Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) is delighted to announce that our membership has voted to endorse nineteen exciting progressive candidates for the state legislature. Each of these candidates has been selected on the basis of a careful review of their positions on a wide range of issues and on interviews conducted by PDM to establish their strength as candidates. And each of them has received the support of an overwhelming majority of PDM’s sustaining members in our endorsement voting process.
The nineteen are:
Senate Races
Adam Gomez is running against incumbent James Welch in the primary for the Hampden Senate District, which includes Springfield, Chicopee and West Springfield where Welch lives, and where he has focused his attention for years. Adam is a strategic organizer and leader, adept at building alliances to achieve progressive goals. He is all about representing all the people of the district and making people’s voices heard. He is a skilled communicator and has been extremely effective on the Springfield City Council.
Jarred Rose of Stoughton is challenging incumbent Walter Timilty in the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth Senate District. Jarred’s three priorities are the environment, affordable housing and transportation. He is a former legislative aide to Sen. Pat Jehlen and will be a strong progressive voice in a changing district.
Becca Rausch (Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex District, stretching from Wayland to Attleboro) faces a conservative Republican challenger in this purple district. In her first term as Senator, Rausch has already become an effective leader among the Senate progressives, most notably on issues of legislative transparency, women’s rights, and public health.
Meg Wheeler, a Cohasset resident, a newcomer to elected politics, is running in the general election against incumbent Republican Patrick O’Connor for the Plymouth-Norfolk Senate seat. Meg brings to her campaign extensive experience in international tax and investments and entrepreneurship, and a clear commitment to progressive causes. This is a challenging race in a purple district, but O’Connor is a Republican many progressives would like to see replaced.
House Races
Pat Duffy is running for an open seat in a three way primary race for the 5th Hampden District that represents Holyoke. She is a founding member of PDM and been a legislative assistant for Aaron Vega for seven years. She has worked with many community organizations, is smart, thoughtful, understands how the legislature works, and has the skills to achieve progressive goals.
Christina Eckert of Boxford is challenging Republican incumbent Lenny Mirra in the 2nd Essex Senate District to whom she lost by ~ 200 votes in 2018. Christine is a strong environmentalist and staunch progressive, who will rely on her powers of persuasion and organizing skills to effect change.
Andrew Flowers is running against Democrat Ted Phillips for an open seat representing Stoughton, Sharon and Walpole (Norfolk-8). Housing insecure as a child (his working-class family moved some 20 times when he was a child), Andrew is driven to address housing needs as a frontline issue. He heads the Affordable Housing Committee and also serves as vice-chair of the Finance Committee in Walpole and is championing South Coast Rail, the Green New Deal, and transparency. Having worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve and at fivethirtyeight.org earlier in his career, Andrew’s strengths are in data-driven analysis and policy development. HIs opponent Is a political insider who worked for most of his career for the departing incumbent, Rep. Lou Kafka.
Natalie Higgins is a State Rep from Leominster running for re-election against a Republican in a purple district. PDM has endorsed her in her previous two campaigns. She has a law degree from Northeastern and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UMass Amherst, including training in community organizing. She previously worked as a non-profit director at PHENOM and as a rape crisis counselor. She is dedicated to service and advocacy.
Natalie has taken on leadership roles in the House (Vice Chair of the House Committee on Personnel and Administration and a member of the Joint Committee on Ways & Means) while still standing up to the House Speaker when necessary. She is a strong progressive and supports high-quality, affordable public education from pre-K through college; physical and mental health care is a basic human right; access to affordable, high-quality housing for all; a fairer tax system and the Fair Share Amendment; opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurial success; advancing workers’, women’s, and LGBTQ rights; and investing in clean energy technology and actively combating climate change.
Jack Lewis is Chair of the Progressive Caucus and he’s running for a third term in the Middlesex 7th District (Framingham and parts of Ashland). Rep. Lewis has distinguished himself as an effective, collaborative leader who can harness progressive power in the Legislature through the utilization of the amendment process and legislative transparency.
