Ken
O’Brien
Sen. Stephen Brewer announced on Wednesday that he
will not seek reelection and that he will retire when his term expires at the
end of 2014.
Brewer, who took over the Senate Ways and Means
Committee in 2010, has served as a top deputy to Senate President Therese
Murray. As such he has been a significant factor in all major pieces of
legislation to emerge from the Senate over the past four years. Murray is
serving her last term as Senate president and hasn't said whether she will move
on from elected office.
Brewer’s decision comes after the he lost out to
Majority Leader Senator Stanley Rosenberg to succeed Murray. With Rosenberg
preparing to take control of the Senate and Brewer's place in the hierarchy
uncertain after this year, the Senator from the Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire
and Middlesex District has decided to retire after serving in the Legislature
for more than three decades.
Brewer arrived on Beacon Hill in 1988 when he was
elected to the House of Representatives. He joined the Senate in 1997. He has chaired
a variety of committees over the course of his career, including the Committees
on Veterans and Federal Affairs and Natural Resources & Agriculture.
Rosenberg announced in July that he had secured
enough votes among the current membership to succeed Murray.
At the time, Brewer told the State House News
Service he would "absolutely" be running for re-election in 2014, and
said he had no doubt he would be able to work with the new Senate president.
"I'm a cancer survivor. Everyone knows that,
and any cancer survivor will tell you that they live from doctor appointment to
doctor appointment. I love what I do," Brewer said.
In his announcement Wednesday, Brewer said his long
commute to and from Boston was a factor. He said he was "contemplating
several ideas although nothing specific at this time. However, teaching,
volunteering, travel, working with land trusts and learning the banjo hold
specific appeal to me. I have a long bucket list."
Brewer's district encompasses 28 towns west of
Worcester stretching from the Connecticut River to the New Hampshire borders.
Before his announcement, Brewer had already drawn
two Republican challengers in his district.
After his plans to retire were first reported
Wednesday by Boston Magazine, Brewer took a full day before responding to the
report, even as one of his opponents seized on the news.
"I want to wish Senator Stephen Brewer well in
his future endeavors. In his eighteen years as a state senator and seven years
as a state representative, he provided a model of constituent service for other
elected officials to follow. As a citizen of the district, I thank him for such
service. If elected to succeed him, I will look to his efforts as a guide as to
how to provide such constituent service," said James Ehrhard, a member of
the Tantasqua Regional School Committee and owner of the law firm of Ehrhard
& Associates P.C.
Ehrhard, of Sturbridge, said he and Brewer disagreed
on the "proper balance between taxes and spending and the size of
government in citizens' lives."
Michael Valanzola, who chairs the Tantasqua Regional
School District and previously served as a Wales selectman for two terms, is
also running in the Republican primary for Brewer's seat.
In his statement, Brewer said facing opponents in
November and the Senate presidency competition "had no bearing on my
decision."
Ann Gobi is running for his seat, thank goodness!
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