Keith Mercurio

Keith Mercurio (born 1982) is a resident of Watertown, Massachusetts. In 2006 he ran as the Republican candidate for Massachusetts State Representative of the 29th Middlesex District.

Biography

Education

Keith attended Boston College High School and graduated from Lexington Christian Academy. Keith received his college education at Saint Michael's College in Vermont. He majored in Political Science.

2006 Election

In the fall of 2006, Keith announced he would be run as the Republican candidate in the 29th Middlesex District for Massachusetts State Representative.

Platform

Keith's platform was modeled around "Progressive Commonsense." Mercurio stressed the need for change from the six term leadership by Democrat Rachel Kaprielian. In the months leading up to the election Keith promised voters that he would honor Ballot Measure 4 from the 2000 Massachusetts election in which voters approved a reduction in the state income tax from 5.85% to 5% [http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Businesses_lukewarm_on_tax_cut_initiatives+.shtml] . Mercurio also centered his platform around a plan to reduce the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) debt which has grown to nearly $6 billion in recent years.

Election Results

In the November 7th election, Keith received 25% of the vote in the highly-Democratic district. Mercurio received his highest percentage of votes in his hometown of Watertown, taking 29.8% of the votes. He was the first challenger to Democratic Representative Rachel Kaprelian in twelve years, and the 3,721 votes he received indicate that future elections in the district could be increasingly close.

References

Keith Mercurio's Election Homepage [http://www.electkeith.com/]
A Biography of Keith Mercurio [http://www.electkeith.com/?page_id=2]
2006 Massachusetts Election Results (WBZ News) [http://elections.cbslocal.com/cbs/wbz/20061107/index.shtml]