Jordan Meehan is challenging longtime incumbent Kevin Honan (D) for the Allston-Brighton (Suffolk-17) seat. Jordan is young, smart and knowledgeable, super energetic, and very progressive. While Rep. Honan has been supportive of progressive housing issues, Jordan contends that Honan has accomplished little during his tenure and has failed to address the needs of the 85% of the district who are renters. Jordan will push for mixed-income social housing, rent control, zoning reform, the Tenant Bill of Rights, improved transportation, and the Green New Deal. He argues persuasively that his agenda better responds to the needs and better reflects the very progressive views of his district.
Nichole Mossalam is running against incumbent State Rep Paul Donato in a district that includes parts of Malden and Medford. She is the chair of Malden’s Disability Commission, the former co-chair of Our Revolution Massachusetts (Sen. Sanders’ organization), and was the Founding Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford. She lives in Malden with her husband, 3 children, and 2 dogs. Nichole does non-profit administration and consulting work.
She pledges to be an independent and collaborative leader who will put the concerns of families first. Important issues for her are accessibility of public transportation and infrastructure, public education, fair housing, a clean environment, transparency at the State House, a living wage and paid sick leave, and a fair tax system and passing the Fair Share Amendment. She attributes her progressive values to having been homeless as a child and having to file bankruptcy at 21 due to medical bills, among other experiences.
Tram Nguyen is running for re-election against a Republican in a purple district (parts of Andover, North Andover, Boxford, and Tewksbury). PDM endorsed her in her previous campaign where she beat a very conservative, 4-term Republican. She previously worked as a Legal Services Attorney and has seen firsthand how individuals are denied opportunities.
She is focused on making constituents’ voices heard and is the first Vietnamese American woman to be elected to office in Massachusetts. She is a strong progressive and supports the Fair Share Amendment, accountability for elected official, better funding for public education, preserving the environment, equality and inclusion for all, gun violence prevention, making health care more affordable and accessible, investing in transportation, and improving the lives of working families. She is an advocate for racial and economic justice, in part based on her experience as an immigrant and a victim of harassment.
Brandy Fluker Oakley is in a three-way race for an open seat representing Dorchester and Mattapan (Suffolk-12). A native of Mattapan, she is a very impressive, knowledgeable, and progressive young African-American woman, a graduate of Boston Latin, Syracuse University and Emory University Law School. Her career has been grounded in public service: as a third-grade teacher in Baltimore, a union member, and as a public defender in Massachusetts. Brandy currently works as a practicing lawyer and at the Management Center as a trainer of managers of progressive non-profit organizations. Brandy struck us as a leader who will be a forceful and extremely articulate advocate for progressive causes. Her key issues are education, transportation, and criminal justice reform.
Orlando Ramos is running for an open seat in a three way primary for the 9th Hampden District that represents Springfield and Chicopee. He is a very hard worker, dedicated to achieving racial justice and police accountability and making the legislature a more diverse, representative body. He has served as President of the Springfield City Council and worked ten years as a legislative assistant for his state senator in both the house and the senate so has the benefit of knowing how things work in the legislature.
Marianela Rivera was born and raised in Lawrence and she’s challenging State Representative Frank Moran (D) in the Essex 17th (Lawrence, Andover, and Methuen). She’s a former Lawrence School Committee member (first elected 2015, stepped down in 2019 to run for this seat), and also worked for the Lawrence Public Schools as a part-time Physical Therapist (PhD.) both before and during state receivership under State Receiver Jeff Riley. Marianela is thoughtful, empathetic, and an outspoken advocate for public education, affordable housing, and the environment.
Ceylan Rowe of Northborough is in a three way primary race to fill the vacant seat in the 12th Worcester House District. She has received the endorsements of Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep Jack Lewis. As a Muslim-American she is passionate about immigration issues, women’s rights, the environment and education.
Erika Uyterhoeven is running for an open seat — State Representative Denise Provost (D) is not seeking re-election in the Middlesex 27th (Somerville). She is an economist and an organizer on progressive issues (last 10 years). Erika has prioritized housing, public education, climate crisis, and immigration as key legislative issues.
