The JP Progressives 2.0 today announce our endorsement of:
Marty Walsh for Mayor of Boston
We endorse Walsh because of his proven and impressive progressive track record and vision. On issues of poverty, housing, schools, transparency, safety and LGBT issues, Walsh stands out.
We are grateful to supporters for both Marty Walsh and John Connolly who engaged with us about why they have made their candidate selection. There are certainly progressives on the other side of this election, but we think the progressive choice for Mayor of Boston is clear. (*See more about our endorsement process at the end of this email.)
We wanted to share all of our reasons for supporting Marty, but that email got too long. So we are focusing here on his bold progressive record in office. Later in the week will follow up with information about his vision, his stances on issues facing the city, and the growing support for his campaign from other progressive leaders in the city. These emails will be helpful if you remain undecided, as well as providing good talking points if you support Marty.
If you agree with our endorsement, we encourage you to take one or more of the following actions:
- Forward this email to 10 friends who live in JP or anywhere in Boston.
- Help us talk to voters. Join us for a phonebank tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct 22 at 6pm at a JP campaign office at 668 Centre Street. We’ll take a pause during the phoning to watch the debate.
- Join us for a Jamaica Plain canvass Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10:30am. Also out of 668 Centre St.
- Schedule a shift or a full day for Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts between Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, and especially on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Let us know if you can help out our efforts by replying to this email, moreinfo@jpprogressives.com. Or call us at 617-942-0021.
Marty Walsh’s Progressive Record
Marty is the only candidate who can point to a consistently progressive voting record, which is especially notable given that he represents a conservative Dorchester and South Boston district. Standing up for progressive values when your constituents are on the other side stands out for us. If he can do that as a legislator when the stakes are high, then we have full confidence that he will continue to stand up for our values as Mayor, when the stakes are even higher. Examples were too numerous to list, but here are some of our favorites:
- For his support of equal marriage, Walsh received blistering criticism from religious leaders in his district. Despite this, he wasn’t just firm in his support but worked to persuade his colleagues to join him. Last year he continued his leadership on LGBT issues as a vote in favor of the transgender rights bill.
- On women’s issues Walsh supported legislation that expands buffer zones around women’s health clinics providing abortion and other parental planning services, expanded rights for mothers taking parental leave from work, increased confidentiality laws around survivors of rape and domestic violence, increased services to mental health centers serving women, and favored additional educational support services for expecting teen mothers.
- Walsh has been a champion on issues around poverty and the safety net. He opposed attempts to expand restrictions on EBT cards, and supported legislation improving early childcare and education. He has sponsored legislation for parental leave, for funding and access to low-income housing and for youth jobs. He supported a bill that funded supportive housing investments, including for homeless youth. Marty also created Building Pathways, a program that guarantees women and people of color access to a career in the construction trades.
- On Criminal Justice he was a key vote against the death penalty, helping send it to defeat by a single vote, despite heavy public and media pressure the other direction. He opposed final passage of the three strikes bill, supported CORI reform, as well as efforts to implement the Secure Communities programs in Boston, which would have had a devastating impact on immigrants. He has been a consistent supporter of firearm controls, including as lead sponsor of gun control legislation.
Conclusion
These are not small issues. Consistently Marty has used his seat in the legislature to fight the good fight. It required a leader with strong progressive values to go back to a disapproving district and stand up for what was right.
We are impressed and appreciative, and are looking forward to working with Marty Walsh on his campaign as as the next Mayor of Boston.
All The Best,
Annie Rousseau, Co-Chair – Elections
Reuben Kantor, Co-Chair – Issues
Nancy Sableski
Michael Rousseau
Tara Rousseau
Katie Forde
Georgia Hollister Isman
Ben Wright
*The Endorsement Process
Our core group of organizers, listed above, is our Steering Committee. We work hard to engage on progressive issues in Jamaica Plain, in Boston, and in Massachusetts. After a number of our members had discussions with the candidates, we then had internal conversations about the race. We decided this race would be an important one to weigh in on if we could and to engage the folks we have worked with over the year about. We sent our initial email out to folks we worked with on JPP 1.0 and on candidate campaigns. We had a lot of great feedback about both candidates, but most of our responses from that list were in support of Marty. That gave the steering committee additional confidence to vote for this endorsement.
