THANK YOU, PLYMOUTH!(1)
We did it! It is truly the honor of my life to be elected as your next State Representative in the 1st Plymouth District. Since we launched our campaign in January, it has been a true grassroots effort focused on ensuring that everyone who loves Plymouth can stay and thrive in Plymouth at all stages of their lives. It has been and continues to be about building and creating community together. I cannot even begin to thank every volunteer on Team Badger who helped to knock on over 9,000 doors, made over 23,000 calls, and sent over 34,000 texts. No one wins a campaign alone, and I am truly humbled by the community who came together to make this victory happen. Thank you — from the bottom of my heart! To every single person who opened their doors, picked up a call, or talked with me over the last 11 months, thank you. And thank you to everyone who went to the polls on Election Day, voted early by mail or in-person, and made your voice heard — no matter who you supported. I also want to thank Jesse Brown for running a cordial campaign. Thank you again to everyone for your support and for your belief in me! I cannot wait to get started working on behalf of you.
Badger---Michelle-banner-4w

Democrat for State Rep

1st Plymouth District

michelleicon_transparent
join the team

Join Team Badger

I have been involved in a number of ways around our community.  Please find some of the larger ways that I have been involved below:

Board Member 2010 – June 2023; Associate Member July 2023 – Present

A town-wide committee charged with educating the community through conversation, events, and social media, promoting the acceptance of others, and working with the town and other organizations to advance the work of the committee.  

Find out more about the important work done by Plymouth No Place For Hate:  https://www.plymouthnoplaceforhate.org/

Board Member 2018 – present

The Plymouth Fragment Society is the oldest charitable organization in the United States. Each month the Board meets to help residents in Plymouth that need assistance in paying rent, utilities, and other bills.

Find out more about The Plymouth Fragment Society: https://www.plymouthfragmentsociety.org/

Plymouth Public Schools Liaison Board Member, Past Chair and Vice-Chair

The Pilgrim Area Collaborative provides individualized educational services to children, ages 3-22, with significant learning challenges.

https//www.pilgrimac.org

Fundraising Committee (FY22), Nomination Committee (2021-2023)

The Plymouth Antiquarian Society’s mission is to preserve and maintain the history of Plymouth and New England from the mid-seventeenth century until today through educational programs, exhibits, and events.

The Fundraising Committee works on the annual corporate and individual giving campaign to help to fund the important work of the Society. The Nominations Committee helps to find new members to join the board. 

Find out more: https://plymouthantiquarian.org/

Founding Board Member October 2018 – August 2022

DreamRide exists to build healthy habits (physical, mental, emotional and social), and instill a passion for lifelong learning in students. All money raised goes to help support the programming of the all-volunteer organization. The idea for the organization came out of the second DreamRide (600 mile bike ride from Washington D.C. to Plymouth, MA) held in 2016 which I took part in.

Learn more and get involved, https://www.thedreamride.org/

Rider 2013, Volunteer 2014, Organization Committee Member 2015 – 2019

The Pan-Mass Challenge is a bike-a-thon that raises money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

https://www.pmc.org/

Founding Member 2013

The Alumni Association  serves as a connection point for current students and alumni within the Plymouth Public Schools. 

Get involved and help rebuild the organization: https://www.facebook.com/PlymouthAlumni/

Undergraduate Young Alumna Representative, Region Chair, Admissions Ambassador Co-Chair, Class Leadership Co-Chair, Current Operations Co-Chair and Co-President

Learn more about Sweet Briar:  https://www.sbc.edu/

about the candidate

Meet Michelle

Michelle Badger is a proud Plymouth native and graduate of Plymouth South High School.  She was a student athlete at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where she majored in history and international affairs.  She then went on to earn dual masters’ degrees in public administration and political science from Suffolk University.

After completing her education, Michelle returned to Plymouth to work for her community. She won five town-wide elections for Plymouth School Committee and currently serves as chair. During her tenure, Michelle has overseen efforts including the construction of two high schools, the implementation of a district wide solar plan, full-day kindergarten, and improved curriculum offerings.

Michelle is also involved in organizations including the Plymouth No Place for Hate Committee, Pilgrim Area Collaborative, The Fragment Society, and continues to be active in the Sweet Briar College alumni community.  She previously served on the DreamRide LLC Board, the Plymouth PMC Kids Ride Organizational Committee, and the Plymouth Antiquarian Society’s Subcommittee for Fundraising and Nomination.

Michelle has been recognized by her peers with the 40 Under 40 Award from Cape & Plymouth Business Media which celebrates industry excellence and dynamic leadership. From 2022-2023, she participated in the Leadership South Shore program, where received transformative leadership training on how to tackle issues facing the South Shore.

Michelle is currently the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Massasoit Community College, and previously served as the Director of Advancement at Massachusetts Maritime Academy for over 10 years.  She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and holds certificates in Fundraising Management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and Professional Fundraising from the Boston University Center for Professional Education.

