PRINT COVERAGE · H-W NEWS · JUNE 19–25, 2026
H-W News Profiles Dan Kelly and Kristin Kassner in the 2026 Second Essex Race
H-W News introduces voters to Republican challenger Dan Kelly and incumbent Representative Kristin Kassner, examining their backgrounds, priorities, and different approaches to constituent service, local funding, housing, environmental policy, and representation on Beacon Hill.
Original reporting by Emma Fringuelli, H-W News
Print edition: June 19–25, 2026, page 4
Campaign summary prepared by Vote Dan Kelly campaign staff
Dan Kelly of Ipswich is challenging incumbent Representative Kristin Kassner of Hamilton in the 2026 election for Massachusetts State Representative in the Second Essex District. In its June 19–25 print edition, H-W News published profiles of both candidates, giving voters an early look at their backgrounds, priorities, and reasons for seeking office. Kassner emphasizes her background as a planner, environmental policy, and her work within the House. Dan Kelly emphasizes responsive constituent service, greater state support for small towns, local authority, actual housing affordability, and an independent voice on Beacon Hill.
Coverage at a Glance
Publication: H-W News
Article: These are this fall’s local candidates for state representative
Reporter: Emma Fringuelli
Issue: June 19–25, 2026
Page: 4
Coverage type: Candidate profiles
Candidates: Dan Kelly and Kristin Kassner
Office: Massachusetts State Representative
District: Second Essex District
Election: November 3, 2026
Primary topics: Constituent service, municipal funding, education, housing, local authority, environmental policy, water infrastructure, and the arts
What H-W News Reported
The H-W News article profiles both candidates scheduled to appear in the November 3 election for State Representative. Kristin Kassner is the Democratic incumbent from Hamilton. She has represented the Second Essex District since being seated following the 2022 election. Dan Kelly is the Republican challenger from Ipswich. He entered the race after seeing that the incumbent initially appeared likely to run without an opponent. Neither candidate faced a primary opponent when the article was published.
Dan Kelly’s Background
Dan Kelly spent approximately 38 years practicing law. His professional work involved state agencies, municipalities, businesses, and the federal government. He advised clients on government contracts, public procurement, grants, and interactions with government institutions. That career required Dan to listen carefully, identify problems, navigate complicated systems, and help clients find practical solutions.
Dan is also an actor and an advocate for the arts. He believes theater, music, and the visual arts create opportunities for young people, strengthen communities, and bring residents from different backgrounds together. He now wants to apply his experience in advocacy, problem-solving, and public systems to serving the communities of the Second Essex District.
Why Dan Kelly Entered the Race
Dan told H-W News that he entered the race after seeing that the incumbent appeared likely to run unopposed. Although Dan is running as a Republican, he described the approach he would bring to Beacon Hill as independent, bipartisan, and focused on common-sense results. One of the central principles of his campaign is civility. Dan believes a representative should be able to work with Republicans, Democrats, Independents, local officials, state agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and residents without treating political disagreement as personal hostility. He is running to provide the district with an independent voice while building the relationships needed to get practical work done.
State Funding and the Burden on Local Taxpayers
A central issue in Dan’s H-W News profile is the amount of state funding returned to the district’s cities and towns. The communities of the Second Essex District face significant expenses involving schools, roads, bridges, public-safety buildings, water systems, wastewater infrastructure, and other essential services. When state assistance does not keep pace with those needs, more of the burden falls on local property taxpayers. That pressure is especially difficult for seniors living on fixed incomes, working families, and longtime residents who want their children and grandchildren to remain in the communities where they grew up. Dan told H-W News that he would push for changes to several important state and municipal funding systems.
Chapter 70 Education Aid
Chapter 70 is Massachusetts’ primary program for distributing state education aid to public-school districts. Dan believes the formula does not always reflect the actual financial pressure experienced by the district’s small towns and regional school systems. Communities can have relatively high property values or median incomes while still containing large numbers of seniors, working families, and other residents struggling with taxes and rising household expenses.
Dan would advocate for a formula that more accurately recognizes local costs and taxpayers’ ability to absorb them.
Chapter 90 Transportation Funding
The Chapter 90 program provides state funding to municipalities for capital improvements on local public ways, including roads, bridges, sidewalks, and culverts. Dan believes small towns with aging infrastructure need a more reliable and adequate share of this funding so that necessary projects do not depend primarily on local tax increases or repeated overrides.
Unrestricted General Government Aid
Unrestricted General Government Aid provides flexible state assistance that municipalities can use for non-school portions of their budgets. Dan would advocate for increased support and distribution formulas that better account for the needs of small communities. The objective is not simply to spend more money. It is to ensure that the tax dollars residents send to the state return to the district in a fair and useful form.
Housing Affordability and Local Authority
Emma Fringuelli’sarticle also discusses Dan’s concerns about state housing policy. Dan criticized the MBTA Communities Act, commonly known as Section 3A, as a top-down mandate that requires municipalities to adopt new zoning while providing too little assurance that the resulting homes will be genuinely affordable. He raised a related concern about Chapter 40B.
Chapter 40B allows qualifying affordable-housing developments to seek relief from certain local zoning requirements in communities that do not meet the law’s subsidized-housing threshold. Dan’s concern is that producing units classified as housing does not automatically make those homes affordable to the people already struggling to remain in the district. Young families, seniors, veterans, municipal employees, tradespeople, service workers, and adult children hoping to remain near their parents need homes they can realistically afford.
