Democrat – 1st Plymouth District

Election Day is November 5th!

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A Note from Michelle:

Dear Plymouth Voter,

My family has lived in Plymouth, or one of its surrounding communities, for the last 400 years. We can trace our ancestral line all the way back to the Mayflower through George Soule. I grew up in Plymouth attending the Plymouth Public School system and graduating from Plymouth South High School.  

Like many others in Plymouth, I grew up in a middle class, blue collar family that worked hard day and night to pay the bills and to give me all the opportunities they could.  For that I am truly grateful.  The characteristics of hard work, determination, involvement in community, and helping others when I am able to were instilled in me from a very early age.

Through my service to the Town of Plymouth since getting involved with Plymouth No Place For Hate in 2010 and subsequently running for and serving on the School Committee since 2011. I have learned a great deal about public service and have always worked hard to include all community voices in conversations on important issues.  

I’m running for State Representative to bring people together to discuss the issues important to our community and to advocate for solutions on Beacon Hill. I have done this since I was first elected to the Plymouth School Committee with success and I believe it’s an approach that will be successful at the state level. 

I respectfully ask for your vote to be your voice as your next State Representative on Beacon Hill!   

Sincerely,

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.

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 getting involved with substances.  We also need to ensure our schools and other community organizations have the means to implement the first update to the Health Curriculum since 1999 and make sure we do not go another 20 plus years without investing in the education of our students.

Climate change is a threat to Plymouth and all across our state.  Weather is changing and becoming more severe at times, sea levels are rising, erosion is evident across the town and our oceans’ levels of acidification continue to rise.  As we begin to realize these issues, the state has put into place incentives for homeowners and businesses. During my time at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I learned a great deal about the offshore wind industry and other alternative energy sources.  

Our environment is an important part of what makes Plymouth great.  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. 

Thinking creatively to make sure we can continue to improve the long term outcomes for generations to come 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.

It is essential that we make sure that our community is safe in many different ways: safe roads to drive on or ride a bike, available funding for necessary upgrades to make it safe to drive, and necessary funding for police and fire to ensure response times.  We also want to ensure that our students are safe everyday when they go to 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 that these are issues on the forefront to ensure Plymouth continues to be a desirable place to live. 

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. I wanted to continue to learn and to help others learn.  It has been very rewarding to share with and create programming for the community to educate and celebrate.  With the changing demographics of Plymouth we need to ensure that our community has the tools needed to support our aging community (40% of Plymouth is over the age of 50) and our migrant, immigrant, and English language learners of all ages have access to the resources they need to participate in our community.  I am committed to working hard on behalf of all of you to continue this work.  As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

We are lucky to live in Massachusetts and have access to the high quality health care we do, but the costs are very high.  People struggle to pay medical bills even with coverage, it is hard to find a doctor (It took me weeks recently 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 dilemmas such as access to physicians and lowering costs to take that stressor off the residents of Plymouth. 

Supporting our veterans is crucial, we need to provide them the resources they need to live their most fulfilling life honoring their sacrifices made to allow all of us to enjoy the life we do.  I will work to support legislation such as Governor Healey’s proposed HERO act which is designed to expand benefits, and the general modernization of veteran services.

Plymouth’s population is 40% over the age of 50 and is expected to grow in the years to come.  Our seniors need transportation, healthcare, and the opportunity to stay in their home for as long as they want.  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.  Making sure that as new programs are implemented we look at how the change impacts other existing programs and try to think of any unintended consequences and cost saving measures that could happen.

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.

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News

News Highlights

BADGER ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN

Plymouth, MA– Michelle Badger enthusiastically announced today that she is running forthe Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 1st Plymouth District. The 1stPlymouth District consists of Precincts 4, 6,…

Contact Michelle