NORTH ATTLEBORO - Like a lot of candidates for office, Matt Trowbridge says he can identify with laid-off workers, but in his case, he really means it.

Trowbridge says he has been laid off from two jobs in the past 1 1/2 years, so he knows how it feels to struggle to make ends meet.

The need to improve the economy and attract jobs and businesses to Massachusetts and the local areas is one of the reasons he says he is running for state representative.

"I want to do something about unemployment at a higher level," the 23-year-old Democrat said. "We need to entice industry and business to expand their businesses in our district."

Trowbridge will formally announce his intention next week to run against state Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro. He said he will campaign on a theme of the district's need for a representative who is willing to work with all sides, rather than rely on excessive partisanship.

"Party lines need to be crossed," he said.

Currently working in a temporary job as a data base administrator, Trowbridge said support "has been coming out of the woodwork" for his campaign.

All of Trowbridge's e-mail messages have a quote from the late President Lyndon Johnson that states:

"The American city should be a collection of communities where every member has a right to belong. This is what man sought at the dawn of civilization. It is what we seek today."

He said he uses the quote because it sums up his political philosophy.

He said communities are more than towns where people live. They are places where people come together to work toward improving the place where they live.

"A community is so much more than a group of people who happen to live in the same town," he said.

His announcement will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 22 at Box Seats restaurant at Tower Square on Route 1.

JIM HAND covers politics for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.