Since state Rep. Dylan Fernandes announced early this month that he will run for state Senate next year, only one candidate has made a public bid for his seat. The seat has been held by a Democrat for at least 35 years but the GOP is determined to get a candidate on the ballot.

Thomas Moakley, an assistant district attorney who handles criminal cases in Edgartown court, is the first person to publicly say they will be running for the Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District state representative seat in the 2024 election.

State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Falmouth Democrat who represents the Island in the statehouse, announced Thursday he is planning to run for a seat that serves parts of Cape Cod and Plymouth County in the 2024 election.

A tightly contested race for Dukes County sheriff and a wide-open race for the Dukes County Commission are among the choices Island voters will face in the state’s primary election Sept. 6.

When Joe Solmonese was hired as CEO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention a little over a year ago, he knew that there were going to have to be some changes.