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The Suffolk District 9 and 10 special election primaries are Tuesday. Meet the candidates.
Two state representatives in Suffolk County vacated their seats this year, resulting in special elections.
Suffolk Districts 9 and 10 are having special elections to fill the state representative seats left by Rep. Jon Santiago, D-Boston, and Rep. Edward Coppinger, D-Boston, respectively. The primaries are Tuesday, May 2, with the special elections to follow Tuesday, May 30.
There is one Democratic candidate vying for the 9th District seat to represent parts of Boston, and three Democrats vying for the 10th District seat to represent parts of Boston and Brookline. There are no declared Republican or Independent candidates, meaning the primaries will likely determine who takes office.
Santiago stepped down as representative for District 9 in March after Gov. Maura Healey tapped him to become Massachusetts’s first secretary of veterans’ services of the commonwealth.
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John Moran, a self-proclaimed housing advocate, is currently uncontested in the race to replace Santiago. He has Mayor Michelle Wu’s endorsement.
Assistant Director of Academic Partnerships at Boston University’s School of Public Health Amparo “Chary” Ortiz was previously running against Moran, but The Boston Globe reported last month she had suspended her campaign. She has since endorsed Moran as well.
Coppinger stepped down in February to pursue a career with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
The three Democratic candidates for the 10th District seat are Bill McGregor, a loan officer and former chief of staff for Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley; Robert Orthman, deputy general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care; and Celia Segel, associate director for pharmaceutical pricing and policy at the Health Policy Commission.
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McGregor received Coppinger’s public endorsement this month via Twitter. In the post, Coppinger wrote that McGregor was “the only candidate who has been doing this work for the past decade in each neighborhood and is ready to hit the ground running.”
Controversial redistricting signed into law by former Gov. Charlie Baker in 2021 went into effect Jan. 3, 2023. This means that both races will hold elections based on different zoning than when the predecessors were elected.
Both the 9th and 10th Suffolk Districts are now smaller.
Here’s a look at the candidates:
District 9: John Moran
Neighborhood of residence: South End
Moran said he was inspired to run for state representative by his parents, who instilled in him the ideas of volunteerism and public service.
“We didn’t have much, but my mom and stepdad Harry were always the first to give back to their community,” he said. “It is time for me to do the same.”
He said he’s running in an effort to lend a helping hand to his community, which he has seen struggle with affordable housing, as well as mental health and substance use issues. He said something needs to be done at the legislative level.
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“We’ve got additional work to do to ensure that everyone in our district can access the same quality of life from the Polish Triangle to Orchard Park to Copley Square to the South End,” he said. “I look forward to solving these issues alongside our community leaders and getting the job done on Beacon Hill.”
Moran said he has experience with “accidental” activism in the South End for green spaces and affordable housing, which he would like to use if elected.
“Over the past many years, I have come to further understand that our current development system doesn’t work for the average citizen,” he said. “That’s why I have pushed hard for a planning-first development approach, deliberate community input and, above all, protecting our most vulnerable and fighting back against displacement.”
Right now, he said he is focused on making sure housing is affordable, so people can continue to live in the district without going “paycheck to paycheck in order to live nearby their jobs, work and livelihood.”
He added that providing affordable housing across the board — for renters and homeowners — will be a part of his everyday fight on Beacon Hill.
District 10: Bill McGregor
Neighborhood of residence: West Roxbury
For McGregor, his top priority is housing. He wrote in an email to Boston.com that he sees the stress the high cost of living has put on families, seniors, and those with fixed income in the area.
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“My wife, Lisa, and I are raising our two daughters just five blocks from where I grew up, and we live this every day,” he said. “Childcare costs are double our mortgage, homeownership is unattainable for too many, and transportation is failing residents.”
As state representative, he said he hopes to advocate for the residents and his potential constituents in these sectors.
Having previously worked in government, he said he would draw on his experience in this new venture and continue bringing people together to have necessary conversations for change.
“I’m a bridge-builder and believe that when you give residents a voice and treat others with dignity and respect, you will achieve the best result for the community,” he said.
McGregor’s first step in office, he said, would be to “tackle the affordability crisis.” He added that his goal is to make the area more “livable and sustainable.”
“From skyrocketing housing costs, growing health care costs and prescription drug prices, the exorbitant cost of childcare, and the daily impact inflation has had on residents, our elected leaders need to prioritize the tangible issues that impact people each and every day,” he said.
District 10: Robert Orthman
Neighborhood of residence: Roslindale
Orthman told Boston.com in an email that he wants to address issues the community is facing, including housing, public transportation, and child care costs.
He pointed to his leadership roles in these three sectors, where he has been a housing advocate and an organizer to implement bike and bus lanes between Roslindale Square and the Forest Hills Orange Line station. He added that he also works as an attorney in the state Department of Early Education and Care.
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This experience, Orthman added, and his roots in the district make him a great candidate for state representative. He added that it’s important to fill this role now, after months of vacancy, due to the budget considerations going on in the State House.
“We need a representative that will be a bold leader and has the community and policy experience to start on day one,” he said over email. “I am the candidate in this field who needs no on-the-ground training to strongly represent our communities immediately.”
With this in mind, he said his first goal in office would be “to ensure our community gets its fair share of the budget.”
On a policy level, he said his priority would be getting transparency and oversight of the MBTA as part of an effort to “rebuild the trust broken with the public these recent years.” He pointed to a lack of knowledge about train line shutdowns as an example.
District 10: Celia Segel
Neighborhood of residence: Jamaica Plain
Not unlike the other candidates, housing is a major concern for Segel. As someone who grew up in the Jamaica Plain area and chose to raise her family there, she wrote in an email to Boston.com that she has seen many grapple with the increasing cost of living in the neighborhood.
Her goals would be to make the cost of living more affordable by increasing access to housing, as well as health care and child care.
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“I will fight for policies that create more certainty for our neighbors so that all residents are able to live, raise a family, and age in our communities,” she said.
Segel added that her previous work, including advocacy at Health Care For All and NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts building statewide coalitions to pass legislation for improved health care, makes her uniquely qualified for the role. This experience, as well as her other work with the Health Policy Commission, has given her a deep understanding of State House operations, she said.
“I will be a tireless advocate for this district on Beacon Hill to support the families, businesses, and schools that make our communities wonderful places to live and raise a family,” she said.
If elected, Segel said she plans to address these issues straight away. For housing, she said she would work to find new funding streams and investigate ways to support first-time homebuyers and renters.
“Massachusetts needs to invest in a sufficient supply of housing for people across different incomes and household makeups, including single adults, growing families that need more space, older adults that are downsizing, and seniors who wish to age in place,” she said.
On the education front, she said she is interested in introducing universal pre-K, as well as helping parents avoid high costs for early childhood education.
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