Gretchen Van Ness is running for the seat being vacated by Angelo Scaccia, representing Hyde Park (Suffolk-14). Gretchen is a civil rights lawyer, who has long been active in the LGBTQ community, and was formerly general counsel to progressive Sen. Becca Rausch. Gretchen, who has endorsed the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus’s Ten-Point Plan, is in a challenging primary race against longtime political insider Rob Consalvo as well as a third candidate, Duckens Petit-Maitre. PDM´s endorsement would boost the candidacy of the most effective progressive in the race. While advancing progressive causes in the House, Gretchen intends to focus her efforts in her first term to building transparency, visibility, and accessibility, long absent In Hyde Park.
Damali Vidot is challenging incumbent Democrat Dan Ryan for the Suffolk-2 seat, representing Charlestown and Chelsea. Currently City Council chair, Damali is energetic, progressive, and clear-eyed about the many challenges her district, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, is facing. Damali is a pragmatic problem-solver, someone deeply rooted in her community, and with demonstrated ability to work with different stakeholders. She has pushed for transparency during her tenure on the City Council, beefing up social media, providing live coverage of proceedings, and pushing the Baker administration to publish COVID-related data at the municipal level.
We expect to be recommending additional endorsements to our membership in the coming weeks.
Each of these candidates faces a challenging but winnable race. And a victory for each would make a big difference in strengthening the progressive voices in the legislature.
To help secure their victories, they need our help – both financial and volunteer. You can make contributions to each at the links below as well as sign-up to volunteer for their campaigns.
SENATE
Adam Gomez
Hampden District (Springfield, Chicopee and West Springfield)
Donate: Gomez for State Senate
Jarred Rose
Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol District (Avon, Braintree, Canton, Easton, Milton, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton and W. Bridgewater)
Donate: https://www.jarredrose.com/
Phone Bank or Write Postcards for Jarred Rose
Sign up online at https://www.jarredrose.com/volunteer
Becca Rausch
Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District (Attleboro, Franklin, Millis, Natick, Needham, Norfolk, North Attleborough, Plainville, Sherborn, Wayland, Wellesley, and Wrentham)
Donate https://www.beccarausch.com/#!
Phone Bank, Text Bank, or Write Postcards for Becca Rausch
– Tuesdays and Thursdays @ 5:30-8:00 PM
– Saturdays @ 2:00 PM
Join us in making calls for #TeamBecca! Stay for as little or as long as you can! We will be either calling voters and asking for their support, or recruiting volunteers to help us grow. Whether you’ve never volunteered before or you’re a phonebanking veteran, we’ll make sure you get the training and tools you need. Sign up for a specific shift here!
If you’d like to help out, but you aren’t sure what time, or if you’d like to help by texting or writing postcards, sign up here!
Meg Wheeler
Plymouth, Norfolk District (Cohasset,Duxbury,Hungham,Hull,Marshfield,Norwell,Scituate,Weymouth)
Donate https://www.megwheeler.com/
Phone Bank, Text Bank, or Write Postcards
Phone banking – hop on Zoom with us and make phone calls to voters, you are provided a script and a guide on Meg’s policy positions, Wednesdays at 5:30pm, Sundays at 5:00pm,
Text banking – connect to our Spoke campaign listed on our website, send text messages from your desktop using our script
Writing postcards – sign up for an amount of postcards and if you need stamps, we will send those to you – it’s that simple! We have a virtual postcard party every other Friday.
Call 781-724-3461 or sign up online at www.megwheeler.com/volunteer
HOUSE
Pat Duffy
5th Hampden District (Holyoke)
Donate: https://www.duffyforholyoke.org/
Phone banking Wednesday’s & Thursday’s 6-7:30 pm, Saturday’s & Sunday’s 4-7pm
Safely canvass and literature drop
Sign up online here
Christina Eckert
2nd Essex District (Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, part of Haverhill, Merrimac, Rowley and West Newbury)
Donate https://www.eckertforrep.com/
Phone Bank or Write postcards
Every weekday (M-F) there is a scheduled phone bank from 3:00-5:00pm.
