Thank you for taking a moment to visit my website — and thank you as well for allowing me the honor of serving as your State Representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Every day, I work to bring constituents, colleagues, and advocates together to make progress for all who live in our Cambridge and Somerville community.

What sets me apart from other legislators is my willingness to stand up to Beacon Hill leaders and my ability to work with others to deliver real legislative results. I'm proud of what we've accomplished together so far, but there's still so much more work to do. That's why I'm running for re-election.

As your State Rep., here’s what I’m most focused on right now:

1. Housing and affordability. I am recognized as a leader in the fight to resolve the affordability emergency, including the cost of housing, health care, child care, utilities, fees, and groceries.

2. Defending our community from the Trump agenda. I have been on the front lines of the fight to protect our immigrant neighbors and defend everyone’s constitutional rights. I have also passed legislation to expand abortion access and defend reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, gender-affirming care, and data privacy.

3. Making state government work for my constituents. My staff and I work tirelessly to help our constituents with state-related issues, from the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) to MassHealth and various licensing boards. I have also successfully pushed for big investments and improvements to state infrastructure, from the MBTA to MassDOT and DCR roads, parks, and facilities.

In my five terms in office, I have consistently been ranked as having the most progressive voting record in the Massachusetts House by Progressive Massachusetts, the state’s leading grassroots advocacy group. At the same time, I have delivered real results by passing groundbreaking legislation to better protect tenants and homeowners, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and make the political process more accessible.

Some highlights of my work include:

Delivering the Green Line Extension and Community Path Extension. When I was elected in 2016, the Green Line Extension (GLX) was in limbo, and Governor Baker was looking to scale back the project and eliminate the vital Community Path Extension. I worked alongside community advocates, local officials, and legislative colleagues to keep the project moving and restore key elements that had been put at risk, including the shared-use path for people walking and biking. Today, the Green Line Extension is complete, bringing rail service through Somerville to Medford, and the Community Path Extension has become a transformative new connection linking neighborhoods, transit stations, and the regional bike and pedestrian network.

Passing Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform Legislation. When I was first elected, Massachusetts was lagging behind other progressive states in our approach to the criminal justice system, and I promised we could do better. In my first term, I co-sponsored legislation to end mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug-related offenses, and I worked to support efforts to reform bail, allow for compassionate release, expand restorative justice, and create other alternatives to incarceration. I am proud to say that these efforts culminated in the passage of comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation, and the results have been remarkable: overall crime is down, and over the past decade, the incarcerated population in Massachusetts has been cut by 45%.

Winning the Fight for $15 and Paid Family and Medical Leave. Prior to being elected, I worked with advocates who were fighting to win a $15 minimum wage, along with a robust Paid Family and Medical Leave program to ensure working people are able to take time off to care for themselves or their families. In my first term, grassroots activists collected thousands of signatures to put both proposals before the legislature, and I was proud to help pass these two major economic justice initiatives into law. In 2023, the minimum wage reached $15/hour in Massachusetts. Now, I support increasing it to $20/hour, phased in over several years and indexed to inflation. Meanwhile, many of my constituents have benefited from paid leave, and I am continuing to work to strengthen and expand the program.

Defending Reproductive Freedom and Expanding Abortion Access. In my first term, I was proud to co-sponsor the ACCESS Act, guaranteeing access to birth control without copays. In my second term, I co-sponsored and helped pass the ROE Act, which strengthened abortion rights in Massachusetts. Next, I helped pass a series of Shield Laws protecting patients and health care providers from attacks on reproductive and gender-affirming care. Most recently, I co-sponsored and voted to pass An Act Protecting Patient Access, which further expands abortion rights and makes clear that decisions about pregnancy belong to patients and their health care providers—not politicians. At a time when reproductive freedom is under attack across the country, I am proud to be endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts and Reproductive Equity Now.

Establishing Real Police Accountability. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, I worked with the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and progressive colleagues to pass landmark police reform legislation establishing statewide standards for law enforcement. Most importantly, we created the independent POST Commission with the power to suspend or revoke the certification of officers who engage in serious misconduct—meaning officers who abuse their authority can now be removed from policing altogether, rather than simply moving from one department to another. We also banned chokeholds, limited no-knock warrants, established a duty to intervene when witnessing excessive force, and strengthened use-of-force and de-escalation requirements.

To find out more about these initiatives, along with information about work I have been doing to promote housing affordability, transportation infrastructure improvements, basic immigrant protections, renewable energy, a clean environment, additional gun control measures, automatic voter registration, and many other progressive concerns, I invite you to join my email list.

My Background and What Drives Me

I am a community organizer, a proud progressive Democrat and democratic socialist. I live in the Port neighborhood by Central Square with my cat Oona.

My commitment to social and economic justice stems from my own background. I was raised in public housing by a single mother who struggled with health issues. I spent time in foster care and benefited from a Head Start program and other social services as a young child.

With the help of these programs, caring community members, and an extended family, I had the support to overcome adversity and beat the odds. I went on to attend Duke University on a football scholarship. After that, I put myself through Boston College Law School, served as a managing editor for a progressive law journal, became a licensed attorney, and worked for a global technology company.

While I was fortunate to have these opportunities, however, so many of my childhood peers have ended up incarcerated, out of work, on the streets, or victims of the heroin and opioid epidemics. I know it doesn’t have to be that way, but not everyone is given the support I had, and the results are just not something that we should accept in Massachusetts.

I believe that if we continue building movements for justice and equality — and if we work together and stick to our principles — then we can do a better job addressing these challenges.

We can make broader investments in affordable housing, public transportation, early education, afterschool programs, and other critical services. These are investments that would help make my story less of an exception, and more of the rule. And I believe that this and future generations deserve that chance.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions or want to help my re-election campaign or get involved in this work. Running for local office and service in office at its core is about service to the community, and I will always have an open door (and an open in-box), because I know the only way we can move our community forward is by doing it together.

Thank you, once again, for the honor of serving our community in the state legislature. Now that campaign season is upon us, I respectfully ask for your vote on Election Day, Tuesday, September 1st.

Yours in service,

Rep. Mike Connolly