Auchincloss and Stalcup are on the 4th Congressional District ballot Tuesday in Fall River, Taunton and nearby towns
The district stretches from Fall River and Taunton to Newton and Brookline, 35 cities and towns in all.
SOUTH COAST Voters in Fall River, Taunton, Somerset, Swansea, Dighton, Freetown, Berkley, Lakeville, Rehoboth, Seekonk and three Raynham precincts will help choose a member of the U.S. House for the 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The ballot gives them two candidates: Democrat Jake Auchincloss of Newton, who holds the seat and is printed as a candidate for re-election, and Republican Thomas Stalcup of Brookline, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's list of candidates and the City of Taunton's official sample ballot.
The district reaches from those communities north to Newton, Brookline, Needham and Wellesley and northwest to Franklin, Milford and Blackstone, 35 cities and towns in all, the Secretary's precinct returns from the Sept. 1 primary show.
South Coast 360 News asked both candidates the same five questions. The candidates appear below in ballot order. Stalcup's answers run word for word as he emailed them Sunday, Nov. 1, with his spelling as sent, and every claim in them is his.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday under state election law. Polling places and hours in Fall River, Taunton, Somerset, Swansea, Dighton, Freetown and Rehoboth, and what to bring, are in SC360's Election Day guide, and every race on each community's ballot is in our ballot guide.
Jake Auchincloss, Democrat, of Newton
Campaign website: jakeforma.com
Thomas Stalcup, Republican, of Brookline
1. What is the first thing you would work on in this office for people on the South Coast?
I would first work on raising the federal minimum wage to $20/hr immediately, not phased in over time, immediately. Small businesses and others will be able to offset any wage increases with a Payroll Protection Plan (PPP), similar to the program of the same name introduced during Covid.
At the same time, that new minimum wage would be immediately tied to inflation, to prevent inflation from becoming an effective pay cut.
2. What, if anything, would you do in this office about the cost of living here (energy bills, housing, property taxes)?
The wage increase mentioned above will affect other workers earning $20/hr or above right now, by putting pressure on companies to raise wages in order to compete with a higher earning general work force. And this will help the lower and middle class immediately to be able to afford the high prices we are seeing right now.
I would also work across party lines to form a coalition that will, once and for all, pass Medicare For All and force immediate price negotiations with Big Pharma.
In my current town of Brookline, MA, we just passed one of the largest overrides in MA state history, due in large part to the unsustainable costs of health care and prescription drugs. Property taxes can and should be reduced once this health care crisis is finally resolved by following my roadmap above.
3. What is one South Coast issue you think deserves more attention from this office, and what would you do about it?
The South Coast needs far more federal stimulus money than what it currently receives. Right now, immense amounts of federal funds given to MA go to the large universities in Boston and their corporate partners, through HHS, NSF, and the DOD. But, with the rapidly changing technologies and remote capabilities available to everyone, whereever they live, there is no reason why money should must focus solely on communities near and around Boston.
4. How can voters reach you or your campaign before Tuesday?
Please reach out via FaceBook (StalcupForCongress) or email (info@tomstalcup.com).
5. Is there anything else you want South Coast voters to know?
Yes, they should know that I am a scientist, born and raised on Cape Cod. I am a proven problem solver, and I can see that our country is divided, by design. My opponent has been voting party line, and that is what is needed if you want to rise up in the ranks of either party. But Washington doesn't need anymore of those kinds of politicians: carreer politicians. I am the opposite of that. Go ahead and google me, and you will find that I am a fighter, a disrupter, a former Bernie Sanders supporter and now a Progressive Republican who can see the value of both sides, as well as their problems and excesses. We must stop our name calling and divisiveness, and work together to fix things.
The voters should also know that I will continue my battle against misinformation. To see the lengths to which the federal government can go to espouse it, see my campaign page right now. There is a case currently at the 2nd Ciruit, which originated in Boston, that everyone in MA and in the United States should become familiar. See: https://TomStalcup.com
After the polls close
Each city and town releases its own unofficial count after the polls close. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day still count if the local clerk receives them by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, under state election law, so the first numbers Tuesday night may not be the last.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact outside the answers comes from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's candidate list and precinct returns, the City of Taunton's official sample ballot and state election law, listed below. We read them on Nov. 2, 2026. Stalcup's answers are printed word for word as he emailed them on Nov. 1, with his spelling as sent; the two dashes that opened each of his paragraphs are left off. Claims in the answers are his own. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (9)
- Secretary of the Commonwealth: 2026 State Election Candidates (Internet Archive capture of Oct. 13, 2026)Representative in Congress, Fourth District: Jake Auchincloss, Newton, Democratic; Thomas Stalcup, Brookline, Republican. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- City of Taunton: Sample Ballots 11.3.26 General ElectionRepresentative in Congress, Fourth District, in ballot order; Auchincloss printed as a candidate for re-election. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, election statistics: 2026 Fourth Congressional District Democratic primary, precinct returnsThe 35 cities and towns that voted in the district on Sept. 1, including three Raynham precincts. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- General Laws, Chapter 54, Section 64At state elections the polls close at 8 p.m. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- General Laws, Chapter 54, Section 93Mail ballots mailed by a biennial state election day are accepted until 5 p.m. on the third day after. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Jake Auchincloss for Congress (jakeforma.com)Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Stalcup for Congress (tomstalcup.com): answers to SC360's five questions, emailed by the candidate Nov. 1, 2026Received 5:25 p.m. Nov. 1, 2026. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- SC360: Election Day Tuesday, poll hours and what to bringRead Nov. 2, 2026.
- SC360: What's on your ballot Nov. 3, town by townRead Nov. 2, 2026.