There are also postcarding opportunities, volunteers could write and send postcards on their own time (postage, script, and list will be provided).
Email josh@eckertforrep.com or sign up online at https://www.eckertforrep.com/get-involved
Andrew Flowers
8th Norfolk (Sharon, and parts of Walpole, Stoughton and Mansfield)
Donate: https://andrewflowers.com/
Natalie Higgins
4th Worcester District (Leominster)
Donate: http://www.electnataliehiggins.com/
Phone Bank or Drop Off Literature for Natalie Higgins
Sign up online here!
Jack Lewis
7th Middlesex District (Ashland and parts of Framingham)
Donate: http://electjacklewis.com/
Volunteer http://electjacklewis.com/volunteer/
Jordan Meehan
17th Suffolk District (Allston, Brighton)
Donate https://www.jordanforma.com/
Phone Bank for Jordan Meehan
Tuesday’s & Thursday’s at 5:30-7:30 pm, Saturday’s 3:30-5:30
Sign up online at https://volunteer.jordanforma.com/phone-bank
Nichole Mossalam
35th Middlesex District (Malden and Medford)
Donate https://votemossalam.com/
Phone Bank or do Contactless Canvassing for Nichole Mosssalam
Weekday Contactless Canvass
(Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
11:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: 64 Essex Street, Malden
Join us for a safe “contact-free canvass” as we distribute campaign information to voters
Weekend Phonebank
(Saturday, Sunday)
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Online
Join us online! With this link: https://zoom.us/j/95726375799 and make calls to our
Weekday Phonebank
(Tuesday, Thursday)
4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Online. Join us directly using this link: https://zoom.us/j/92678589221
Volunteers can view and sign up for all these, on our event page. Also, we actively encourage people to check out our Facebook page and website to hear about any information on special events we might be having. Our contact information can be found there but I will list it here as well:
Phone: (339) 224-4324 Email: info@nicholemossalam.com
Tram Nguyen
18th Middlesex District (parts of Andover, Boxford, North Andover and Tewksbury)
Donate: https://www.votetram.com/
Phone Bank or Send Postcards for Tram Nguyen
You can also schedule a dog-walking session with Tram!
Email info@votetram.com or call 978-566-9780
Brandy Fluker Oakley
12th Suffolk District (parts of Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Milton)
Donate: https://www.electbrandy.com/
Volunteer https://www.electbrandy.com/get-involved
Orlando Ramos
9th Hampden District (parts of Chicopee and Springfield)
Donate: https://voteorlandoramos.com/
Phone Bank for Orlando Ramos
Email RamosCommittee@gmail.com or call 413-563-1478
Sign up online at https://voteorlandoramos.com/contact/
Marianela Rivera
17th Essex District (parts of Andover, Lawrence and Methuen)
Donate https://www.riveraforstaterep.com/
Get Out The Vote Rally: Saturday 8/8, 1-3pm EST RSVP here
Email fan.w.leanne@gmail.com to phone bank!
Ceylan Rowe
12th Worcester (Berlin ,Boylston, Clinton, Lancaster, parts of Northborough and parts of Sterling)
Donate: https://www.roweforrep.com/
Volunteer: https://www.roweforrep.com/volunteer
Erica Uyterhoeven
27th Middlesex (Somerville)
Donate: https://www.electerika.com/
Phone Bank
Please consider registering to volunteer remotely by attending one of our bi-weekly phone-banking parties, or signing up for more information regarding (COVID-safe) in-person volunteer opportunities to help the campaign in Somerville. If you have any questions or want to discuss signing up, please reach out to Erika’s Field Director (Jake@ElectErika.com – (617)-800-6434).
Gretchen Van Ness
14th Suffolk District (parts of Hyde Park, Rosalindale and West Roxbury)
Donate: https://www.gretchenvanness.org/
Volunteer: https://www.gretchenvanness.org/join-the-team
Damali Vidot
2nd Suffolk District (Charlestown and Chelsea)
Donate https://www.votedamali.org/
Phone Bank or Drop Off Literature
Sign up online here! or email connect@votedamali.org for more information
By Jake Kinsella