Taunton City Councilor pulls papers to run for vacant state rep seat. Is anyone else running?
TAUNTON — City Councilor Chris Coute has pulled papers to run for Carol Doherty's old state representative seat.
Coute did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Doherty, a Taunton Democrat who died on Feb. 15 of pancreatic cancer, previously represented the 3rd Bristol District, which consists of part of Taunton and part of Easton. Specifically, the district consists of Precincts 4A, 5, and 6 in the south-west of Easton, and Ward 1 Precincts A, B, Ward 2, Ward 5, Ward 7 and Ward 8 in the west of Taunton. A special election to fill the seat was announced on March 10.
In 2023, Coute, a Taunton Republican, made an unsuccessful bid for the seat against Doherty, a Democrat.
No other candidate has pulled papers to run for the 3rd Bristol District seat so far, according to the Secretary of State's office. The deadline to pull papers is April 1st, 2025.
A primary election for the 3rd Bristol District seat will be held on Tuesday, May 13, before the general election on Tuesday, June 10.
A local business owner and real estate developer, Coute is the principal partner of Taunton-based Brownstone Realty Group. Coute previously owned Liberty & Union Ale House and the National Charter 957 downtown.
Coute first won election to the Taunton City Council in 2019 and then won re-election in 2021. Coute lost his bid for re-election in 2023, but as the first runner-up he was first in line to replace former City Councilor Kelly Dooner when she left that post to take on her new roll as Taunton state senator after she won election to that seat in November 2024.
Doherty, who died on Feb. 15 at the age of 82 of pancreatic cancer, had just been reelected in November to a third two-year term.
Doherty was first elected to serve as state representative in 2020 in a special election to replace former State Rep. Shaunna O'Connell, who resigned when she was elected mayor of Taunton. Prior to that, Doherty served five terms on the Taunton School Committee.
With reporting by Daniel Schemer.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton City Councilor Chris Coute runs for Carol Doherty's old seat
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