In her free time, Michelle loves to volunteer, travel, read, play field hockey, exercise, bake, go on walks with her Boston Terrier, and spend quality time with family and friends.

Become a donor

Michelle’s campaign committee needs your help to make sure the campaign has the resources necessary to talk to every voter in the First Plymouth District – please consider becoming a supporter today!

Make a Plan to Vote:

Plymouth early voting schedule

All early voting takes place at Plymouth Town Hall.

Sat Oct 19      9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sun Oct 20      9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Mon Oct 21      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Tues Oct 22      7:30am – 6:30pm
Wed Oct 23      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Th Oct 24      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Fri Oct 25      7:30am – 12:00 pm
Sat Oct  26      9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sun Oct  27      9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Mon Oct 28      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Tues Oct 29      7:30am – 6:30pm
Wed Oct 30      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Th Oct 31      7:30am – 4:00 pm
Fri Nov 1      7:30am – 12:00 pm

What is the First Plymouth District?

Plymouth is made up of 18 precincts, but not all precincts are a part of the First Plymouth district. If you live in Precincts:

  • 4
  • 6-12
  • 14-18,

Your home makes up the First Plymouth district. For a map of the district, click here. To check to see if your address is in the First Plymouth, click here.

You must register to vote by October 26th, 2024 to be able to vote on November 5th, 2024.

Click here to visit the Online Voter Registration System

Michelle's top issues

priorities for Plymouth

I love Plymouth and it is a wonderful place to live- and because of my love for our town, I want to continue to see it grow and evolve into the future.

As your State Representative, I will work hard to find solutions to concerns and problems facing our district with you as my partner on Beacon Hill.

Here, I have highlighted some of my priorities.  I look forward to working together with all of you and learning your priorities. 

PreK-12

Ensuring high-quality public education for K-12 students in Plymouth is a true passion.  The Plymouth Public Schools helped to make me who I am, and afforded me opportunities to learn and grow.  I will work to ensure students can find their passion and become informed citizens who are full participants our society and  workforce.  It is important that we fund our schools to ensure that all students are met where they are, are included, and can excel and gain the skills needed for the future.  I will ask the questions and work to make sure that legislation that affects our schools is supported with the resources necessary to appropriately execute all mandates.  We cannot add to the ever-growing list of unfunded mandates facing the Plymouth Public Schools and all public schools in Massachusetts.  These unfunded mandates take away necessary funds from our students, teachers, and staff.

In Plymouth we have invested in our partnership with the police and fire departments to ensure that our schools are as safe as they can be.  With the safety issues facing our schools I will work on Beacon Hill to secure funding to ensure that our schools remain safe and our public safety partners have what they need to keep our schools and community safe. We need to broaden this work so that every school district can afford to have school resource officers to create relationships with students and keep us safe. 

On Beacon Hill I will work to look beyond our traditional K-12 model and invest in early childhood education. Investing when students are younger reduces the long term cost to taxpayers for government funded programs supporting these students as adults.

Higher Education

 As someone who has worked at private and public higher education institutions, I know it is crucial that we make college more affordable and accessible.  We are fortunate to live in Massachusetts with a variety of educational opportunities, but higher education is still not accessible for all students.  

It is important to think creatively on this issue but also not add to the administrative burden of the staff who are executing the programs.  With the addition of the MassReconnect program in fall of 2023, opportunities for higher education have become more of a possibility for those over the age of 25 who qualify.  We need to expand this program  to provide opportunities for sectors of the economy that struggle to fill their vacant positions in order to create opportunities that afford generational change.

As someone who grew up to middle class parents and understands the struggle of being able to afford to live in Plymouth while paying off debts, I know how important affordability is. It is important that Plymouth is affordable for all our residents. I will advocate for legislation that creates more housing opportunities to allow people who grew up in this community to stay and thrive, attract new people to Plymouth, and allow retirees to be able to stay in their homes. The allowance of Accessory Dwelling Units and other creative approaches to the housing crisis can make the difference in allowing people to afford a place to live and helping our older adult residents be able to live in their homes for as long as they want

The COVID-19 pandemic brought mental health to the forefront of many of our lives.  We see, daily, the impact and level of the crisis on loved ones and community, at work, and in our schools.  The mental health crisis facing Plymouth and the rest of the state needs to be addressed with the necessary resources for people of all ages and needs.  To do this work correctly, it is important that we work to end the stigma with education in our schools and our community.  

We need to work with those in the profession and higher education partners to increase the number of available practitioners and access to those practitioners to better help our families and communities struggling with mental health issues. 

Plymouth has seen the benefit of the inclusion of mental health clinicians in our police department.  I will work to expand this program on the state level.

As with mental health, we need to work to educate our students and community about the long term consequences of substance abuse. We also need to ensure our schools and other community organizations have the means to implement an update to the Health Curriculum, which would be the first update since 1999- and make sure we do not go another 20+ years without investing in a proper update to the education of our students.

