By Dan Glaun | dglaun@masslive.com
James “Chip” Harrington, the Ludlow businessman and part-time police officer who is challenging state Sen. Eric Lesser in the 2016 elections, took out nomination papers Thursday morning.
Harrington announced plans on Feb. 24 to challenge Lesser, a Longmeadow Democrat, as a Republican candidate. The race will be a rematch of the 2014 state Senate primary, when Harrington — then a Democrat — lost to Lesser, who went on to win the seat.
“Since my announcement I have continued to hear from people in the district that they are excited that I am in this race, the encouragement has been phenomenal. Now more than ever, voters are showing that they are so sick of establishment, partisan, insider politics and my opponent embodies that to a T,” Harrington said. “Hardworking everyday citizens want their seat back. And despite the large amount of outside money that my opponent has in his war chest and can raise out of DC and Chicago, it is that type of encouragement that motivates me and makes me confident that we will win this race.”