With Trump, New Bedford's fishermen hope for better times

A cold wind cut across New Bedford harbor as Jim Kendall, a retired scallop boat captain, surveyed the city’s main fishing pier. Many of the boats sat idle, while a few crew members cleaned their decks and repaired equipment.

Kendall remembers how busy these docks used to be years ago, when there were fewer regulations and closures, and fishermen could head out most days of the year.

Now, "if you can fish, say, 60 days a year, you're doing pretty damn good," he said.

New Bedford is the most valuable commercial fishing port in the country, landing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of seafood every year. But Kendall said bringing in that haul is getting harder, and the margins tighter. He blames Washington, and specifically the Democratic Party, for the change in fortunes.

"A lot of the Democrats had basically forgotten about the fishing industry or just don't pay much regard to it," he said.

As for President-elect Trump, "the fishing industry is really supporting him."

All across Massachusetts’ South Coast, cities and towns that voted for President Biden in 2020 flipped to Trump's column in 2024. The former president even came close to winning here in New Bedford, a storied working-class city that overwhelmingly supported Biden just four years ago.

Kendall said he's surprised Trump didn't win New Bedford outright, given all the support he sees among the fishermen.

It wasn't always this way. Kendall said fisherman used to have powerful allies in the Democratic Party, like the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy and retired Congressman Barney Frank.

"Matter of fact, I took Senator Kennedy on a trip around the harbor here on my previous boat," he said. "And Barney Frank, he was unbelievable. I mean, I still miss the man."

But many fishermen are upset by recent Democratic administrations. President Obama in 2016 created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, closing a large swath of water off Cape Cod to commercial fishing.

Conservationists argued the closure was necessary to protect critical habitat for endangered whales, fish and rare deep-sea corals. Trump lifted the closure in 2020; Biden closed it again the next year. Kendall hopes Trump again opens the waters.

The development of offshore wind is also deeply controversial here. While the developers often pay fishermen for transportation and safety support, fishermen say the construction has further limited the areas where they can fish.

There are signs of the President-elect's support all along New Bedford harbor, like the Trump flag raised on a red fishing boat further down the pier.

Democrats are "all supporting wind, hands down," said Tony Alvarez, who own's the boat. But when it comes to fishing, "They don't give a rat's patootie about the industry."

Alvernaz said he called the day after Trump's election "Alka Seltzer day."

"Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is," he said.

Trump’s surging popularity among South Coast voters has some local Democrats soul-searching.

"If we lose to a guy with such minimal character, then our policies must be off track with people," said state Rep. Chris Markey, who represents New Bedford and Dartmouth. "We need to look at that and reflect on that."

Markey has deep roots in the area — his father was a six-term mayor of New Bedford. In more recent years, Markey said, he’s watched the Democratic Party bleed support in his district.

"I think that we as Democrats are out of touch with, or perceived to be out of touch with, the average everyday guy," he said.

Markey said the party should dial back some of its sweeping promises and focus on smaller, winnable issues like expanding the Affordable Care Act and passing common-sense protections for abortion.

"We could probably make everyone satisfied, or the vast majority of the people, if we did 80% of what we do in the Democratic Party and don't go to 120 or 140%," he said.

Across the state, Democrats lost ground this election cycle in post-industrial cities like New Bedford, Lawrence and Chelsea.

Dawn Blake Souza is a long-time organizer in New Bedford’s Cape Verdean community. She said she’s watched more and more young people, including family members, turn to Trump. Souza said the national Democratic Party needs to reconnect with its working-class base.

"They underestimated that they needed to go to those people. They couldn’t assume that they were going to vote for them because it was a Democrat," she said. "They had to earn their vote, and I don’t think enough of that was done."

Souza said that means meeting people where they are — at union halls, barbecues and sporting events.

"You know, it’s in the weeds, the grassroots, that you win or lose elections," she said.

That might also mean doing more outreach on New Bedford’s fishing piers, like Ted Kennedy used to do. Democrats could still find some voters who haven't entirely written them off yet, like Kendall, the retired captain.

"Local Democrats or politicians that I deal with have been great all these years," he said. "But like I say, when it comes to the executive office, there was nothing for us."

For now, Kendall said, he’s Trump all the way.