Climate change is an ever present threat to Plymouth and Massachusetts at large.  Over 28% of Plymouth is protected open space and we have countless miles of trails where we have the opportunity to explore and experience the natural beauty of our community, and it should be a priority to protect this beauty for coming generations. As climate change worsens, however, weather is changing and becoming more severe, sea levels are rising, erosion is evident across the town, and our oceans’ levels of acidification continue to rise. 

As the real-world impact of climate change becomes apparent, the state has put into place incentives that I support for homeowners and businesses to address these issues. For example, during my time at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I learned a great deal about the offshore wind industry and other alternative energy sources.  

I will work on behalf of all of you to ensure our beloved environment is at the forefront of all that we do in order to preserve the community we love.

The safety of our community is essential. Traveling in Plymouth must always be safe, including safe roads to drive on or ride a bike, available funding for necessary upgrades to make it safe to drive.

We must ensure the necessary funding for police and fire to ensure quick response times. 

We also want to ensure that our students are safe everyday at school, and that our schools have the resources to maintain/continue to build out the School Resource Officer program in Plymouth.

I will advocate to make sure safety is on the forefront of policy discussions, to ensure Plymouth continues to be a desirable place to live for generations to come. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging are at the core of who I am. I have always believed that we need to celebrate our differences and work together to truly understand each other to make our society better.

This is why I got involved in Plymouth No Place For Hate when I finished graduate school. With the changing demographics of Plymouth, we need to ensure that our community has the tools needed to support our aging community, and that our migrant, immigrant, and English language learners of all ages have access to the resources they need to be full participants in our community. 

We are lucky to live in Massachusetts and have access to the high quality health care we do, but too many members of our community struggle to pay medical bills even with coverage.

It is hard to find a doctor (I have had to search extensively myself to find a doctor that was accepting new patients), and paying for coverage is hard for small businesses and those whose companies do not provide healthcare.

I will work hard to find solutions to our healthcare to take that stressor off the residents of Plymouth. 

Supporting our veterans is crucial. We need to prioritize honoring their sacrifices made by ensuring all resources are readily available to them.

I will work to support legislation such as Governor Healey’s proposed HERO Act to expand benefits, and will support the general modernization of veteran services.

40% of Plymouth's population is over the age of 50, and that number is expected to grow in the years to come.

Our seniors need transportation and healthcare, and they should be able to stay in their home for as long as possible.

I will commit to ensuring that our seniors have access to all the services and benefits that they need. 

It is important that we are fiscally responsible in all that we do while also continuing to provide the highest quality of life to the residents of the 1st Plymouth District. 

I will work on these and other issues with the same  solution-oriented approach that I have used as a school committee member, by making sure that as new programs are implemented we look at how the change impacts other existing programs and keep in mind any potential costs or cost saving measures.

It is in the best interests of Plymouth residents that one of the top priorities be the decommissioning of the Holtec power plant. She is committed to ensuring transparency throughout this process, advocating for residents to ensure that the wastewater is not discharged into the Bay. Michelle recognizes the importance of community engagement and communication as this complicated issue unfolds.

In Plymouth, we have seen the impact of strong leadership in addressing Holtec's plans to discharge wastewater into our bay by both local, state, and federal levels. Prioritizing the health of our communities and the environment is essential. It is imporant that this issue be a focus and the work be done diligently to hold companies accountable and ensure that our local ecosystems and public health are protected. She understands the concerns many residents have about evaporation, storage options, and the next steps with Holtec, and she is committed to being a strong advocate for Plymouth as we navigate these challenges together.

a record of results

Michelle's Accomplishments

Serving on the Plymouth School Committee for the last twelve years, I have had the opportunity to work with fellow school committee members, town officials, and our state delegation to address areas of concern and to find solutions.  It has been so rewarding to create results for our community. I will bring this same mindset of listening and working hard on your behalf to Beacon Hill. 

Here are some of my key accomplishments:

  • Participated in the construction of Plymouth’s two acclaimed high schools.
  • Implemented a district wide solar plan that saved the district/town over $6 million dollars in utility costs.
  • Advocated for and implemented full-day kindergarten throughout the district.  
  • Improved curriculum by implementing a more robust health curriculum, expanded Advanced Placement offerings, and English language learning across the district.
  • Approved a policy to protect students with allergies.
  • Advocated for many years for the creation of a PPS Diversity Committee.  
  • Worked with administration and fellow school committee members on hiring the district’s first DEI Coordinator and the adoption of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resolution.
  • Assisted in the evaluation and editing of the Emergency Response Manual as a member of the Safety Committee.
  • Assisted in drafting and advocating for the Safe Storage of Firearm Resolution to educate our community about gun safety.
  • Advocated for the funding and expansion of the arts, athletics, and other extracurricular activities to encourage students to find their passion outside of academics.
  • Assisted in organizing the first Community Health Fair in 2022.

Michelle's Endorsements

Michelle is proud to have the support of the following unions, elected officials, community members, and organizations.

Contact Michelle