Boxborough resident runs for Congress

In this small town of just 5,000 residents, one person here has had enough of what he describes of the inefficiencies of Congress.

Kurt Hayes, 40, is hoping to be the next 5th District congressman, and he’s not intimidated by the candidates who hail from communities with populations up to 20 times the size of his hometown.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” said Hayes, who has lived in Boxborough for four years with his wife, Debbie, and three children. “Somebody ought to do something.”

Hayes is one of three independents joining the list of five Democrats and two Republicans seeking to replace the departing U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan in the Oct. 16 election.

Hayes, who works for IBM in software sales, believes his skills dealing with customers help him relate to voters in a way politicians can’t.

“I’ve never run for office — this is truly one of those things where a citizen of the people decides to run for the people’s house,” he said. “A lot of people are saying we have enough qualified politicians and lawyers in there. It would be nice to get someone else in there with a common sense business approach.”

Hayes’ current objective is obtaining the 2,000 signatures necessary to become an official candidate. Since he announced his intentions at Fifer’s Day on June 16, he has obtained 600 signatures and expects to be the first name on the ballot.

“I’ve been doing glamorous things, like going to the South Acton train station, talking to people on cars, getting my name out there. And I’m getting signatures. Because I don’t have an ideology, I’m not worried about who’s been contributing money or special interests. I’m just giving straightforward answers on how I feel,” he said. “I really do think as I get out there and talk with more people, the majority will identify with me and feel I can best represent them.”

Hayes believes 52 percent of the 5th District is comprised of independent voters, many of whom he says take a similar political approach as himself.

“The majority of people that consider themselves independents do not necessarily feel that either side really represents them,” he said. “They don’t have an ideology. They look at things issue by issue.”

In regard to one of the country’s largest issues, the war in Iraq, Hayes said there are no easy answers.

“It’s an easy sound bite: get our guys home, that’s how we best serve our military,” he said. “But looking at history, if we just pack up our bags and go home, that really does send a message to terrorists that they can beat us — [that] we don’t have the will to stay.” 

Hayes believes the conservative and liberal viewpoints on the war should be one and the same.

“Most people would agree if we leave now there’s going be massacre and slaughter like we’ve never seen, and then that’s going to be largely on us,” he said. “That doesn’t seem like a liberal view — that we want to go home and let people, because they are a minority, end up getting slaughtered.”

On the subject of illegal immigration, Hayes believes it is necessary to uphold the rule of the law.

“The reality of it is if people break the law in this country there has to be consequences,” he said.

He believes there should be a database law officials can consult to check the legal status of people they encounter in their routine operations, such as traffic stops, which would allow illegal immigrants to be identified and deported without having to search for them explicitly.

Hayes believes allowing illegal immigrants to hold the most undesirable and underpaid jobs in society is a form of exploitation, not compassion.

According to Hayes, much of the problem lies within the process itself.

“If people do come here legally, there’s no reason it should take years and years like it does. If a business ran like that, they wouldn’t survive,” he said.

On other issues, Hayes supports civil unions and believes marriage should be a heterosexual institution. He is against a government-run universal healthcare system and instead believes the government should partner with the private sector.

Hayes acknowledged independent candidates struggle with funding, but has faith that his common sense approach will appeal to the common voter.

“I truly believe once they see I’m real, that I’m a candidate they can identify with, funding will start to come in,” he said. “It may be $25, $50 dollars at a time, but we’ve seen with past Internet campaigns that true grassroots campaigns can work.”

Co-worker Lyndsay Dowd, IBM Software Account Manager, also believes Hayes’ business skills will benefit his candidacy.

“IBM is much like the government in its size and opportunity for bureaucracy,” she said. “Kurt has the ability to navigate through everything smoothly, and is always willing to jump right in and tackle the problem.

“I’d love to see him in Congress,” she added. “He’d be a breath of fresh air.”

Although Hayes decided to run because he believes special interests have corrupted true representation, he made it clear his campaign is not merely symbolic.

“I’m not running to make a statement,” he said. “Congress’ approval rating is lower than the president’s right now. I think, the way the country is feeling — they’re tired of this two party bickering, and they’re going to support more independents.”

Hayes theorizes public disdain for partisan politics will have substantial influence over the party balance in Congress.

“You could see 20 or 30 independents in the house in 2008, and then the Democrats and Republicans will truly have to work with them,” he said. “If you’ve got 20, 25 independents in there, both sides will have to work together and we can get more agreement in the middle as opposed to always fighting out the agenda on the left and right.”