Joe Kennedy III Wins Fourth Congressional District Seat

Retiring Barney Frank will be succeeded by scion of Kennedy political dynasty.

  Joe Kennedy III will be a new U.S. Congressman  from Massachusetts. At around 9:30 p.m., the Associated Press called the race for 32-year old Kennedy, who lives in Brookline, as he was beating by a 2-1 margin Norfolk Republican Sean Bielat in the race to represent the redrawn Fourth Congressional District. Rep. Barney Frank, a media celebrity Tuesday night at Kennedy's celebration party at the Newton Marriott Hotel, is retiring after serving the Fourth District since 1981. Yes, the Kennedys are a famous political family, but Joe III especially follows family tradition with this particular win: his father, Joe Kennedy II, served as Congressman from Massachusetts (in the 8th Congressional District) from 1987-1999. And his great-uncle, who …

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A Live Chat Conversation with Fourth District Candidate Sean Bielat

Republican Sean Bielat will be taking readers' questions starting at noon.

Fourth Congressional District candidate Sean Bielat will be taking readers' questions in a LIVE text chat on Foxborough Patch today, Oct. 11, starting at noon.   Bielat, a Republican, is facing Democrat Joe Kennedy III to fill the seat of retiring Congressman Barney Frank, of Newton.  Today's chat will last roughly an hour. To submit a question, simply enter your name in the chat box above, type your question and submit.  A recap of the chat will be posted this afternoon.  Kennedy will participate in a similar live chat Q&A tomorrow, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. Questions submitted will be subject to moderator approval. No vulgar or libelous comments will be allowed. Because we expect a high volume of questions for the chat session, we will keep the …

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Kennedy Agrees to Debate Appearances; Bielat 'Disappointed' with Announcement

Sean Bielat responded to a statement Wednesday from Joe Kennedy III announcing his appearance in three general election debates.

As the general election race for the Fourth Congressional District heats up, so begins a debate about debates. Fourth District Democratic candidate Joe Kennedy III announced earlier Wednesday three general election debate appearances, including a spot on WCVB's "On the Record" and a candidates night on the Wellesley College Campus. A few hours after Kennedy's announcement, Fourth District Republican candidate Sean Bielat responded to the debate announcements with a letter stating he was "disappointed" to see Kennedy agree to only three debates. In his response, Bielat said he has accepted 16 debate offers to date. Kennedy will face Bielat in the Nov. 6 general election for the Fourth Congressional District seat currently held by Barney …

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PHOTOS: Kennedy Visits with Foxborough Firefighters, Tours Station

Joseph Kennedy III, a candidate for the 4th Congressional District, which includes Foxborough, stopped by the Foxborough Fire Station Thursday afternoon to meet with local firefighters.

Joseph Kennedy III said the best part about his campaign for Congress in the Fourth District has been getting out into the communities and meeting the people he hopes to represent in Washington. On Thursday, Kennedy did just that when he visited with local firefighters for over half-an-hour and toured the Foxborough Fire Station. The Fourth District candidate took the opportunity to learn more about the challenges the town’s first responders face and how he can help. “It’s a community that is extremely tightly knit and also stretched because of the needs of Gillette Stadium and the pressure that is put on the first responders to try and meet those needs of having 70-plus thousand people come into your community, basically, 50 times a year…

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Beth Rayner-Zyskowski

8:13 am on Friday, August 31, 2012

"...having 70-plus thousand people come into your community, basically, 50 times a year,” Kennedy said. Uh, does Mr. Kennedy know that the football season isn't year-round? Where did the 50 times a year come from? Isn't it 8 times a year plus soccer, concerts and that free-for-all Country Fest? I agree that the Foxborough FD's resources are stretched thin because of Patriot Place and the stadium …   more ›

Herb Robinson, Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress in Mass. Fourth District

A Newton native, Herb Robinson is running in the Democratic primary for the Fourth District seat, which will be held this Thurs., Sept. 6. Prior to this race, Robinson had an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate.

As we gear up for Thursday's primary, Patch wants readers to stay informed as they head to the voting booths. We recently sent out questionnaires to all the Fourth Congressional District candidates, one of which will be representing Foxborough in Congress. Below are responses from Democratic candidate Herb Robinson: Name : Herb Robinson Also known as : Herb Age : 60 Place of residence : Newton, Mass. Attended college : Yes College : Cornell Degree : BSEE with Distinction Year of graduation : 1974 Job titles held : Software Engineer/Architect Employers : Stratus, Self, Honeywell, Incoterm, Transitron Party affiliation : Democrat Running for a: Federal office Running for position: US Representative, 4th District Chamber/district: 4th …

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Weekly Region Roundup

Region Roundup: 2,800 Mile Takeout Run for Pizza; Man Pulls Gun on Salesman (And More...)

