PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire County saw a population decrease of 1.7% over the past 10 years, according to the 2020 Census. That means, as the State Legislature finalizes the redistricting process, the county is set to lose one of its seats in the State House of Representatives.

“It’s really no surprise, we kind of saw this day coming,” said Representative Smitty Pignatelli of the 4th Berkshire district. “I mean, 10 years ago we really scrambled to maintain four Berkshire seats. We knew that would be very difficult.”

What You Need To Know

  • Berkshire County will lose one of its four seats in the state House of Representatives

  • The 2nd Berkshire District, represented by Paul Mark, is expected to be the seat which gets cut

  • Mark could run for state senate, avoiding the possibility of running against an incumbent

  • The remaining Berkshire representatives say they’ll work together to maintain the county’s voice on Beacon Hill

The three remaining districts will likely be those currently held by John Barrett, Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Pignatelli.

All three representatives are disappointed to lose a seat, and emphasized the need to work together to make sure the region still has a strong voice on Beacon Hill.

“We have years and years of experience,” said Barrett, who represents the 1st Berkshire district. “And we do have some good relationships that have been built up over these years with the leadership and also importantly the administration itself.”

“We have a great reputation, all over the Berkshires in every sector, of working collaboratively,” said Farley-Bouvier, who represents the 3rd Berkshire district, and also serves on the redistricting committee. “We work collaboratively with the rest of Western Mass. And we’re going to keep doing that work.”

Representative Paul Mark’s district, the 2nd Berkshire, is likely to disappear. However, some of his colleagues expect he’ll run for state senate, if current state senator Adam Hinds decides to run for lieutenant governor.

“If he stayed there and tried to stay in the House, he’d be running against me or Rep. Barrett or Rep. [Natalie] Blais,” said Pignatelli of Mark’s future. “So I think if Adam Hinds decides what he’s been speculated to do, and Paul Mark jumps into the senate race, I think it makes the redistricting process a tremendously easier process to undertake.”

The legislature has a deadline of Nov. 8 to finalize the new map, but there is optimism they’ll have it done by the end of the month.