As the 2024 primaries approach, incumbent 2nd Plymouth District Representative Susan Williams Gifford, touts an “impressive” voting record, according to her office, having participated in 98% of the votes cast in the 2023-24 legislative session. 

Those votes include those cast in opposition to the state’s sheltering of migrants, in opposition to the state’s gun reform laws and in support of tax relief for Massachusetts residents. 

Gifford holds a degree in business administration from Western Michigan University, and was first elected as a representative in 2002 after a career as an insurance consultant. A long-time resident of Wareham, along with her husband Mark, she served on the Select Board for three years before becoming a legislator. 

“People want a representative who will spend tax dollars wisely and makes sure government lives within its means just like you and I have to do,” Gifford said during the 2018 election cycle. “Over the years, I have made one promise to the people of the Second Plymouth district: I will represent you to the best of my ability.”

In this most recent legislative session, Gifford’s votes supported health-care reform, veterans’ benefits, tax relief, data privacy protections, Second Amendment rights, prescription access, anti-stalking protection and animal welfare. 

Gifford has advocated for reforms to the state’s emergency assistance family shelter system, aimed at prioritizing homeless Massachusetts residents and veterans over migrants and controlling the costs of the state’s emergency family assistance program. 

She also opposed the state’s gun reform bill, calling it a “solution without a problem” and seeing it as a threat to the Second Amendment rights of the state’s lawful gun owners. 

Gifford’s priorities this legislative session have also included:containing costs within the healthcare system, protecting the privacy of patients accessing reproductive care and abortion counseling and expanding benefits for Massachusetts’ veterans and service members. 

“I urged the Healey-Driscoll Administration to take steps to stem the flow of migrants, which has pushed the shelter system to its limits and strained municipal resources,” said Gifford. “I will continue to put the residents of Carver, Middleboro, and Wareham first.”

Representative Gifford did not respond to requests for an interview by email and by phone.