WEST STOCKBRIDGE — Richmond attorney Andrea Harrington will seek the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, she announced Tuesday.
Harrington, a Democrat, said her candidacy for the 52-town district seat in “because our district needs a leader who understands the challenges facing our communities and will build on the opportunities we have to create jobs and protect our children.”
Harrington, an attorney for the Great Barrington law firm of Hellman Shearn & Arienti, returned to the area in 2007 after graduating in 2003 From American University’s Washington School of Law and then practicing law in Miami, added “I am running to expand the bright spots in our regional economy — in court I have seen too many lives impacted by financial hardship.”
The Richmond native, who will run against Shelburne Falls native Adam Hinds of Pittsfield for the seat being vacated by Downing after 10 years, said, “I believe we need to expand economic opportunity in this region.
A board member of Berkshares, a local currency for Berkshire County, Harrington’s work with the organization focuses on supporting local business, growing entrepreneurship, and the new community-supported industry program. The mother of two, she also volunteers with programs to provide expanded educational opportunities for young people in Berkshire County: the Railroad Street Youth Project, the Crocus Fund and the Berkshire Academies’ Mentors.
She serves on the Afforable Housing Committee in her souther Berkshire County town, with a population of 1,475.
The Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden District includes Ashfield, Conway, Shelburne, Buckland, Charlemont, Hawley, Heath, Rowe and Monroe in Franklin County.