A look at the top headlines in your town and the surrounding area for the week of August 5, 2012.

2,800-Mile Takeout Run: Mississippi Man Returns Home with 250 Pizzas from Stoughton's Town Spa Most people have a favorite pizza place. For David Schuler his is Town Spa in Stoughton, about 1,400 miles away from his Madison, Mississippi home. But that doesn't prevent Schuler, a Stoughton native, from enjoying a slice (or more) of his favorite hometown pizza. Schuler made headlines last August when he drove from his home in Madison, Miss. (north of Jackson, Miss.) to Town Spa and back again to pick up an order of 150 pizzas. He upped the ante this year by placing an order of 250 pizzas. After enjoying lunch at the Stoughton restaurant August 11, he packed up his car with six coolers full of pizza and began his journey back home to …

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Fourth District Endorsements: Where Do The Candidates Stand?

A roundup of endorsements (so far) in the race for Barney Frank's seat to represent Foxborough and other communities in the Fourth Congressional District.

With less than three weeks to go before the state primary, Fourth Congressional District candidates are touting each endorsement they get in hopes of winning over voters.  The Fourth District seat, which reaches from Newton all the way down to Fall River – and includes Foxborough – will be open at the end of this term following the retirement from 16-term Congressman Barney Frank.  Patch reached out to the campaigns for all six candidates vying for a shot at the Fourth District seat to see where they stand with endorsements so far. Below is a round-up of who is supporting who: Elizabeth Childs In her recent debate appearance on New England Cable News, Brookline resident Elizabeth Childs noted her recent endorsements from former …

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Dennis Naughton

11:30 pm on Saturday, August 18, 2012

Rachel Brown claims to be a Democrat. In truth, she is a leader in the Lyndon Larouche political cult. Those are the people you have seen hanging about in Foxborough with pictures of President Obama wearing a Hitler mustache. You may remember the famous video of her in an exchange with Barney Frank a few years ago. Here's the web address if you want to see her as "the dining room table." www.…   more ›

Fourth Congressional Candidates Talk Jobs, Economy, Health Care and Taxes

Fourth Congressional District candidates Joseph Kennedy III, Herb Robinson, Rachel Brown, Sean Bielat, Elizabeth Childs and David Steinhof participated in Tuesday's forum at Stonehill College.

EASTON – Voters heard a variety of different views from both sides of the political aisle Tuesday night at Stonehill College in Easton when Democratic and Republican candidates for the 4th Congressional District squared off in separate debate forums. Editor-in-Chief of The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette Lisa Strattanand moderated the event, which was hosted by the Martin Institute at Stonehill. Questions came from a panel made up of WGBH Boston political reporter Adam Reilly, WCVB-TV political reporter Sean Kelly and Herald News editorial page editor Aaron Frechette. Chloe Gotsis of the Newton Tab stepped in for Frechette during the later Republican debate. In the first round, Democrats Rachel Brown, Joseph Kennedy III and Herb …

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Fourth District GOP Candidates Talk Taxes, Health Care and Gun Control

The three republican candidates vying for the Fourth District nomination debated on NECN's Broadside last night.

Although they had less than a half hour to make their voices heard, the Republican candidates for the Fourth Congressional District, which represents Foxborough, fit in a full plate of issues and opinions during last night's debate on NECN's Broadside with Jim Braude.  Sean Bielat, Elizabeth Childs and David Steinhof joined Braude for a series of questions on topics including gun control, taxes, health care and their potential Democrat opponent.  Check out the NECN debate online.  Just a couple of weeks after the deadly theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado, Braude started off the debate by asking the candidates whether they would support legislation for increased gun control. "I think it's a mistake to rush down a legislative path," said …

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Dennis Naughton

12:04 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Boston Globe reported this morning that the really interesting debate took place in the studio after the formal debate had ended. According to the Globe, Elizabeth Childs confronted Sean Bielat about his continued refusal to disclose information about his job and where he gets his money. Reportedly, Bielat's response was to tell Childs the "shut up."   more ›