2020 Election Watch: Massachusetts Primaries
While everyone’s focus has been on the presidential race (hello DNC and RNC) primary season is still underway and dozens of states are determining which down-ballot candidate will represent them this November.
On Sept. 1, eleven RFS candidates are on the ballot in Massachusetts, ready to shake up the status quo and bring new progressive leadership to office. While Massachusetts is traditionally seen as a fairly progressive state, these new crop of talented hopefuls are looking to push the envelope, emphasizing burgeoning issue areas like gentrification, student debt, police reform, and voter suppression. Here are a few examples:
Jordan Meehan is a queer activist and lawyer advocating for legislative solutions to help homeless youth, reform the juvenile justice system, build safe school environments for LGBTQ youth, and pass a new Green Deal.
Nichole Mossalam is a mother and Founding Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford, running to bring more diversity to the State House and focus on the intersectionality of race and economic opportunities.
Dr. Marianela Rivera is a pediatric physical therapist who has dedicated her career to providing culturally competent care in her hometown — she plans on using her first-hand knowledge to help provide accessible healthcare to constituents in her district.
Each of these candidates is phenomenal in their own right and they are committed to building real progressive power in Massachusetts, come hell or high water. Take a look at all eleven candidates below and (as always) if you have to go to the polls, make sure you cast your ballot safely (masks up everyone!)
MASSACHUSETTS
Andrew Flowers
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 8th Norfolk, MA
Andrew is running because we need a fresh infusion of bold leaders on Beacon Hill — leaders with both expertise and backbone to confront the urgent problems we face. His background as an economist and local leader makes him uniquely qualified for this moment.
Andrew grew up in a working-class family that struggled, moving more than 20 times, across five states, before graduating from high school. His parents went bankrupt twice. As a teenager, Andrew worked for his dad’s janitorial business, rising before dawn to clean office buildings and retail stores before racing to school.
After graduating from the University of Chicago, he now has more than a decade of experience in economics, including five years at the Federal Reserve during the last major recession. Recently, he was an economist at Indeed.com, the world’s largest jobs site. He lives in Walpole with my wife Anna and their two little kids. In Walpole, he is Vice Chair of the Finance Committee and Chair of the affordable housing committee.
Andrew will push for progressive solutions to climate change, transportation, and racial injustice. But we can’t fix these problems until we fix the State House. It’s broken, plagued by inertia and complacency. To start, Andrew will fight to radically improve transparency.
As an economist, Andrew has the expertise. As a progressive, he has the backbone. He won’t settle for the status quo. And neither should you.
Catia Sharp
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 27th Middlesex District, MA
Catia is running to represent Somerville’s 27th Middlesex District in the Massachusetts General Court to put people first and address the root causes of problems. Catia loves Somerville for its vibrancy and sense of community, and has lived here for her entire adult life.
Catia’s passion for service began at the dinner table watching her father counsel low-income criminal defendants. She understands Somerville’s biggest challenges through life experience, as a long-time renter and as a kid whose parents went through bankruptcy to discharge medical debt after a tragic accident. If elected, Catia seeks to address a crisis of housing affordability; invest in safe and reliable transportation; and reduce environmental pollution and climate change.
Catia holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In her career as a public servant, Catia has created programs to end homelessness and create mental health and substance use programming that can prevent unnecessary arrest and hospitalization.
This work guides her belief that with the right programs and bold leadership, government can better reflect the community’s highest ideals, and foresees a future for Somerville and Massachusetts that is equitable and just.
Courtney M. Madden, Esq.
Norfolk County Register Of Probate, MA
Courtney is an attorney, non-profit executive, and advocate with the skills and experience to innovate and reimagine Family and Probate Court. Courtney is running for Norfolk County Register of Probate because this is about home and home matters.
Presently, Courtney is leading New Leaders Council, the country’s largest progressive leadership training program, where she is tasked with building partnerships and overseeing operations in 50 sites across 30 states. Always seeking a collaborative approach, Courtney is a founder and chair of the National Pipeline Table, a coalition of over 25 organizations supporting rising leaders. Her unique set of skills in management, empowerment, and collaboration partnered with her legal background make Courtney stand out as the right leader for Norfolk County. Courtney plans to scale digital infrastructure and investments in e-filing systems, build partnerships that infuse trauma-informed services for successful outcomes inside and outside of the courtroom, and increase accessibility to all platforms and programming.
Erika Uyterhoeven
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 27th Middlesex District, MA
Erika is running to fight for a government that works for the many, not the few. As an organizer, an antitrust economist, a democratic socialist, and a proud daughter of a single mother, Erika understands both the struggles working people face and the mechanisms by which corporations take control of our government to rig the rules in their favor.
Erika co-founded Act on Mass, a nonprofit dedicated to activating grassroots organizers and voters to hold the Massachusetts State House accountable on progressive issues.
Helina Fontes
Massachusetts Governor’s Council, District 6, MA
Helina is running for Governor’s Council, because she wants to improve diversity in the Massachusetts judicial system. With a background in mental health, non-profits, and human services, Helina has seen the negative effects of the current judicial system firsthand.
Through her personal and professional experiences, Helina would bring new ideas to a Governor’s Council that desperately needs new perspectives, given that it is primarily made up of private practice attorneys, and lacks any racial, economic and professional diversity.
Helina’s main issues are ensuring that justice, clerk and parole board appointments are vetted through a more holistic criterion, and increasing general public involvement in the Governor’s Council Voting process. Helina’s philosophy of appointment is centered around the idea that appointees should represent and reflect the communities in which they serve, and demonstrate their commitment to a more just society. Meanwhile, her pledge to inform the community stems from the underlying theme of the campaign, that a fair judicial system is reflective of the society in which it serves.
