By Erika Brown
With less than two weeks before the Sept. 1 Democratic primary, State Rep. Andrew “Dru” Tarr and challenger Sarah Wilkinson finally met head-to-head Tuesday night in a virtual debate hosted by Cape Ann Democrats.
The matchup was something of a do-over for Wilkinson, the longtime Rockport Select Board member who challenged Tarr earlier this year in the special election to replace the late Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante.
That first race came together quickly after Ferrante's unexpected death last year from cancer on Thanksgiving morning. Wilkinson, who had been unenrolled, missed a Democratic Party registration deadline that preceded Ferrante's death and was forced to run as a write-in candidate in the March Democratic primary.
Tarr, Ferrante's longtime research and district director, was on the ballot and won decisively before going on to win the March 31 special election.
Five months later, Tarr is the incumbent, Wilkinson's name is on the ballot, and Tuesday's debate offered voters their first real side-by-side look at the two Democrats.
And there are some clear differences.
Wilkinson, who served 18 years on Rockport's Board of Selectmen, including as chair, made the case that her municipal experience gives her something Tarr's years working inside the State House do not: a long record of actually making difficult decisions and being directly accountable to voters.
Tarr made almost the opposite argument. His years working for Ferrante, followed by his first months serving as Cape Ann's state representative, mean he already understands how Beacon Hill works and has the relationships and experience necessary to get things done for the district.
It's essentially a choice between two different kinds of experience.
Wilkinson said her time in municipal government taught her to build budgets, work through disagreements and answer directly to residents. She also said the four Cape Ann communities need to work more closely together on shared problems.
“We are four unique communities, but so many of the challenges we face don't stop at town or city lines,” Wilkinson said. She said the state representative should bring local officials together to identify regional priorities and then take those needs collectively to state and federal officials.
Tarr's pitch was more focused on knowing how to work the system Cape Ann already has to navigate.
A Gloucester native who grew up in a multigenerational household, Tarr repeatedly returned to housing, state support for schools and infrastructure, and economic development as priorities. On housing, he said simply increasing market-rate supply won't solve the problem in a place where people with substantial means will always want to live.
“We need to make sure that we're building into our communities the housing that we need for the people who live here,” Tarr said, specifically citing teachers, fishermen and retail workers.
He also called for increased Chapter 70 education funding.
Wilkinson agreed housing is a critical problem but argued that housing policy can't be separated from Cape Ann's aging infrastructure. Rockport alone, she noted, has experienced several recent water-main breaks.
“We don't have the water, we don't have the sewer, we purely do not have the infrastructure,” she said.
Rather than accepting housing policies “jammed down our throats,” Wilkinson said she would convene Cape Ann's DPW directors, school superintendents, school committees and municipal leaders to develop a regional list of infrastructure, housing and education priorities and pursue funding together.
Then … “the Audit”
The sharpest exchange of the evening came over something Wilkinson has made a centerpiece of her campaign: the fight over whether MA Auditor Diana DiZoglio should be permitted to audit the Massachusetts Legislature.
Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved ballot Question 1 in 2024, giving the state auditor explicit authority to audit the Legislature. Wilkinson argued that Tarr's subsequent vote for House legislation defining—and, in her view, restricting—the scope of that audit demonstrated exactly the kind of Beacon Hill allegiance she is running against.
Wilkinson said local elected officials operate under public records and Open Meeting laws and undergo regular audits, and she questioned why legislators should operate under a different standard.
“If you truly believe in accountability and transparency, you will find a way to make it happen,” she said.
Tarr pushed back strongly, saying the issue has become “almost a one-issue campaign” for Wilkinson.
He said he supports an audit of the Legislature's finances but believes some of the broader authority sought by the auditor raises constitutional separation-of-powers concerns. Tarr said the House legislation he supported specifically permits examination of financial records and several other areas sought by the auditor while establishing boundaries between an executive-branch official and legislative activities.
“I'm totally fine with” a financial audit, Tarr said. But giving an executive-branch official oversight of legislative activities, he argued, could run directly against the separation of powers established in the state’s Constitution.
Wilkinson wasn't buying it.
“That to me is ridiculous,” she responded.
She said 72 percent of voters supported the audit initiative and argued that legislators should find a constitutional way to honor that mandate rather than narrow it. Wilkinson also said she had spoken for nearly an hour with DiZoglio after deciding to run.
The exchange neatly captured perhaps the biggest philosophical distinction between the candidates.
Tarr argues that knowing Beacon Hill—its rules, relationships and institutional boundaries—is an asset that allows him to get results for Cape Ann. Wilkinson argues that the State House itself needs challenging, and that her municipal experience and distance from Beacon Hill's political structure are assets rather than liabilities.
And What Wasn't Discussed
Curiously, one subject never came up Tuesday night: the bit of Democratic Party drama that unfolded just days before the debate.
Last week Wilkinson filed a formal complaint with the Massachusetts Democratic Party alleging that the Gloucester Democratic City Committee had failed to remain neutral in the Tarr-Wilkinson primary.
At the center of the controversy was Matthew Murray, who simultaneously served as chairman of the Gloucester Democratic City Committee and as Tarr's campaign manager.
Wilkinson's complaint focused on the committee's participation in Gloucester's summer Block Parties on Main Street, a weekly summer downtown program offering late retail hours and music while Main Street is closed to vehicles.
In a July email to Democratic candidates and campaigns, the committee encouraged campaigns to provide literature, lawn signs and other materials for its table. Wilkinson says she was never contacted or offered that opportunity, while other Democratic candidates were.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party responded last Saturday, Aug. 15. Executive Director Adam Roof acknowledged the complaint and reiterated that local Democratic committees must remain neutral in contested primaries and administer committee resources, communications and events fairly and equally among candidates. Roof said he had spoken with Murray, who “apologized and committed to fairness moving forward.”
Murray has since stepped down as chair of the Gloucester Democratic City Committee. Rani Jacobson, GDC vice president, is now acting chair and moderated Tuesday's debate. Meanwhile, Murray's current status as Tarr's campaign manager has not been confirmed.
None of this came up during the debate—not from Wilkinson, or Tarr, or in any audience member questions.
The Massachusetts Primary Election is on Sept. 1. Early voting begins Aug. 22. The winner on Sept. 1 will move on to the Nov. 3 state election and face Manchester Republican Christina Delisio and Essex Independent Gil Frieden, both of whom attended Tuesday’s debate.
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