Peabody's May To Challenge Moulton For U.S. Congress Seat

PEABODY, MA — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) has a new Republican challenger in the state's 6th Congressional District.

The Massachusetts Republican Party said on Tuesday that Peabody businessman Bob May, who last ran unsuccessfully for state representative in the 13th Essex District, will challenge the Democratic incumbent in 2022.

"When you look at how the Democrats have presided over the worst rate of inflation in 40 years, coupled with their indifference to small business owners like myself, the biggest difference Americans can make is to get involved ourselves," May said in a statement released through the Mass GOP. "It's easy to sit on the sidelines and complain about the current state of affairs, but I am getting in the game because I believe it's up to 'We The People' to end the status quo in Washington."

May has lived in West Peabody with his family for 30 years and launched Techsource Thermal Solutions in 2002. He has a technical engineering degree from UMass-Lowell and an MBA from UMass-Lowell.

When he ran for the open state representative seat as a first-time candidate in 2020 he described himself to Patch as a "conservative Republican." He criticized Gov. Charlie Baker's pandemic response beyond the initial "flatten the curve" shutdown as being "too extreme" and told Patch at the time he believed "the cure has been worse than the disease."

Among his other defining campaign issues were support of law enforcement, support of the Second Amendment, the opposition of common core education, support of school choice, the opposition of the transportation climate initiative and the opposition to "turning Massachusetts into a sanctuary state and issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants."

"Americans are intrinsically independent and the Democrats' efforts to seize control over what we
say, what we do, and how our children are educated are causing serious harm," May said this week. "I believe in our core freedoms and I believe in American exceptionalism."

May said his Peabody neighborhood was recently "gerrymandered" out of the 13th Essex District —the seat that Sally Kerans won in November 2020 — and criticized what he said are Moulton's anti-business policies.

"Rep. Moulton continues to promote the demonization of American industries in order to distract from the truth: the Democrats’ monetary policies have devalued the dollar, and are a direct result of the inflation now crippling American households," May said. "On Capitol Hill, Rep. Moulton isn't known for representing his district's interests, but for once leading the effort to replace
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi —- incredibly, because he thinks she isn't far-left enough.

"My campaign is about providing North Shore residents with a seat at the table, giving them their deserved representation in Congress, and ensuring that if the government isn't working for them, it should simply get out of the way."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)