Joe Ureneck: The First Suffolk District's Republican Candidate

The special election for U.S. Senate is the source of big political news in Massachusetts, but it's not the only special election coming up.

Next Tuesday, residents of  South Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan and parts of Hyde Park — the First Suffolk District — will vote for their next state Senator. The seat was last held by Jack Hart, who resigned in January.

It's been called the "Southie Seat," and for nearly four decades it's been held by white, Irish-American men from South Boston, including Hart, Stephen Lynch and former Senate President William Bulger.

A couple of weeks ago, we spoke to the  Democratic candidate, Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, who could become the first Haitian-American and the first woman to represent the district.

Today, her Republican opponent, Joe Ureneck, is with us.  If elected, he'd be the first Republican to win in a very long time in what has long been a Democratic strong-hold.

Joe Ureneck, Republican candidate for state Senate in the First Suffolk District and chairman of the Fatherhood Coalition.

The Boston Globe, "A 61-year-old Dorchester native who has never held elected office, Ureneck knows that he faces an uphill battle against Democrat Linda Dorcena Forry, a well-known state representative who would become the first woman and racial minority to hold the seat if elected."