A number of politicians were on the prowl in Union Square in Somerville on Monday, shaking hands and pushing policy.
At Sally O’Brien’s, a pub on Somerville Street, Erika Uyterhoeven and her team set up a campaign event to promote her election bid for the state Senate’s 2nd Middlesex District. Purple signs advertising “Erika,” with a rose icon dotting the “i,” hung in the windows. A microphone was mounted on the low stage. Staff members circulated complimentary appetizers around the room.
The Senate seat has been up for grabs since longtimer Pat Jehlen announced in December that she would not seek reelection.
Uyterhoeven is a Democrat and the current state representative for the 27th Middlesex District. She faces a crowded field vying for the opening, including Cambridge city councillor Burhan Azeem, state representative in the 34th Middlesex district Christine Barber, at-large member of the Winchester Public School Committee Tom Hopcroft and Somerville city councilor Matthew McLaughlin of Ward 1.
At the Sally O’Brien’s event, Uyterhoeven met with locals, heard their concerns and addressed topics such as protecting immigrants from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, affordability issues and legislative transparency.
Uyterhoeven underlined her commitment to protecting immigrants from ICE, mentioning two related bills she helped pass. The Protect Act, which establishes statewide standards for interactions between state and local law enforcement and federal civil immigration enforcement, and the Consumer Data Privacy Act, which bans the sale of the geolocation data used by the agency to target immigrants.
On affordability, Uyterhoeven highlighted her work fighting against the ballooning “delivery charges” that make up more than half of customers’ energy bills from Eversource and National Grid. She calls for an end to uncapped utility delivery charges and wants to require competitive bidding on all energy infrastructure as part of a legislative package designed to counter rising costs levied by local energy monopolies.
When asked which side she favored in a rent control debate – whether she backed the rent control compromise recently endorsed by governor Maura Healey or preferred that the strong version of the initiative head to the ballot – she remained noncommittal.
“I’m just excited that we’re even having this conversation, because rent control is something that we have spent many years organizing and fighting for. So the fact that this question’s even before us is fantastic,” Uyterhoeven said.
Guests at the campaign event included Somerville mayor Jake Wilson. While he formally backs McLaughlin in the race, not Uyterhoeven, he underlined that he accepts as many invitations to events such as these that his schedule allows – and endorsed some free finger food and an Old-Fashioned before moving along to a School Committee meeting that evening.
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