NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the political leader of the pro-choice movement in the Commonwealth, recently announced their endorsement of Mike Connolly for the 26th Middlesex District seat of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The election will be decided in the Democratic primary on Thursday, September 8.

"Mike Connolly has the right values to be a true leader in the fight to ensure that all women in the Commonwealth have access to the full range of reproductive health care options, including abortion,” said Christian Miron, deputy director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. "This is a critical election for reproductive rights, which makes it essential to guarantee that we send pro-choice leaders to Beacon Hill who will actively work to promote a pro-choice agenda, including ensuring the right to abortion. Mike Connolly has demonstrated that he will lead the charge for reproductive freedom without any reservations.”

Thank you to Somerville Community Access Television and Joe Lynch for producing this interview series featuring both Democratic candidates for State Representative in the 26th Middlesex District of Cambridge and Somerville. The election will be decided in the primary on Thursday, September 8.

Great news! I just learned that our campaign has been endorsed by Mass Alliance, a coalition of the state's leading progressive advocacy organizations with a stellar record of winning elections!

This endorsement means a lot to me — not only because it's a sure sign that our campaign for new leadership for Cambridge and Somerville is on the right track — but especially because so many of the great, progressive legislators that I have looked up to over the years have also been endorsed by this organization.

Here is an excerpt from an op-ed submitted by MassAllaince director Jordan Powers to the Somerville Journal:

"Mike was raised in public housing, benefited from Head Start and other social services and through a scholarship worked his way through college. He went on to attend law school, becoming an attorney and establishing himself as a community leader dedicated to serving the public interest. He knows firsthand the importance our commitment to every child is,” said Jordan Berg Powers, executive director of Mass Alliance.

“Rep. [Tim] Toomey has twisted himself in all directions trying to rewrite his voting history, but the record is clear. Mass Citizens for Life, an anti-choice group, recently rated Rep. Toomey as 100 percent pro-life,” Powers said. “When given the chance to support public education, Rep. Toomey voted not once, but twice, most recently in April, to sell our schools off to big corporate donors. Rep. Toomey had a chance to fulfill his promise of MBTA expansion — but time and again voted against additional revenue that would support projects like the Green Line Extension and the Somerville Community Path. And at a time when citizens are making it clear they want more support for addiction and less mass incarceration, Rep. Toomey voted four times since 2014 to expand mandatory minimums. Rep. Toomey is out of step with the progressive leadership that voters in Cambridge and Somerville deserve.

“The things that are important to Mike are the things that are important to us — a clean, safe environment, public schools that provide our kids with a high-quality education and an economic system that gives working families a fair shot,” Powers added. “As the largest progressive organization in the Commonwealth, Mike was the only choice in this race.”

Today, progressive activist, attorney, and community organizer Mike Connolly declared his candidacy for State Representative in the 26th Middlesex District, which includes parts of Cambridge and Somerville.

Connolly announced that he has officially qualified for the Democratic Primary ballot on Thursday, September 8th, after submitting nearly three times the required number of nomination signatures to the state’s Elections Division last week.

“I am running for State Representative because I believe we need passionate new leadership to advance a progressive agenda in Cambridge and Somerville and across the Commonwealth,” explained Connolly.

“Our campaign is bringing people together to advocate for broader investments in affordable housing, public transportation, early education, after school programs, and other critical services, including programs to address the opioid and heroin epidemics,” Connolly added.

The 26th Middlesex seat has been held by incumbent State Rep. Tim Toomey since 1993. This will be the first contested primary in the district since 2004.

Earlier this month, over 100 people attended Connolly’s campaign kickoff party at Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery and More in Central Square.

CENTRAL SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE — An overflow crowd of more than 100 friends and supporters attended Mike Connolly's campaign kickoff party at Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery and More last Thursday.

"Cambridge and Somerville are both great places to live," said Connolly, who lives on Harding Street with his wife Kacy and is seeking the Democratic nomination for State Representative in the 26th Middlesex district.

"And what's amazing is how committed we all are to doing even more to ensure that our communities remain affordable and accessible to people from all walks of life."

As State Representative, Connolly pledged that he would "work for broader investments in affordable housing, public transportation, early education and after school programs, and social services, including programs to address the heroin and opioid epidemics."

"My commitment to the community and to these issues stems from my own personal background," Connolly explained.  

Raised by a single mother in public housing, Connolly benefited from a Head Start program and spent time in foster care before attending Duke University on a football scholarship. After that, he graduated from Boston College Law School and became an attorney, and over the past five years, he has worked closely with community leaders in Cambridge and Somerville.

In 2013, Connolly organized a grassroots campaign to focus Cambridge officials on a "net zero" carbon emissions plan that has since become a model for others in the Commonwealth. He was then hired to work as a legislative aide in Cambridge City Hall, where he drafted policy for affordable housing, public open space, community paths, renewable energy, and clean elections.

Lawrence Lessig: "Mike has truly inspired me..."

