Lydia Edwards
Template:TOCnestleft Lydia Edwards
Palak Shah support
Palak Shah November 8, 2017 ·
So PROUD of my sister Lydia Edwards for winning her first elected seat on Boston's City Council! Cities will lead the resistance! #DWDignity #BosPoli #RisingStar — with Monique Tu Nguyen and Julia Beebe.
DSA support
The Boston Democratic Socialists of America (Boston DSA) is pleased to announce the endorsement of the following candidates in their campaign for municipal office in the 2017 election cycle. “We are excited to support these activist candidates who share our commitment to affordable housing. The current housing crisis in the Boston metro area makes it critically important that we elect candidates that understand the need to empower our communities and fight the tide of displacement in Boston, Somerville and Cambridge,” say DSA Co-Chairs Liz Henderson and Peter Morency.
In Somerville, Boston DSA endorsed four candidates for alderman: Jesse Clingan (Ward 4), Ben Ewen-Campen (Ward 3), Will Mbah (at-large), and JT Scott (Ward 2). In Boston, two City Council candidates received an endorsement: Lydia Edwards (District 1) and Alex Golonka (District 9). And in Cambridge, the group endorsed City Council candidates Dennis Carlone, Sumbul Siddiqui, Vatsady Sivongxay, and Quinton Zondervan.
Out of these candidates, 3 received a higher level of endorsement, meaning that Boston DSA will send volunteers on a regular basis to support the campaigns. These candidates were Lydia Edwards, Ben Ewen-Campen, and JT Scott. Ewen-Campen and Scott are DSA members.
Says Matt Miller, the "Boston area chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (Boston Democratic Socialists of America) is pleased to announce that our endorsed candidates performed very well in the 2017 elections. We endorsed candidates in the Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston municipal elections and knocked on over 12,000 doors across the three cities."
“Our victories last night show that democratic socialist candidates can win when we put the weight of our ever-growing organization behind them. Now we’ll hold our candidates to their bold promises and continue organizing in our communities to pave the way for housing justice,” says Presley Pizzo, a leader of the Boston DSA Electoral Politics Working Group and Somerville resident.
After coming in second in a very close primary this September, Boston DSA endorsed candidate Lydia Edwards won an upset victory in her run for Boston City Council in District 1. Edwards captured 52.8% of the vote with 6897 votes, thanks at least in part due to Boston DSA volunteers knocking on thousands of doors. This endorsement came in recognition of Edwards long track record of advocacy for workers’ rights, most notably her work that lead to the passage of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights in 2015.
Meanwhile in Somerville, Boston DSA endorsed and directed volunteer efforts for DSA members JT Scott (Ward 2) and Ben Ewen-Campen (Ward 3), as well as endorsing Jesse Clingan for Ward 4, and Will Mbah for Alderman-at-large. All four candidates were part of an Our Revolution Somerville slate and won their respective races, a major accomplishment considering Ewen-Campen and Scott were both first-time candidates who unseated long-time incumbents, with 58 percent and 57 percent of the vote, respectively.
“In Somerville, Boston DSA showed its political force by mobilizing young people and working-class residents. We are proud that two DSA members won their elections and will undermine the status quo that favors developers over working people in Somerville,” says Pizzo.
In Cambridge, Boston DSA endorsed four city council candidates. Of those that were endorsed, Sumbul Siddiqui, Quinton Zondervan, and Dennis Carlone were elected to the Cambridge city council.
“Thank you to all of our members who put painstaking effort into electing our endorsed candidates! We are overjoyed to see that our hard work has paid off, but now we must now look forward. This is just the beginning. Boston DSA plans to hold elected officials, especially our endorsed candidates, accountable as we work to eradicate capitalism in the pursuit of a socialist future,” says Simran Fitzgerald, a leader of the Boston DSA Electoral Politics Working Group and Cambridge resident.[2]