Frank Hatch authored the Hatch Act, Massachusetts’ landmark wetlands protection law, in 1965.
Mr. Hatch was the former chairman of the Conservation Law Foundation, and honorary board member of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
Mr. Hatch was the son of Francis W. Hatch and Marjory Kennard Hatch, was born May 6, 1925 in Cambridge, Mass. Educated at Noble and Greenough School and Harvard College, he was consecutively a reporter for the Minneapolis Star & Tribune, Vice President of Suburban Centers Trust and Mutual Life Insurance Co. In 1957, he was elected to the first of three terms as alderman for Beverly, Mass. He resigned from business to become a full-time legislator upon his election as state representative from the third Essex [County, Mass.] district in 1962, a position he held until 1978. He served as Republican floor leader from 1971 to 1978.
He announced his candidacy for governor of Massachusetts on October 27, 1977 denouncing Dukakis on taxes, auto insurance, food stamps. Hatch said that he is willing to listen, tell it like it is, and make tough decisions. That he wishes to shed the ‘taxachusetts’ label and restore credibility in state government. He stated the importance of reducing taxes and bringing money down to cities from the state level.
At the Republican convention in May 1978, he lost the nomination to Edward J. King, but won over King in the September primary. He was defeated in the general election in November by Edward F. King, the former director of Massport, who had defeated incumbent governor Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary.
See: Center for Reproductive Rights Honoring the Memory of Founding Board Member Francis W. Hatch
See: Wikipedia
See: WGBH Video Republican gubernatorial candidates Frank Hatch, Ed King, and John Buckley make campaign presentations to voters in Newton. Each candidate talks his record and about reaching out to minority communities in Massachusetts.