Meet State Representative candidate Chester Tam

Describing the way he gets involved in local and state politics as an “activist,” Republican Chester Tam is now vying to take Rep. Chris Markey’s spot in the State House.

Tam, who moved back to Dartmouth to raise his children, worked in IT for over 20 years, including working at Brigham and Women’s and running his own company to help people create their own websites. He also is a landlord and has investments. He says this gives him experience with problem solving, thinking on the fly and critical thinking. 

As the son of immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1960s for the American Dream, Tam said he chose to run because he sees the possibility of achieving the American Dream disappearing due to high costs.

He describes the duties of being a State Representative as listening to people first, and finding solutions. This includes listening to people’s concerns, and changing things within the state.

“I want to preserve the American dream in Massachusetts,” he said. “I feel like a lot of the younger generation, even the older who are on fixed income, are being priced out of Massachusetts and I want to be able to try and lower the cost for everybody.”

Tam was a Town Meeting member. He did run for the Board of Health in 2024, and lost. He ran because he wanted to run to be a Town Meeting Member and saw that no one was running for the Board of Health. As he did not realize others signed up, he did not run a campaign and didn’t have the time to reach people. 

He became a Republican in 2016, when he saw how the political climate could affect his family. He feels his policy aligns with conservative values and the Republican party. He stated that his views are his views regardless of what he calls them. 

There are three main issues he wants to focus on: lowering costs and economic opportunity; accountable and transparent government; and strong communities and public safety. 

“The most important part is just lowering the cost of everything and making sure that our government is more transparent, and making sure that every decision being made answers the question, whether it’s going to help or hurt the people of our district,” said Tam. 

Tam said that with so many Democrats in the legislature, he couldn’t pass the laws he would want to, such as the S.A.V.E. Act, which would proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. If he wins, he wants to propose bipartisan laws that would help people, such as additional funding for sewer overflows in New Bedford. 

With budget allocation, he hopes to see more money go toward the schools and local aid, such as from surpluses from the Millionaires Tax, which would tax families making over $1 million in a year. He wants to ensure that tax overrides do not pass in town and that safety departments like the Fire Departments are prioritized in towns. 

Tam would make himself available to the community through social media, where he answers direct messages and applicable comments. He also has his email and phone numbers listed on his website. He would open up a district office in Dartmouth with a schedule for seeing people. 

“Having conflicting ideas is not a bad thing, I feel like that’s when most of the best ideas come is when you speak with the opposition and you pull all the good things and put it together as opposed to just being one sided,” Tam said.

Tam asks that voters torn between him and Republican Henry Bousquet consider that he has more fight, and knows when to be helpful and when to be stern. Tam added that the district has more to do with Dartmouth than New Bedford, and that he knows Dartmouth. He also pointed out the salary issue that Bousquet had, and questioned whether he would make State Representative a full time job as Tam would.