Election Series: Greater Boston Area Female Candidates for Massachusetts State Representative

This week, we’re continuing our series on the amazing women running in the Massachusetts primary election this fall with some of the candidates for MA State Representative. While these candidates only cover the Greater Boston Area, we’ll return with the rest of the candidates for State Representative next week, to (eventually) give you the full primer on all of the awesome women you should know about when casting your ballot in the primary on September 4th.

While our Inclusion Geeks Panel featuring Ayanna Pressley, Brianna Wu, and Sam Hammar on August 21st is currently full, you can still sign up to be on the waitlist through the Eventbrite page.

As a reminder, you can register to vote online until August 15th, or mail in this form to register if you don’t have a Massachusetts ID. If you’re going to be outside of Massachusetts on September 4th, remember to sign up to receive your absentee ballot! Happy voting!

Greater Boston Area Candidates

Gerly Adrien

28th Middlesex District

Gerly Adrien is a Democrat running for Massachusetts State Representative in the 28th Middlesex District of Everett. Adrien initially ran for the State House of Representatives in 2016 as an entirely unknown name in politics, and fell short of winning by just 600 votes. Currently, she is the Finance and Grants Manager for Boston University Medical Center’s Oncology and Hematology section, and she is an MBA candidate at Boston University. Her platform centers education reform, economic development, universal healthcare, and criminal justice reform.

Christine Barber

34th Middlesex District

Christine Barber is currently serving her second term in the Massachusetts State Legislature as the Representative for the 34th Middlesex district, representing Somerville and Medford. During her time in office, she has worked on issues including expanding affordable housing, providing more effective and available services for addiction, and advocating for extension of the MBTA Green Line. Before becoming a member of the State House of Representatives, Barber worked for Community Catalyst, a non-profit geared towards championing universal healthcare, as a Senior Policy Analyst. Her campaign is backed by organizations such as the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Boston Teacher’s Union, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, and many more.

Suezanne Patrice Bruce

9th Suffolk District

Suezanne Patrice Bruce is a Democratic candidate running for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 9th Suffolk District. She is a native Bostonian who is committed to social justice in the city of Boston, and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Tufts University. Her platform centers combating the opioid crisis through greater mental health services, providing more affordable housing, advocating for single-payer healthcare, broadening the span of education, and creating policies to counter the harmful effects of global warming. She is dedicated to equity for all populations– including LGBTQ persons, the elderly, youth populations, women, and those in poverty. She is also a veteran.

Michelle Ciccolo

15th Middlesex District

Michelle Ciccolo is running for State Representative of the 15th Middlesex District, in Lexington and Woburn. Currently, she is serving her second term on the Lexington Board of Selectmen as Vice Chair. She is also the CEO and founder of her own business, The Ciccolo Group, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in community development and planning, municipal management, permitting, and real estate management. She is a known expert in the fields of transportation and municipal planning. If elected, she promises to focus on fighting for reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, gun violence, fair labor standards, and environmental sustainability.

Nika Elugardo

15th Suffolk County

Nika Elugardo is running for Massachusetts State Representative in the 15th Suffolk County district, which serves the communities of Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Brookline. She has over 20 years of experience in community and economic development, including serving as Jamaica Plain Liaison and Senior Policy Advisor to Massachusetts Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz.Most recently, she has served as Leadership Systems Architect and Director of Applied Research and Consulting at the Emmanuel Gospel Center, focusing on youth development, education, violence prevention, and gender justice, which she would also support if elected. Elugardo holds a B.S. in Urban Planning from MIT, an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. 

Anne Landry

30th Middlesex District

Anne Landry is running for State Representative for the 30th Middlesex District, serving Woburn and Reading. She is an experienced State House attorney, and has served as Chief Counsel to State Senator William Brownsberger for over six years, which has given her a unique perspective on the legislative process that she believes she could bring to the position of State Representative. On Beacon Hill, she would defend funding for public education, support for working families, the advancement of civil rights, environmental protection, universal healthcare, support for the elderly, and greater resources towards combating the opioid epidemic. She lives in Reading with her husband and their son.

Lori Lennon

23rd Middlesex District

Lori Lennon is running as a progressive Democrat for State Representative of the 23rd Middlesex District, serving Arlington and West Medford. Lennon has seven years of experience in television news, an experience which afforded her the ability to work with leading researchers on issues such as climate change, drug research, and renewable energy. She is a strong advocate for innovation and technology, affordable housing and accessible transportation, and affordable childcare, and she also wants to advocate for greater government interest in LGBTQIA+ rights, veterans’ rights, women’s rights, and the opioid crisis. 

Liz Miranda

5th Suffolk District

Liz Miranda is running for the Democratic nomination for the 5th Suffolk District, serving her hometown of Boston. Miranda is a first generation immigrant from Cape Verde, and a life-long Roxbury resident. Currently, she serves on the boards of Score4More Inc., The Roxbury Historical Society, and Union Capital Boston, and is the Executive Director of the Hawthorne Youth and Community Center. As state representative, Miranda would work towards expanding the Massachusetts economy to help families, creating opportunities for the next generation through education, keeping affordable housing accessible, reforming our criminal justice system, and funding renewable energy. She was named the City of Boston’s first EXTRAordinary Woman of 2018 for her work with youth arts, social justice, and urban agricultural programming. She is graduate of Wellesley College.

Rebecca Stone

15th Norfolk District

Rebecca Stone is running for State Representative for the 15th Norfolk District, representing the town of Brookline. Stone has amassed over 30 years of experience in non-profit and public service positions, including program development, non-profit consulting, federal legislative experience, and senior positions in human services non-profits. She has been a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 3 in Brookline Since 2002, and has served four terms on the Brookline School Committee. She is a graduate of Harvard University, with a B.A. in Psychology and Social Relations. As representative for Brookline, Stone promises to increase rights for immigrant families, advocate for paid family leave and women’s reproductive rights, and improve gun safety laws.