Dan supports practical efforts to create affordable housing. He also believes municipalities should retain a meaningful role in decisions that affect roads, schools, water, wastewater, public safety, the environment, and existing neighborhoods. The measure of a successful housing policy should be whether more people can actually afford to live here, not the number of zoning changes enacted
Environmental Protection and Water Infrastructure
Kelly told H-W News that he would work to protect the district’s coasts, marshes, rivers, and other natural resources. Environmental stewardship requires more than statewide rules. It also requires cooperation with municipal governments, conservation organizations, farmers, fishermen, shellfish harvesters, water departments, and residents who understand local conditions. Dan has emphasized the need to protect the Ipswich River and to secure funding for the infrastructure needed to treat, manage, conserve, and deliver water.
Dan Kelly believes a clean environment and an affordable community are compatible goals and the state should help communities finance the infrastructure needed to achieve both.
Supporting the Arts
Dan also told H-W News that he would be an advocate for the arts. As an actor, he has seen how theater, music, and visual art help people develop confidence, find their voices, and work with people from different backgrounds. The arts contribute to education, downtown activity, tourism, local business, and the cultural identity of the district.
He believes state support for the arts should be treated as an investment in communities and not as an afterthought.
Constituent Service and the 24/7 Pledge
The defining commitment in Dan’s profile is his pledge to remain consistently available to residents. People want someone who will answer the phone, respond to an email, listen to their problem, and help them determine what can be done. Sometimes the issue will involve a state agency, permit, benefit, grant, or public program. In other cases, a resident may simply need help identifying the appropriate local or state office.
Dan’s pledge is simple: If a resident calls or writes, he will respond personally within 24 hours, seven days a week.
This commitment reflects the same standards he maintained throughout his legal career. Clients expected him to listen, return calls, and remain accountable for their concerns. He believes residents deserve that same level of service from their State Representative.
Two Different Approaches
In the article, Kassner emphasized her background as a municipal planner, environmental work involving water and PFAS, economic development, state aid, wetland permitting, site-plan-review legislation, and an incremental approach to transparency.
Meanwhile, Dan emphasized direct constituent service, changes to state funding formulas, relief for local taxpayers, local participation in housing and zoning decisions, environmental infrastructure, support for the arts, and an independent voice on Beacon Hill.
Beacon Hill or the Second Essex?
Dan Kelly believes every important vote should begin with a basic question: How will this affect the people of Georgetown, Hamilton, Ipswich, Newbury, Rowley, and Topsfield Precinct 1?
A State Representative must work with colleagues on Beacon Hill. But that representative’s first responsibility is to the district. Dan is running to provide responsive service, advocate for a fair share of state resources, protect a meaningful role for local communities, and evaluate legislation independently.
His commitment is to put the Second Essex first.
About the Original Coverage
This page is an original campaign summary of print reporting published by H-W News in its June 19–25, 2026 edition. The original article, “These are this fall’s local candidates for state representative,” was written by H-W News staff reporter Emma Fringuelli and appeared on page 4.
The Committee to Elect Dan Kelly did not write or publish the original newspaper report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote the H-W News candidate profiles?
The article was written by H-W News staff reporter Emma Fringuelli and published in the newspaper’s June 19–25, 2026 print edition.
Which candidates were profiled?
The article profiled Republican challenger Dan Kelly of Ipswich and Democratic incumbent Kristin Kassner of Hamilton.
What office are Dan Kelly and Kristin Kassner seeking?
They are candidates for Massachusetts State Representative in the Second Essex District.
Why did Dan Kelly enter the race?
Dan Kelly entered the race after seeing that the incumbent, Kristin Kassner appeared likely to run unopposed. He believes voters deserve a competitive election and an independent voice on Beacon Hill.
What is Dan Kelly’s 24/7 pledge?
Dan pledges to respond personally to every constituent call or email within 24 hours, seven days a week.
What funding programs does Dan Kelly want to address?
Dan identified Chapter 70 education aid, Chapter 90 transportation funding, and Unrestricted General Government Aid as important sources of state support that should more accurately address the needs of small communities.
What is Dan Kelly’s position on housing?
Dan supports practical efforts to create genuinely affordable homes. He believes housing policy must account for local infrastructure and environmental conditions and preserve a meaningful role for affected communities.
What is Dan Kelly’s position on the environment?
Dan supports protecting the district’s coasts, marshes, rivers, and water resources while obtaining state assistance for the infrastructure needed to treat and manage water.
Does Dan Kelly support the arts?
Yes. As an actor and arts advocate, Dan believes theater, music, and visual art contribute to education, economic activity, and stronger communities.
How close was the 2022 Second Essex election?
The official result was 11,763 votes for Kristin Kassner and 11,762 for Lenny Mirra—a one-vote difference.
What happened in the 2024 election?
Kristin Kassner received 16,063 votes. Republican Mark Tashjian received 13,562 votes, producing a 2,501-vote margin.
Which communities are in the Second Essex District?
The district consists of Georgetown, Hamilton, Ipswich, Newbury, Rowley, and Precinct 1 of Topsfield. Byfield is a village within Newbury.
When is the 2026 election?
The Massachusetts state election will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Learn More and Get Involved
Learn more about Dan’s background and priorities, volunteer in your community, or contribute to help the campaign reach voters throughout the Second Essex District.