Connolly was introduced by Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard University, who said "Mike stood out as an inspiration" because of his efforts to advance the cause of clean elections and his work as an advocate in the community.

"In the ten years that I have been working to reform the political system, few people who are running for office have actually inspired me, but through his work on countless issues on the local level, and with a clear focus on the need for political reform, I can say that Mike is one of the few who have truly inspired me and given me hope for the future of our democracy," Lessig said.

For the past few months, I have been working with members of the Cambridge Residents Alliance and the Mass. Budget For All coalition to organize a public forum on transportation issues in Cambridge and Somerville. The event is being co-sponsored by Green Cambridge, 350Mass. Transit Group, and the Fresh Pond Residents Alliance.

"Solving Transit and Traffic Issues in the Cambridge Corridor" will be held this Saturday, April 30th, from 2 to 5 pm at the Cambridge Senior Center (806 Mass. Ave in Central Square). Everyone is invited to join us for conversation, light refreshments, and opportunities for input on a topic that is vital to our future.

The event will feature presentations and discussion with Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, state Senator Pat Jehlen, Cambridge City Councilors Dennis Carlone and Jan Devereux, as well as some of the best and brightest advocates in the field of transit, such as Rafael Mares (Conservation Law Foundation), Steven Miller (Livable Streets), Ellin Reisner (Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership), Kirstie Pecci (MassPIRG), John Attanucci (MIT Transportation Group), and many others.

Hundreds of local residents crowded into the Somerville Armory last night, all to voice support for the Green Line Extension project. It was the first of five meetings scheduled for the next two months to update the public on what is being done to get the 4.3-mile project back on track.

It has been some 26 years since the state agreed to complete the extension of the Green Line through Somerville as mitigation for the added traffic and pollution caused by the Big Dig. Governor Patrick celebrated the start of Phase 1 construction in 2012, but the project was thrust into limbo once again last year when it was revealed that costs could run up to $1B more that originally projected. 

Last night's meeting featured presentations from MassDOT staff, followed by comments from State Senator Pat Jehlen, state Reps. Denise Provost and Christine Barber, many members of the Somerville Board of Alderman, and a long list of over 50 speakers at public comment.

"I know this is not where anybody wanted to be tonight," quipped Kate Fichter of MassDOT as she explained the format of the meeting to the 300 or so people in attendance, many of whom showed up early and waited in line for a seat.

And yet, the meeting was generally positive — with broad consensus that we all want the Green Line Extension to happen, mixed with resolve among residents and advocates that important elements of the project should not be sacrificed (such as the community path, service to Union Square, and completion of the project through Rt. 16 in Medford).

That said, interim project manager Jack Wright has indicated that cuts to the project will be "brutal," and last night, he made it clear that the presentation was "not a commitment" and that further cuts will be required; his team is currently focused on the following options:

• Station Redesign
• Vehicle Maintenance Facility Redesign
• Community Path Reconsideration
• Construction Worker Hour Limitations
• Retaining and Sound Walls
• Power and Signals

I was able to speak fairly early during public comment and made a few brief points...

Today I went to the McCormack Building on Beacon Hill and "pulled papers" for the Democratic nomination for Representative in General Court (i.e. "State Representative") for the 26th Middlesex District, which includes all of Wards 1, 2-1, 3, and 6-1 in Cambridge, and all of Wards 1 and 2-1 in Somerville.

Right now, I am focused on talking with voters and engaging my friends and supporters across the district. I look forward to making an announcement about the race later next month.

As 2015 comes to an end, I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who supported my campaign for the Cambridge City Council this year. 

Running for public office is a real privilege, and my candidacy was made possible through the generous support and tireless efforts of many individuals. Overall, it was a positive experience, and I am grateful to everyone who helped me run in a very competitive race.

In addition endorsements from the Cambridge Residents Alliance and the Ward 6 Progressive Democrats, this evening Cambridge Day posted a ringing endorsement of Mike's candidacy:

If there is any challenger this year experienced enough and worthy of winning a council seat, it is Connolly, a lawyer and citizen activist who has already seen significant success from his organizing. So has the city, actually – it was Connolly who got the city’s net zero carbon emissions plan started, overcoming significant opposition and winning a true government process leading to implementation of efforts that will contribute to the global fight against disastrous climate change.

As a legislative aide to councillor Dennis Carlone, he has contributed significantly to driving the city’s agenda not just on net zero emissions, but on such issues as launching a citywide development master plan, getting improvements to Planning Board processes and raising the linkage fees charged to large real estate developers after the council had let the fee limp on far below market rates for more than a decade. It was his work that pointed out how far ahead Cambridge is on building the residential units called for by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and on the campaign trail he and former councillor Minka vanBeuzekom have driven new conversation about getting Cambridge a condo conversion fee that will give renters some protection if landlords opt to go the condominium route.

He has also been instrumental in focusing attention on the city’s missing Woodworth study, which could have added context to the conversation over the Normandy/Twining zoning granted in Central Square this year, but now will likely be an important component of conversation about the master plan guiding the city over the next two decades.