When East Boston voters head to the polls during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primary on Tuesday, March 3, they’ll have an opportunity to pick who will lead Eastie’s Ward 1 Democratic Committee into the future.
There are two slates vying for control of the committee and voters can either vote for an entire slate or pick and choose from a total of 21 candidates from either slate.
The first slate is made up of some longtime committee members like Michael Sulprizio, Kathy Orlando and Joe Ruggiero. The slate has dubbed themselves the ‘Unity Slate’ and argue that the candidates in this slate, or Group One, are more representative of the community as a whole with a good mix of longtime Eastie residents, newcomers and Latinos.
The candidates on the Unity Slate are Brenna Callahan, Joe Ruggiero, Jay Ruggiero, Katie Boyd, Liana LaMattina, Michael Sulprizio, Devon Elizabeth, Jeff Thomas, Claudia Y. Correa, Gladys Ortiz, Tania Del Rio, Kathleen Nealon Orlando, Teresa Polhemus, Nicole DeLisi DaSilva, Lou Scapicchio, Linda LoPriore, David Urkevich, Braulio Felipe and Fernando Ortiz.
The group spent the weekend canvassing and door knocking in the neighborhood to get support.
Candidate Joe Ruggiero said the Unity Slate represents a diverse cross-section of Eastie.
“We are community activists, business people, students, parents, mentors, non-profit volunteers and much much more,” he said.
The second group dubbed the “Fresh Slate” is made up of mainly Progressive Democrats looking to shake up Eastie’s Ward Committee. The Fresh Slate movement has spread throughout Boston as Progressives look to takeover Ward Committees across the city.
The candidates on the Fresh Slate are City Councilor Lydia Edwards, her Chief of Staff Gabriela Coletta and her staffer Ricardo Patron as well as Gail Miller, Kannan Thiruvengadam, Brian Gannon, Sandra Nijjar, Matt Cameron, Heather O’Brien, Victoria Dzindzichashvili, Zachary Hollopeter, Margaret Farmer, Jo Ann Fitzgerald, Giordana Mecagni, Dionyssios Mintzopoulos, Ben Downing, Lisa Jacobson, Jesse Purvis, James Rosenquist and Annesh Sahni.
Like the Unity Slate the Fresh Slate has been getting the word out to the community about their slate by attending community meetings, hosting meet and greets and canvassing the neighborhood.
If elected the group aims to bring the community into the process by holding widely advertised meetings that maximize public engagement; create channels for East Boston community members to express ideas and concerns, and act on them; and work to increase voter participation in Eastie.
Ward Committees are the ground-level official bodies of the Democratic Party. They represent the party to the community; endorse candidates for office; and elect delegates to the Democratic State Convention, which can determine which candidates get on the ballot for statewide office.
In March 2018 Eastie’s progressives attempted to put forth their own slate of nominees at the Ward I Democratic Caucus to elect delegates to that year’s Massachusetts Democratic Convention.
However, the plan backfired and voters at the caucus opted for a more traditional Unity Slate that included a cross-section of Eastie residents from different democratic ideologies and backgrounds.
In response to the failed slate at that caucus the progressives formed the Ward 1 East Boston Progressive Democrats.