WESTBOROUGH/SOUTHBOROUGH – State Rep. Carolyn Dykema, whose district includes parts of Westborough and all of Southborough, announced this week that she will resign her position effective Feb. 11.
Dykema, who has spent 13 years in the state House of Representatives, will be taking a job at Boston-based clean energy company Nexamp, according to State House News.
“While this is an exciting opportunity and a promising new chapter, it is bittersweet leaving a role I’ve loved and the wonderful people I’ve been so grateful to serve,” Dykema wrote in a statement shared on social media.
Career spans decades
A Holliston resident, Dykema got her start in politics over 20 years ago as a member of the Holliston Wastewater Committee between 2000 and 2003. She served on her town’s Planning Board before then winning her way into the legislature in 2008.
Dykema thanked her 8th Middlesex District constituents in her statement.
“I’ve been incredibly proud to be your State Representative,” she said. “Your welfare and wellbeing have always been at the center of my work. You trusted me to represent you, and I hope I earned that trust every day.”
Dykema will be serving as Nexamp’s Northeast Policy Director in her new position.
Meanwhile, her district will temporarily be without House representation as voters wait to choose her successor.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano has the option to call a special election to fill open seats before this year’s planned November election. But he would not say whether he would take that step in comments made last month.
News follows other announcements
This marks the latest in a series of major shakeups in the local state legislative delegation.
Sen. Harriette Chandler announced just last week that she will be retiring once her current term ends next year.
Chandler, who entered the legislature in 2001, served as senate president between 2017 and 2018. Her district has long included part of Northborough.
Redistricting following the 2020 census will reshape Chandler’s district ahead of the election to replace her this fall.
It will also take Westborough and Southborough out of Dykema’s 8th Middlesex District to create the new 19th Worcester District.
Voters in Southborough and Westborough, therefore, may vote to select Dykema’s successor if Mariano indeed calls a special election this year.
If he opts to wait, though, redistricting will take effect and local voters will simply be asked to weigh in as members of the 19th Worcester District.
Local community activist Kate Donaghue has already announced her candidacy for that open seat.
RELATED CONTENT
Westborough’s Kate Donaghue announces campaign for new state representative seat
State Sen. Harriette Chandler will not seek reelection
