Reported by us | South Coast

Keating and Macallister differ on offshore wind and nuclear siting in the 9th District race on South Coast ballots

At a WATD forum Oct. 26, the two candidates split on offshore wind and nuclear siting, and both say they oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Federal reports show what each campaign has raised and spent.

By the SC360 Town Hall Desk | Published Oct. 31, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 31, 2026, 1:13 a.m. ET

SOUTH COAST Voters in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Mattapoisett, Marion, Rochester and Wareham will choose between U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, a Bourne Democrat seeking a ninth term, and R. Tyler Macallister, a Mattapoisett Republican in his first race for Congress, on Tuesday, Nov. 3. At a WATD 95.9 FM forum on Monday, Oct. 26, which Keating called their third debate, the two disagreed on offshore wind, nuclear siting and immigration enforcement. Both say they oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

The 9th District takes in 49 cities and towns across the South Coast, the South Shore, Cape Cod and the islands under the congressional map the Legislature drew in 2021. Every precinct in those nine South Coast communities votes in the race, including all 41 in New Bedford. Fall River, Freetown, Somerset, Swansea, Dighton, Rehoboth and Taunton are in the 4th District.

Keating won the Sept. 1 Democratic primary with 81,847 votes, or 77.5%, to 23,671 for Craig Swallow. Macallister was unopposed on the Republican ballot and received 40,104 votes. Keating was first elected to Congress in 2010 and has represented the 9th District since winning it in 2012, most recently beating Republican Dan Sullivan in 2024 with 56.4% of the vote.

Keating told forum listeners he is a former district attorney. Macallister said he has fished commercially since he was 12, holds degrees in marine biology and business and has worked as an energy analyst and broker since 2007, and his campaign says he served five terms on the Mattapoisett Select Board.

Offshore wind

Asked whether offshore wind development should continue off Massachusetts, Macallister said no and called it "an absolute boondoggle." He said he has been out to the wind areas more than 200 times, that the projects have destroyed the ocean bottom and that fishermen no longer fish there. His platform reads, "No industrial wind farms in our fishing grounds," and his campaign site asks that no new project be approved until the money to take its turbines down is posted first, saying a federal approval let Vineyard Wind wait until year 15 of its contract.

Keating said the effects of offshore wind "have been studied and studied" and do not show danger to wildlife, and he pointed to wind farms producing power in Europe. He said Vineyard Wind will produce enough power for 400,000 households and that the Trump administration paid companies $2.7 billion in tax money not to build. Macallister answered that the money returned to developers was their lease fees. Keating's House office energy page says he supports solar and wind power and federal tax incentives that help renewable energy grow on and offshore.

Nuclear power and electric bills

Macallister said affordability starts with energy. He wants federal permits for small modular nuclear reactors cut from 10 years to two and named the Pilgrim site in Plymouth, the Canal plant and New Bedford as places to put them. He said the delivery cost on Massachusetts electric bills has climbed from under 8 cents to more than 21 cents and blamed state green energy mandates.

Keating said both candidates see nuclear power as part of the future, but he opposes picking sites in advance and wants any reactor to go through a full review with public input, citing Plymouth's experience with Pilgrim. He blamed higher prices on tariffs and rising gas and electric costs on the war in Iran, and said Congress should repeal the tariffs and use its war powers.

Fishing and the New Bedford fleet

Asked whether commercial fishing is overregulated, Macallister answered "100%." He said he founded a nonprofit, the Bluefin Collaborative, works with New Bedford's scallop and lobster fleets and helped start an Office of Seafood at the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a meeting in New Bedford in September 2025.

Keating said many fishing rules were written without the industry at the table. He said the first meetings on the Agriculture Department seafood office Macallister described took place in his own office, with a representative of the agriculture secretary. He said he worked with U.S. Sen. Edward Markey so that federal food purchasing would include Atlantic haddock, pollock and redfish bought from local fishermen, and his House office lists a New England fisheries management bill as the first he filed.

Immigration enforcement

Keating called for independent investigations of shootings by ICE agents, congressional oversight and body cameras, and said comprehensive immigration reform would be a priority for him. He said agents are taking people who are in the country legally, citing a man who he said spent four years protecting U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and is now being deported.

Macallister said ICE agents could have made some better decisions and that renewed cooperation on immigration detainers would bring the temperature down. He said New Bedford captains have asked for help making their green card crew members citizens, and that when a captain is willing to sponsor a crew member who is here legally, he is "100% on board with that."

Medicare, Social Security and health costs

Keating said he is an original co-sponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act, which would have higher earners pay Social Security tax above today's cap, and that he opposes means testing. He said the federal tax and spending law he called the "big beautiful bill" will cut Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act help for 74,000 people in the district. His House office page says he opposes cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid in any deficit plan.

Macallister said he would not support cuts to Medicare or Social Security for people who paid into the system, a stand he said may put him "on the wrong side of the aisle." He said Social Security's funding needs a fresh review, compared it with Mattapoisett's work to fully fund retiree health costs, and said limiting drug advertising could bring down prescription prices.

Campaign money

Keating's campaign committee raised $553,690 from Jan. 1, 2025, through Oct. 14, 2026, according to its reports to the Federal Election Commission, which run through Oct. 14 for both campaigns. Individuals gave $307,940 and other political committees, such as political action committees, gave $245,750. The committee spent $758,937, more than it took in, and had $460,620 on hand Oct. 14, down from $665,868 at the start of 2025.

Macallister's committee, which began reporting in July 2025, raised $215,467 through Oct. 14, including $210,254 from individuals, $2,843 from political committees, a $1,005 loan from Macallister and $1,366 in refunds and other receipts. It spent $162,287 and had $53,180 on hand. It reported owing Macallister the $1,005. Neither committee's money after Oct. 14 is counted here.

9th Congressional District campaign money through Oct. 14, 2026 (Federal Election Commission)
Candidate	Raised	From individuals	From political committees	Spent	Cash on hand Oct. 14
Bill Keating, Democrat, Bourne (incumbent), since Jan. 1, 2025	$553,690	$307,940	$245,750	$758,937	$460,620
R. Tyler Macallister, Republican, Mattapoisett, since July 1, 2025	$215,467	$210,254	$2,843	$162,287	$53,180

Polling places for every South Coast town are in SC360's guide to where to vote.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Each candidate's positions come from his own words at the WATD 95.9 FM forum of Oct. 26, as the station's posted video of the full forum records them, from Macallister's campaign site and from Keating's House office issue pages, all read on Oct. 31. Dollar figures come from each committee's reports to the Federal Election Commission. The district's towns come from the Legislature's 2021 congressional map and the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Sept. 1 primary returns, and the candidates as printed come from Mattapoisett's specimen ballot. 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)

This story on the full site