Keith Mercurio is a resident of Watertown, Massachusetts

Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...

. In 2006 he ran as the Republican candidate for Massachusetts State Representative of the 29th Middlesex District.

Education

Keith attended Boston College High School and graduated from Lexington Christian Academy. Keith received his college education at Saint Michael's College

Saint Michael's College

Saint Michael's College is a private, residential liberal arts Catholic college. The campus is located in Colchester, Vermont. It was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, a French order of Catholic priests.-History:...

 in Vermont. He majored in Political Science.

2006 Election

In the fall of 2006, Keith announced he would be run as the Republican candidate in the 29th Middlesex District for Massachusetts State Representative.

Platform

Keith's platform was modeled around "Progressive Commonsense." Mercurio stressed the need for change from the six term leadership by Democrat Rachel Kaprielian. In the months leading up to the election Keith promised voters that he would honor Ballot Measure 4 from the 2000 Massachusetts election in which voters approved a reduction in the state income tax from 5.85% to 5% http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Businesses_lukewarm_on_tax_cut_initiatives+.shtml. Mercurio also centered his platform around a plan to reduce the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) debt which has grown to nearly $6 billion in recent years.

Election Results

In the November 7th election, Keith received 25% of the vote in the highly-Democratic district. Mercurio received his highest percentage of votes in his hometown of Watertown, taking 29.8% of the votes. He was the first challenger to Democratic Representative Rachel Kaprelian

Rachel Kaprelian

Rachel Kaprielian is a former Massachusetts state representative and a member of the Democratic Party. She finished her law studies at Suffolk University in 2000 and received a Masters of Public Service from Harvard University in 2003...

in twelve years, and the 3,721 votes he received indicate that future elections in the district could be increasingly close.