Jarred Rose
Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth District, MA
Jarred had been dissatisfied for a long time with what has, or hasn’t, been happening in this district. Our environment is a mess & in need of champions. Housing is extremely expensive & not realistically available to many. Our MBTA/commuter rail trains are literally on fire on a regular basis. And no one seemed to care.
Jarred is running to be the one who cares. He grew up in Mass, attended all public schools, & went to UMass Amherst for his degree. He worked at the State Senate for years as an aid. Jarred lives with his wife, Lynne, in Stoughton with two shelter cats who run their house.
Jordan Meehan
Massachusetts House of Representative, Suffolk 17, MA
Jordan Meehan is an activist, a lawyer, and a renter. He’s running for State Representative in Massachusetts to fight for housing justice, to fix our public transit system, and for a Green New Deal for Massachusetts. Jordan works for the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, where he advocates for policy and legislative solutions to help homeless youth, reform our juvenile justice system, and build safe and supportive school environments for LGBTQ youth. Jordan is the former Chair of the Massachusetts Sierra Club’s Political Committee and is a member of 350 Mass for a Better Future and Boston DSA.
Mike Dooley
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 12th Norfolk District, MA
Born and raised in Norwood, Mike is a Democratic candidate for State Representative of the 12th Norfolk District which covers Norwood and precincts 1, 2, 6, and 7 of Walpole. Mike has served as an elected Representative Town Meeting member for District 7 in Norwood since 2018. He has been a member of the Norwood Democratic Town Committee for 5 years and has been active in politics since he was 10. In high school, Mike founded the Neponset Valley Young Democrats and helped elect Democrats all over Bristol and Norfolk County. Mike currently serves as the Membership and Outreach Director for the Young Democrats of Massachusetts. In this role, he oversees membership growth as well as the caucuses of the organization, such as the Black Caucus, Labor Caucus, LGBTQ+ caucus, and Veteran’s Caucus. Mike is a proud K-12 product of Norwood Public Schools and is working towards a B.A in Education Administration from the University of Massachusetts — Boston.
Mike believes the first job of a State Representative is to be active in the community they represent, and to see and hear what matters most to their constituents. The 12th Norfolk District deserves an enthusiastic Representative who is full of energy and eager to bring progressive ideas to the forefront. The Commonwealth must be leading the way on transparency, education, and the climate crisis, and Mike is uniquely positioned to fight for these causes.
Nichole Mossalam
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 35th Middlesex, MA
Nichole is running for State Representative because the Massachusetts state legislature has failed to address the urgent challenges that so many people are facing. She is a mother of three, organizer, and community advocate who knows what it’s like to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck. Nichole overcame growing up in poverty, homelessness, medical debt, and lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Nichole is the chair of Malden’s Disability Commission and the Founding Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford. She serves as an Advisory Board member of Voter Choice MA (VCMA) and the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA). She has served as co-chair of Our Revolution, a state-wide progressive advocacy organization, where she helped create a firm foundation in the organization’s first year, build an inclusive environment for activists, and support local chapters in their advocacy of issues that strengthen their communities.
Nichole has served her community by focusing on her non-profit administration and consulting work, and volunteering in various community roles. There, and in her own life, she sees how the issues of affordable housing, equitable healthcare access, public transportation, and more affect people’s everyday lives. She brings tested experience to the table to build a better future.
Dr. Marianela Rivera
Massachusetts House of Representatives, Essex 17 District, MA
Marianela is a pediatric physical therapist and social justice advocate who has dedicated her career to providing culturally competent care in her hometown. Her experiences in healthcare and special education revealed systemic issues that were impacting her patients, students, and clients. The most alarming of her experiences was witnessing the state of education in the Lawrence Public Schools under receivership. Determined to make the changes her students desperately needed, Marianela ran and won a last-minute sticker campaign for the Lawrence School Committee. She was elected Vice Chair during her second term and dedicated her public service to providing civic education, empowering her community members, and fighting for education justice.
Marianela’s grassroots efforts helped organize parents, teachers, students, activists, and concerned citizens to save public education during the “No on 2” campaign and the Fund Our Future campaign that led to the passing of the Student Opportunity Act. She is currently working in special education and remains dedicated to equity work as she shifts her focus towards running for state representative. She aspires to serve the communities of Lawrence, Andover, and Methuen by collaboratively creating solutions that improve the quality of our lives. With her knowledge and experience, Marianela desires to unify experts in all areas, especially in the healthcare and education fields, to guide policies that positively impact our communities. She hopes to bring her expertise and much needed perspective to the State House.
Tamisha L. Civil
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 6th Norfolk District, MA
Tamisha is running for State Representative for the 6th Norfolk District. She is a mother and wife who works as an Associate Probation Officer and a Legal Advocate for a domestic violence shelter. She attended Johnson & Wales University and graduated with a B.S. in Marketing. Tamisha was fortunate to attend and graduate from Northeastern University with a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Leadership.
Tamisha created and hosts a radio broadcast that focuses on social issues impacting people in the community. ‘Voice of Reason Boston’ provides a platform for community leaders and organizations in Greater Boston communities to spread awareness and advocate for resources.
Tamisha was reappointed on January 1, 2020, as Commissioner for the Eastern Regional Commission on the Status of Women. She’s currently a Girl Scout Troop Leader in Stoughton, a member of the Parent Council Committee at Joseph R. Dawe, Jr. Elementary School, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Tamisha’s drive and passion for others makes her an ideal candidate to represent your District.
