In the race to fill state Rep. Rachel Kaprielian's seat in Middlesex's 29th legislative district, two candidates emerged early that naturally appealed to different constituencies in the district. Julia Fahey, an attorney with the National Association of Government Employees, is said to be well tied into the voters that have lived in the [img_assist|nid=267|title=Stephen Corbett|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=116|height=180]district for generations because her connection to organized labor and her family's involvement in local politics. 

Jonathan Hecht, a Watertown councilor and a senior human rights researcher at Yale Law School, is a progressive and cerebral candidate that appeals to voters that are new to the district.

But there is a third candidate in the race that local Democrats say shouldn't be counted out, some who could appeal to the widest range of Democrats in the district. He is Stephen Corbett, a Watertown councilor at large and owner of a small construction business.

Corbett may be positioned in the race in a place where he could surprise people. Unlike Hecht and Fahey, who are both fairly progressive, Corbett sees himself as appealing to both working class, more rooted parts of the community and some of the younger voters in the district.

"I see my strength as being a man of the people I can relate to the moderate and the middle class on a wide spectrum of issues," he said.

And that message is already resonating in the community. Corbett did a mass mailing last week that has people talking.

"A lot of the voters were asking for some background on the candidates themselves," said Mel Poindexter, a Watertown resident and member of the Democratic State Committee. "Corbett's mailing sort of gave a snapshot resume of his background which was very good. It initiated questions from a lot of the voters so they could do more one and one with the candidates themselves."

Poindexter said many voters were impressed by the mailer and that Corbett has kicked off his campaign well. The next step will be candidate forums, which the town committees are beginning to arrange, so voters can learn more about the candidates.

On the issues, Corbett says solving economic problems is the most important facing the community.

"I consider myself pretty fiscally conservative," he said. "And I think I'd like to keep an eye on fiscal responsibility, restraint and how money is spent."

"The most critical issue is we have to increase revenue sharing from the state to the municipalities," he added. Corbett said he knows the budget is crunched from his work on the town council and said the tight finances have put an increased strain on local services.

"We have to do more," he said. "We have to fight for more revenue sharing. It's hurting education and services across the board."

Education is another issue on which Corbett plans to campaign. He said he is ready to fight to "reverse the trend in school funding" and that "education is the highest priority."

Corbett also touched on infrastructure and said he believes he has a unique perspective on these issues as a contractor. "We are facing huge problems down the line in terms of infrastructure," he said. "The government doesn't do what it should in terms of maintaining public buildings and lands."

For his campaign team, Corbett is relying on his supporters from his previous races. In 2003, Corbett lost by three votes in a recount for an at large seat on the council. In 2005, he returned to win by a comfortable margin and increased that margin in 2007.

"I have a pretty good base of support from my previous races," he said. "We have a lot of volunteers and we are going to try to raise whatever money we can."

Corbett said he recognizes that he's running an underdog campaign and doesn't expect to gain union support or raise large sums of money. Currently, his campaign headquarters is his house. "We are going to run a true grassroots campaign," he said. "We're going to knock on doors, make phone calls, send mailings. It won't be a huge budget and I don't have a target on it."

Corbett also acknowledges the emphasis a sticker campaign, where voters must place stickers or write in a candidate's name to cast their ballot, places on campaign organization. It called a sticker campaign a "very different animal" and said it "really makes you get out, talk to voters and tell them what they have to do at the polls."

But, he said, he'll continue to rely on hard work and a carefully organized grassroots campaign to make up the difference.

"I don't see any real magic to it," he said.