First up for 1st Franklin. (submitted photo)

Just under a week after 1^st Franklin State Rep Natalie Blais resigned to take a job at UMass-Amherst, the first candidate in the race has emerged. Corinne Coryat, an aide to Blais, has organized a committee with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance and released a statement regarding her intention to run for her now-former boss’s seat.

Blais’s departure was somewhat sudden. It happened at a point in the electoral calendar that Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin advised against a special election. The House of Representatives, which decides whether to hold such elections, concurred. That leaves a full normal cycle, which candidates like Coryat will need if the field grows in size. It did exactly that when Blais first ran in 2018.

“At a moment when so many people are feeling anxious, divided, and overwhelmed by the direction of our country, we cannot afford to disengage or give up,” Coryat said in a statement. “This is a critical moment for our communities and for our democracy. The remedy to fear is action, showing up for one another, and working together to build a better future.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Coryat has worked for Blais since 2021. She is enrolled at Western New England School of Law. In her release, she said a desire to give back to her community contributed to her decision to run.

Coryat, who identified herself as a progressive, alluded to the indicated that her familiarity with the region and its rural character of the district. However, that nature also could also prompt the field to grow. Coryat, like Blais, lives in Deerfield, one of the larger towns in the district. However, no one town anchors the towns population. That could encourage more to enter the field.

The 1^st Franklin consists of Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, Rowe, Shelburne, Sunderland, Whately, and Greenfield precincts 5, 6, 7 and 8.

(via malegislature.gov)

Despite its rural character, the district is overwhelmingly Democratic. The principal race will likely be the primary.

The 1^st Franklin is among the few truly rural districts in Massachusetts. Such regions face unique challenges. Only the parts in Greenfield are very dense. The district sprawling size complicates the delivery of and funding for infrastructure and education. Agriculture is a significant part of the economy.

Yet the district will not have representation in the House for nearly a year. When the House announced it would not be holding a special election, it did say that Blais’s staff, including Coryat, would be staying on. They remain available to address constituent issues.

In her release, Coryat empathized the district’s issues as well as the financial needs small towns generally have.

“Too often, rural districts are asked to do more with less,” Coryat said. “Whether it’s school funding, infrastructure, transportation, or access to healthcare, we need policies that reflect the real costs of serving geographically large and less densely populated areas.”

Blais did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her aide’s run. However, the priorities Coryat laid out are much like those that Blais had championed. Indeed, Blais often highlighted that rural Massachusetts has specific challenges but lacked the numerical advantages to sway policy on Beacon Hill.

“Regional equity isn’t a slogan, it’s a necessity if we want living in rural communities to be sustainable,” Coryat said.