All three candidates for the Boston City Council District 6 race are expected to attend candidates forum on August 8. The three candidates include the current District 6 City Councilor Kendra Lara, who is facing multiple charges due to speeding and crashing her car without a license in an unregistered car. The other two candidates are William King, who ran for at-large city council once before, and Ben Weber. JP Progressives is hosting the online forum that will be moderated by former editor of the Baystate Banner Yawu Miller, and Saraya Wintersmith from GBH News. Cosponsors of the forum include Right to the City Vote and MassVOTE.
There will be a virtual At-Large Boston City Council Forum co-hosted by JP Progressives on Tuesday night. As of Sunday afternoon four candidates had committed to the forum. Two sitting city city councilors had confirmed they were attending: Ruthzee Louijeune and Julia Mejia. Other confirmed candidates include Clifton Braithwaite and Henry Santana. Cosponsors of the event include NAACP Boston Branch, Mijente Boston Asamblea, MassVOTE, Chinese Progressive Political Action, Right to the City Vote, Mass Voter Table, and Mass HUD Tenants.
The three candidates for the special election to fill the 10th Suffolk District representative seat are gathering endorsements, and one candidate has drawn the ire from local progressive groups. First former state rep Liz Malia endorsed Bill MacGregor. Then current 15th Suffolk District state rep Sam Montaño endorsed Rob Orthman. And Celia Segel picked up the endorsement of state Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-1st Middlesex and Norfolk). Also, on Thursday the steering committee of the JP Progressives group, a local chapter of Massachusetts Progressives, recommended Orthman over Segel for the May 2 special election.
Two candidates for the 10th Suffolk District state representative race will be participating in public forum that can be seen in-person on on Facebook on March 23. The slate of candidates has been in flux in recent weeks for this special election due to current state Rep. Ed Coppinger leaving for another job. There are three candidates: Jamaica Plain resident Celia Segel, Roslindale resident Robert Orthman, and West Roxbury resident Bill MacGregor. MacGregor has declined to attend the forum. All three are Democrats, so they would face off in a May 2 Democratic primary.
The next JP Progressives political forum will be with Democratic Party candidates for Attorney General on July 13. The Democratic Party field includes former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell, Shannon Liss-Riordan, and Quentin Palfrey. Two of three candidates are confirmed to attend. The forum will be on Wednesday, July 20 at 7 pm via Zoom. Please Register at tinyurl.com/JPP-2022-AG.
JP Progressives next political forums will look at criminal justice with separate forums for Suffolk County District Attorney and Suffolk Country Sheriff on July 13. The Suffolk County District Attorney's forum will be with current DA Kevin Hayden, who became DA after Rachael Rollins was appointed U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, and District 5 City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo. The sheriff's race will be with incumbent Steve Tompkins and Sandy Zamor Calixte. The forum will be on Wednesday, July 13 at 7 pm via zoom. Please register here to attend the forum online.
All four candidates running for the 15th Suffolk District state representative seat are scheduled to attend JP Progressives' candidate forum on May 24. The four candidates are Sam Montaño, Richard Fierro, Roxanne Longoria, and Mary Ann Nelson. The forum is scheduled to occur Tuesday, May 24 at 7 pm via Zoom. Click here to register to attend the forum.
Join JP Progressives this Tuesday, April 19 at 7 pm via Zoom for its monthly meeting. It will be a moderated Q&A session with the candidates for lieutenant governor and state auditor. Register here for the meeting: tinyurl.com/JPP-April-Mtg
A few days ago, a mailer arrived in the mailboxes of some voters in District 6. A composite photo of the D6 city council candidates showed Mary Tamer on one side, in color and light, and Kendra Hicks on the other side, in darkened black and white. This kind of image manipulation is a known racist tactic used to make Black candidates appear menacing, and it is entirely unacceptable. It is difficult to believe that the Tamer campaign was unaware of this trope in the year 2021. On Monday morning, after several days of outrage and pushback from the D6 community, the Tamer campaign released a statement noting that the mailer “did not set the right tone.” We call this a statement and not an apology because nowhere in it was an expression of regret, an acknowledgement of the harm caused, or the word “sorry.”
The mailer also commented on Kendra Hicks’ voting record.
At least 12 at-large Boston City Council candidates will participate in an online forum hosted by JP Progressives on May 17. JP Progressives is hosting the forum with Mijente, NAACP, Right to the City Vote, and BEJA. The forum will be at 7 pm and on Zoom. Spanish translation and closed captioning will be enabled on Zoom for the forum. You can register here to attend the forum.
