Paul Fullen, a Worcester firefighter, looks for rematch against Rep. LeBoeuf

WORCESTER — A 25-year veteran of the Worcester Fire Department, Paul Fullen of Worcester, said that he loves his community within the state House district that he is looking to represent by challenging State Rep. David H.R. LeBoeuf. 

"I really like this district. I like this state," Fullen said. "I want to help working families, I think I relate most to working families out of any candidate."

Fullen, 51, is running as a Republican for the 17th Worcester District. This is Fullen's second time running for the seat after losing in the general election against LeBoeuf, a Worcester Democrat, when he was first elected in 2018. 

Fullen lives near Hadwen Park, previously resided in Quinsigamond Village and grew up on College Street. 

Before becoming a firefighter, Fullen was a welder and served in the U.S. Navy during Operation Desert Storm. Fullen said he would often work additional jobs while being a firefighter such as in construction.   

For the past 12 years Fullen has been a lieutenant supervising a firetruck responding to various emergencies. 

As a father of seven kids, Fullen said his family knows what it means to work and to struggle financially in the district. He hopes he can bring in new ideas to help families to the state House. 

"If you look at the state Legislature, it is pretty much a one-party legislature. I can bring in new ideas," Fullen said. "There's something like, 'Why can't we have a good-faith thing like suspending the gas tax?' for starters."

Along with suggesting a gas-tax suspension, Fullen referenced rising gas prices, high inflation and shortages of baby formula.  

Curb regulations, taxes

In order to support businesses so they can create jobs, Fullen said that the state government should reduce regulations and lower taxes for businesses. 

Public safety and providing resources to public safety agencies is another key issue for Fullen. 

"I know the resources that are needed, and we should stop talking about defunding police," Fullen said, "And just get everybody — first responders, police, fire —get 'em what they need and let them do their jobs. Public safety over politics."

As the nation reels from the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead, debate over how to prevent such shootings has been renewed. Fullen said that everything should be done to make schools safe and safeguards should be in place at schools if a perpetrator were to enter one. 

"If I was state rep., I'd visit every school in this district and make sure that these things were in place," Fullen said. "Why can't we have special police that their specific job is to be in schools, not as a detail but as their job?"  

With parents' groups nationwide and in Central Massachusetts demanding to have more oversight on curriculum and education, particularly on the matter of education about race in the U.S. and sex education, Fullen said he intends to be an advocate for parental rights as a state representative.  

Advocate for parental rights

"I would be a strong advocate for parents, parental rights. I think they're the first and foremost teachers of their children, above anything else," Fullen said. "There's things you see in the news where they hide things from parents. That should never, ever be the case."

Fullen said children are instructed not to tell their parents about what they are being taught in schools. When the matter of sexual orientation was brought up, Fullen questioned if sexual orientation should be a subject in schools when children are not doing well enough in math and sciences. 

On the ongoing housing crisis in the state, Fullen said taxes and inflation hurt the buying power of residents and make rent payments more difficult. He said more jobs with better wages would make housing more affordable.    

When asked about abortion following the leak of the draft Roe v. Wade opinion for the Supreme Court and how he would approach any future developments, Fullen said that he will wait for the matter to come up in the state House.

Hazard for public safety

LeBoeuf was arrested in late April for drunken driving in Quincy, where he was stopped after reports of driving erratically. A day after the arrest, LeBoeuf apologized for his behavior and said he would seek treatment for addiction. On May 17, LeBoeuf said he is in an outpatient program that allows him to perform his duties as a state representative and that he will continue to run for re-election. 

Fullen said that he hopes LeBoeuf gets the help he needs. However, he said LeBoeuf's actions could have hurt others. 

"I'm a firefighter. Firefighters risk their lives every day that they work for the public," Fullen said. "What David LeBoeuf did was he put public safety in jeopardy."

On the matter of whether LeBoeuf should still be serving, Fullen said that will be a matter for voters to decide. He added that he would have decided to run in the district regardless of LeBoeuf's arrest.     

In 2020, LeBoeuf skated to victory in the 17th Worcester District with no candidate challenging him from the Republican Party. When asked how he could appeal to voters in his district, Fullen said that he does not believe working for struggling families is necessarily an issue solely in the domain of either political party.    

The 17th Worcester District includes a part of Worcester and a part of Leicester. Following redistricting, it has been listed by the state as a majority-minority opportunity district.   

Along with LeBoeuf, Harvard school teacher Michelle Keane of Worcester submitted enough signatures to appear on the ballot as a Democrat. Keene said in mid-May that she had not fully decided whether to launch a campaign for the seat.