WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The two candidates for the Democratic nomination to represent the First Berkshire District on Beacon Hill found a lot of common ground Thursday on some issues but differed on what is needed to get things done in their only scheduled debate leading up to the Sept. 1 primary election.

 

The incumbent, John Barrett III, and Andrew Fitch, a North Adams city councilor, met in a theater at Williams College's Paresky Center in a forum sponsored by the town's chapter of the League of Women Voters, fielding questions submitted by the public and posed by moderator Jennifer Howlett for just less than an hour.

 

The pair agreed at least in part on issues ranging from same-day voter registration to assisted suicide to the statewide ballot initiative to repeal the legalization of cannabis in the commonwealth.

 

But they parted ways when asked whether they would support efforts to institute a single ballot primary and whether the current Legislature has been responsive enough to respond to a 2024 ballot initiative to have the state auditor audit the House and Senate.

 

Barrett argued that the Legislature already conducts audits and puts the results on the state's website. He further pointed to a lawsuit brought by Auditor Diana DiZoglio over the issue.

 

"She went to court, and the court asked her, are these the four things you wanted [from an audit], and she said yes," Barrett said. "We gave her legislation that gave her the four things she wanted."

 

Calling himself a "big fan of audits," Barrett argued that he participated in them as mayor of North Adams for 26 years. He called efforts to have the state auditor conduct the audit of the Legislature a "Republican thing" and a "sad game."