Wu canvasses with Lander
State Senate candidate Daniel Lander begins canvassing Cambridge on Thursday with a star endorser: Boston mayor Michelle Wu.
Lander, running for the Suffolk and Middlesex District state Senate seat against 14-year incumbent Will Brownsberger, was a senior aide to Wu for more than four years, and she endorsed him June 22. (He also worked on Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, and Warren endorsed him June 14.) The kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. outside the Star Market at 699 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge, after which volunteers canvass in Cambridge, Belmont and Watertown, the campaign said Wednesday.
Cambridge mayor Sumbul Siddiqui became another Lander endorser this month. “He knows Cambridge, understands the needs of our district and has dedicated his career to fighting for working people. He understands that the affordability crisis is one of the defining challenges facing families across the district, and he has already made a real difference through his work as an organizer,” she said July 15.
Nonprofit for Brownsberger
Will Brownsberger, meanwhile, was endorsed for reelection in the Suffolk and Middlesex District by the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund on July 7. “Brownsberger has consistently advanced policies that strengthen climate resilience and support a cleaner energy future,” said Casey Bowers, executive director of the nonprofit, calling issues of environmental justice, public health, transportation, and energy policy inextricably linked. “His leadership on building decarbonization, grid modernization and clean-energy technologies will help Massachusetts continue making progress toward its climate goals.”
Matt seeks Matt’s Good Will
State Senate candidate Matt McLaughlin asks Matt Damon for an endorsement in a YouTube video released Wednesday. McLaughlin is a 14-year Somerville city councilor running in the 2nd Middlesex District, and his argument is that as a working-class candidate, he has parallels with the character Damon played in 1997’s “Good Will Hunting.”
“Like Will Hunting, I used to mop floors at MIT,” McLaughlin said. “I graduated from Harvard University, served two tours in Iraq with the Army and returned home to fight for working people in Massachusetts.”
McLaughlin, as a Somerville native, is six degrees from the actor as well as the character. “My grandmother worked out in the same gym as his mother,” McLaughlin said. “I used to pass by his mother’s house on my way to school without even knowing it. One day there was a limo parked outside of her house; Damon was picking up his mom to go to a film premiere. I remember that as a moment where my idea of what was possible for myself became much bigger.”
The video brings McLaughlin to settings famous from the movie – in front of an MIT classroom chalkboard, on a bench in Boston Common where a pivotal scene takes place – and to the front of the State House on Beacon Hill, where he’s headed if he wins a crowded Democratic primary Sept. 1. McLaughlin, speaking to the camera, makes the plea explicit: “I need your help, Matt Damon. Help me make Massachusetts a place where everyone can afford to dream.”
Abundant housing picks
Abundant Housing Massachusetts announced a series of endorsements July 7, including for state representative Mike Connolly, who is running for reelection in the 26th Middlesex District against newcomer Neil Miller; Somerville city councilor Will Mbah, running for state representative in the 34th Middlesex District against Christopher Oates and Paul Ruseau; and Somerville city councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, running for state representative in the 27th Middlesex District against Olivia Gilligan-Corsetti. All have supported the group’s mission of housing construction, executive director Jesse Kanson-Benanav said.
Barber brings home bucks
Christine Barber, running in a hotly contested primary to replace retiring state senator Pat Jehlen in the 2nd Middlesex District – including against McLaughlin – touted her wins for Somerville in the past budget cycle. As state representative in the 34th Middlesex District, a seat she has held since 2015, she secured $175,000 for Volunteers of America, helping veterans get personalized education and job training opportunities; and $50,000 for Somerville school-based food access so K-12 students and their families experiencing food insecurity “can access free, fresh foods with no extra trip to a pantry and no stigma.”
About the race districts
The 2nd Middlesex (a state Senate seat held by Pat Jehlen, in the office since 2005 but is retiring) includes the cities of Somerville and Medford; and parts of Cambridge and Winchester. Sought by: Burhan Azeem, Christine Barber, Tom Hopcroft, Matt McLaughlin, Erika Uyterhoeven
The 24th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Dave Rogers, in the office since 2013) includes parts of North Cambridge and Arlington and all of Belmont. Sought by: Nomita Ganguly
The 25th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Marjorie Decker, in the office since 2013) includes the central slice of Cambridge, following Massachusetts Avenue from Central Square through Harvard Square and just past Porter Square. Sought by: Evan MacKay
The 26th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Mike Connolly, in the office since 2017) includes East Cambridge and East Somerville. Sought by: Neil Miller
The 27th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Erika Uyterhoeven, in the office since 2021 but running for Jehlen’s state Senate seat) includes much of Somerville. Sought by: Ben Ewen-Campen, Olivia Gilligan-Corsetti
The 34th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Christine Barber, in the office since 2015 but running for Jehlen’s state Senate seat) includes parts of Somerville and Medford. Sought by: Will Mbah, Christopher Oates, Paul Ruseau
The Suffolk and Middlesex (a state Senate seat held by Will Brownsberger, in office since 2009 and running for reelection) includes the cities of Watertown and Belmont and parts of Cambridge and Boston. Sought by: Daniel Lander, Brandon Wood
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