North Adams — Resident Andrew Fitch, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday, February 3, that he is running for the 1st Berkshire District seat in the State House of Representatives.
The seat is currently held by former North Adams Mayor John Barrett, first elected in November 2017 after then-Rep. Gailanne Cariddi (D) died of cancer in June of that year.
According to his LinkedIn resume, Fitch has co-owned the bakery bar Steeple City Social since November 2024.
He has served as a city councilor in North Adams since January 2024 and as the president of the Impactful Art Factory since December 2021, which he describes on his LinkedIn resume:
In December 2021, I purchased two mixed-use commercial buildings on a prominent corner of Downtown North Adams, MA. As I direct the renovation and redevelopment of residential and commercial spaces, I am curating and managing two window art galleries in the buildings, with dedication to expressions of social justice and progress.
Fitch has also worked as a developer evangelist at tech companies Cloudflare Inc. and Galvanize Inc.
On Fitch’s campaign website, he writes that, if elected, he would focus on issues pertaining to community development, education, and transportation, along with affordability and regional collaboration. “Economic opportunity, affordability and collaboration will be the pillars of my approach as your State Representative, but there is so much more to do,” Fitch writes. “In the coming months I’m eager to explore each community within the 1st Berkshire District and get to know you all better. While we have so much in common as residents of this corner of the Commonwealth, there are also unique challenges and opportunities within each individual city and town. I hope to talk to as many constituents as possible, become more informed, and be able to effectively represent each community of the district, both individually and in the collective.”
