachel (McMahon) and I are very hands-on in the community,” she said. “One of the most rewarding things is to help people have a better relationship with the state and make sure they have access to the resources they need. That’s something I feel we do very well.”

Raymond: ‘Time for a replacement’

Raymond did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking an interview, but at a recent appearance at the Orange American Legion Post 172 to speak with other conservative candidates, the Athol Republican cited former President Donald Trump as his inspiration to run for office.

“You don’t have to like the man, but you’ve got to look at his policies. And everybody in this room, I think, does that,” Raymond said. “I mean, none of us think that Donald Trump’s this great guy, you know. ... But you can’t deny when he was in office his policies were awesome. We had low gas [prices], we had low taxes. I mean, you can go on forever.

“And he’s the reason I decided to run against Ms. Whipps, because we need leadership. Ms. Whipps has been in this job for way too long,” he continued, saying it’s “time for a replacement.”

“She started off great,” Raymond said of Whipps. “So good I even voted for her twice. That’s how much I liked Ms. Whipps at the beginning. Problem is, I think she lost her way.”

Raymond mentioned he is a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked as a firefighter/EMT for 36 years. He also noted he drives a school bus and sits on the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School Committee, making public education an important issue for him.

“One of the big things I want to advocate for is the fact that we have got to get this wokeness out of our schools,” Raymond said.

Raymond also said most people fit into one of two categories — sheep who do as they’re told and don’t question anything, and wolves who take advantage of others. He said he wants to be a sheepdog, who protects the sheep from the wolves. He also said he opposes the new gun law, which he called unconstitutional.

Whipps: Housing ‘biggest issue’

Asked about her top priorities if reelected, Whipps replied, “Housing, housing, and housing. That is the biggest issue right now. We, as a nation, I don’t think we have prepared well for the ‘silver tsunami,’ the boomers coming out of the workforce. We don’t have adequate senior housing in any of my communities.”

At a recent meeting with seniors, Whipps said she learned that many are still living in the homes in which they raised their families.

“They’re staying in these homes that aren’t really accessible,” she explained, “and are way too much house for an individual or an aging couple. But there’s really no place for them to downsize and age in place within their community and still be around their church friends, senior center friends. I think a huge solution to a lot of the problems we have locally would be safe, affordable, accessible senior housing. That would open up these beautiful family homes to younger, newer families to come into our area.”

That, she said, would act as a brake on declining enrollment in area schools while also building up the area’s workforce. She cited the project to convert the former Bigelow and Riverbend schools in Athol into mixed-income and senior housing, a senior housing project under review in Erving, and the recent groundbreaking on a project to transform two former schools in Winchendon into veterans housing.

Mental health, she said, is another issue which remains at the top of her priority list, adding that suicide prevention barriers on bridges can help, but society must get to the root cause.

“We don’t, as a nation, invest enough in mental health care. We don’t treat mental illness in the way we treat other diseases,” she said. “That’s something we need to look at as a real issue that affects our youngest and our oldest folks across the gamut. We need to make sure people have more access to mental health care and we need to reduce the stigma of asking for help.”

Whipps said she is in favor of Question 2 on the Nov. 5 ballot, which would do away with passage of the MCAS exam as a requirement for graduating from high school.

“I don’t believe that one test should determine whether or not you graduate,” she said. “I don’t have a problem with assessing students, but your high school graduation shouldn’t rely on one test.”

Staff Writer Domenic Poli contributed to this report. Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.