All elections are special, but some are more “special” than others. On Tuesday, May 2, voters in West Roxbury, part of Roslindale, and part of Jamaica Plain in Boston, as well as part of Brookline, will be going to the polls for a special election for state representative for the 10th Suffolk district, vacated by Rep. Ed Coppinger.
We invited all candidates running to submit candidate questionnaires, and you can find those that we received here.
Both of our chapters in the district — JP Progressives and Progressive West Roxbury/Roslindale — held forums, interviews, and endorsement votes, and both of them endorsed Rob Orthman for the 10th Suffolk.
Progressive Mass conducted our own member vote for the race, and we are proud to say that we will be joining our chapters in endorsing Rob Orthman for the 10th Suffolk.
Here is what some of our members said about Rob:
- “Rob is an extremely smart, engaged person who has a huge depth of knowledge on policy. His experience negotiating with developers on expanding affordable housing and finding practical, low-cost ways to improve the T would be critical assets in the State House.”
- “Rob has amazing depth in so many crucial policy areas, he’s been a courageous leader in this community already, and he’s been successful in supporting small businesses and bringing about change, including the dedicated bus lane and affordable housing. He addresses housing, climate, transit, early education access, and justice issues with urgency. Besides being bold and persistent, he’s also accessible and responsive.”
- “Rob is a proven local leader who gets results for his district in housing affordability and transportation, the two desperately needed areas of leadership statewide. These issues are not only drastically important for Massachusetts with housing inflation and crumbling state transportation infrastructure, but intersect with nearly every issue facing Massachusetts residents, including climate change, cost of living, traffic, and sense of community.”
And here is what our chapters said:
JP Progressives:
The JP Progressives Steering Committee recommends the endorsement of Rob Orthman for the May 2 special election for the 10th Suffolk State Representative seat…We were inspired by Rob’s organizing work in the district to advance these policies, including a recent success mobilizing in Roslindale on a housing project that led to a substantial increase in the number of affordable units, and his advocacy work with Walk Up Roslindale, which led to the creation of the morning inbound bus lane on Washington Street between Roslindale Village and Forest Hills. ….Rob has secured endorsements from candidates and elected officials we have endorsed previously, including David Halbert (former candidate for City Council At Large), Ruthzee Louijeune (Boston City Councilor At Large), and, importantly, Sam Montaño, the other state representative representing Jamaica Plain and a staunch advocate for affordable housing.
Progressive WRox/Roz:
PWRR endorses Rob Orthman for his tireless community leadership in critical policy areas and his knowledge of how policies impact the daily lives of residents. Rob has experience throughout the district; he’s been a leader on housing, transportation, climate, and small business. Rob is a consistent and courageous voice for a more sustainable and equitable future — crucial for the multiple crises we face in our state. Many members noted that Rob is already a community leader, effective, tireless, and visionary, focused on local and regional challenges. Rob has professional experience in the statewide childcare affordability crisis, and is a Boston Public Schools graduate and parent committed to progressive education policy. He has deep knowledge of all the district’s communities from personal and professional experience, including constituent services when he was on Councilor Tobin’s staff.
