May 24, 2023
Matt Patton, a labor attorney who lives in Savin Hill, on Wednesday formally launches his campaign for the District 3 seat, held by outgoing Dorchester Councillor Frank Baker.
Patton plans to make the announcement at the Savin Hill MBTA stop, a short walk from the house he shares with his wife and two children.
“I’m a husband, father, worker’s rights attorney and Massachusetts born and raised. I am
running for Boston City Council because this community, our community, needs to work better
for our next generation and our working families,” he said in a statement. “The housing crisis, a crumbling transportation system and access to a good quality education is becoming more and more out of reach for many Bostonians.”
Patton is expected to hit multiple MBTA stations and bus stops during the week in an effort to connect with voters.
He works for a law firm co-founded by Shannon Liss-Riordan, a labor attorney who ran for state attorney general last year. Patton has also worked on the 2013 mayoral campaign of John Barros, and the 2012 US Senate run of Elizabeth Warren.
The other District 3 candidates include former State House aide Barry Lawton of Savin Hill/Uphams Corner, community activist Jennifer Johnson of Meetinghouse Hill, and public schoolteacher Joel Richards of Fields Corner. Patrick O’Brien, state transportation department aide and Army veteran, and Boston Planning and Development Agency official John FitzGerald, both of of Adams Village, are also in the running.
District-level council candidates are in limbo as state lawmakers consider a home rule petition filed by Mayor Wu to push back deadlines for filing nomination signatures with the city’s elections department. The delay is due to councillors having to craft a map of district boundaries after a federal judge blocked the map passed last fall.
The preliminary, if councillors are able to pass a map in the coming days, is scheduled for Sept. 12.
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