Election 2018: Candidate Profile Of Margaret Busse

Longtime progressive Democrat Jamie Eldridge faces a challenger in the mid-term elections as Republican Margaret Busse runs for his Middlesex & Worcester District seat.

The Middlesex & Worcester District includes Marlborough, Acton, Ayer, Boxborough, Hudson, Littleton, Maynard, Shirley, Stow, precincts 2 and 3 in Sudbury, Harvard, precinct 3 in Northborough, Southborough and Westborough.

Patch reached out to all of the contested candidates with a series of questions to help introduce voters to those candidates. Today we introduce readers to Busse, who is from Acton and associate director of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School.

She is married to Franz and has five children: Gretel, 15; Peter, 13; William, 11; Isabel, 9; Eve, 5. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School, MA in Public Policy and a BA in both Economics and Public Policy.

"I am passionate about bringing people together around common goals, about looking for ways to find common ground, and for relying on listening and learning from others to find common sense solutions rather than adhering to rigid ideologies," Busse told Patch.

Formerly, Busse was a consultant at the Social Innovation Forum and at The Bridgespan Group, and a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Treasury Department. For four years, Busse has been a member and chair of the Acton Finance Committee, a three-year member of Kelley's Corner Steering Committee, three years as chair of the Acton 2020 Committee and four years as a member of the Acton Planning Board. Her campaign site is here.

Busse considers the single most pressing issue to be what she perceives to be lack of empowerment in the community, schools and within the small business community.

"Our communities and schools are currently burdened by many unfunded mandates and other regulations," she said. "Much of our towns' budgets cannot be controlled by our local leaders because of these unfunded mandates. Additionally, communities have a hard time controlling their own destiny when it comes to housing growth, land use, and economic development because of state control. Similarly, our small businesses are suffering under the burden of onerous and costly regulations coming down from the state. Small businesses create jobs and help communities to thrive. I will advocate for more control and fewer burdens for our communities, schools, and small businesses."

Incumbent Senator Eldridge, according to Busse, has been focusing too strongly on issues that should be tackled by Congress, such as immigration. The focus, she argues, should be on the needs of the communities in the district.

"He spent the last year advocating for sanctuary state legislation, which ultimately failed, and which tied up the entire state budget process this summer and placed at risk the critical state monies that help even the most unfortunate out," said Busse. "I am opposed to this legislation. While most of us can agree that our nation has a broken immigration system, it is a problem that needs to be solved at the federal level, not by attempting to turn our commonwealth into a 'sanctuary state,' because this puts at risk the safety of our communities.

"The legislation proposed outlined several policies that would tie the hands of law enforcement, the most concerning part being that local law enforcement would not be allowed to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. While some people may think this is a triumph for immigrant families, in actuality ICE performs many functions that help protect all families – immigrant or otherwise – from harmful substances and criminals entering into our communities.

"Our local police officers are not conducting raids in our communities for the sole purpose of rounding up residents that do not have documentation. They are more concerned with drug traffickers and other felons that are distributing deadly opioids. Customs agents are a first line of defense against opioids being imported into the country. Without cooperating with local police they cannot possibly fight the barrage of lethal substances coming through our ports, airfields, and highways. In 2017 ICE confiscated 2,383 pounds of fentanyl, enough to produce up to 1.6 billion doses of the drug. Almost 2,000 families in Massachusetts in 2017 alone have suffered loss. We cannot allow more families feel the sting of losing loved ones to addiction and overdose."

Voters across the district she said talk with her about subjects that fall into three buckets: voters want access to great jobs and schools and strong communities. Spending eight years in Acton's town government, she said she has learned how important it is to proactively seek input from diverse community members.

"My main motivation to run for office was because of the divisiveness that exists in our political process right now," said Busse. "l am passionate about bringing people together to solve our problems and move forward."

Photo Credit: Alexandra Mojica Photography, used on Patch with permission