Published November 15, 2019
MELROSE — The race for the 32nd Middlesex is on.
Kate Lipper-Garabedian, a City Councilor-at-Large and education attorney, said Tuesday she is running to fill the soon-to-be-vacated state representative seat for the 32nd Middlesex District, representing Malden, Melrose, and Wakefield. On Monday, longtime Wakefield Town Councilor Ann McGonigle Santos was the first to announce plans to run for the seat now held by Paul Brodeur, who was elected mayor of Melrose last week and will resign from his Beacon Hill position Monday at 9:01 a.m.
The campaign to fill the 32nd Middlesex seat in the House will be a short one, requiring a quick primary election and then a general special election sometime in March, officials have said. Then the seat goes through the regular election cycle, with a primary in September and a general election in November 2020.
Lipper-Garabedian was elected to the Melrose City Council in 2017 and last week received the most votes among City Council candidates in her first re-election campaign. She presently serves as the Chief Legal Counsel at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education and has a distinguished record of public service that includes her work on Beacon Hill and as a public middle school teacher.
“I’ve dedicated my career to working on issues that matter in the region, like public education along with safe streets, vibrant commercial districts, sustainability, and smart investment of public dollars,” Lipper-Garabedian said.
“Melrose has gained an excellent Mayor-Elect in Paul Brodeur, but our region has lost a strong advocate at the State House. With my experience in City Council, state government, and the classroom, I will ensure that the 32nd Middlesex District is represented by someone who believes passionately about the role government can play in supporting individuals and their families, by someone who listens carefully and works hard for her constituents, and by someone who will get things done.”
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Lipper-Garabedian served as a judicial clerk on the First Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, and spent more than five years as a senior policy and legal advisor supporting states, school districts, colleges, and nonprofits focused on improving the U.S. education system. As a City Councilor, she introduced Melrose’s new ordinance on vacant commercial storefronts and public art; created and filled the role of a Council liaison to the School Committee; worked on a successful application for $400,000 in state funding for street accessibility projects; spearheaded efforts to improve safe, multi-modal school commutes; and held the position of Chair of the Appropriations Committee, overseeing the Council’s annual budget process.
“On his deathbed, the late Congressman John D. Dingell shared, ‘In a democratic government, elected officials do not have power. They hold power – in trust for the people who elected them.’ That principle is front of mind for me today,” Lipper-Garabedian said. “It will remain so as we move forward together and build on our collective work to date.”
Lipper-Garabedian lives with her husband Mark, sons Harrison and Oscar, and family dog Baryn.
The 32nd Middlesex District includes the City of Melrose; Precincts 4, 5, and 6 in the Town of Wakefield, and Precinct 5-2 in the City of Malden.
Ann Santos, a resident of the West Side of Wakefield, was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2013, topping the ticket in that race. She was re-elected in 2016 and 2019. She was a vocal supporter of changing the name of the Board of Selectmen to the more gender-neutral Town Council.
Prior to serving on the Town Council, Santos was an elected member of the Board of Health.
An attorney, Santos is currently Associate Dean of Students and Law School Disability Compliance Officer at Suffolk University Law School. Prior to that, she was an Associate Professor of Legal Writing at Suffolk Law School.
Santos graduated from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1984. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in 1988 and subsequently earned her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.
She said she plans to wait for Brodeur to officially resign before making a formal announcement of her candidacy.