Lydia Edwards endorsed by EMILY’s List

Lydia Edwards endorsed by EMILY’s List

Endorsement comes from the nation’s largest resource for women in politics 

BOSTON – Lydia Edwards has been endorsed by EMILY’s List in the special election to State Senate. Primary Election Day is December 14, 2021. General Election Day is January 11, 2022.

“EMILY’s List is thrilled to endorse Lydia Edwards for the Massachusetts state Senate,” said Sarah Curmi, vice president of state and local campaigns at EMILY’s List. “On the Boston City Council, Councilor Edwards has proven herself as a champion for her community, spearheading housing reforms and working to make Boston more affordable and inclusive. We are confident that Councilor Edwards will continue to serve her constituents well in her role as a Massachusetts state senator.”

From protecting health care choices to fighting back against environmental pollution that hurts pregnant individuals and children, Lydia will stand up for gender and reproductive justice in the Massachusetts Senate. As the daughter of a single mom, and as an organizer standing with low-income women and victims of labor trafficking, Lydia has always felt the critical draw to fight for gender and reproductive justice. Working as a law clerk, she watched young people, unprepared and forced to go through the court system to request medical care. These experiences, among others, drove her to advocate for passage of the ROE Act, legislation sorely needed in the wake of rollbacks of reproductive rights across the country.

On the Boston City Council Lydia sponsored legislation to provide workers’ paid leave for loss of pregnancy, ensuring that those who have already dealt with pain, grief, and difficult medical decisions are protected. She worked with colleagues on the Boston City Council to push for availability of menstrual products in public schools. She’s stood up for workers facing gender-based discrimination and sexual violence in the workplace. And as real estate developers increasingly seek to build studio and one-bedroom units, Lydia has fought to ensure housing is available to expecting parents and families with children.

EMILY’s List also most recently endorsed Lydia in her re-election to Boston City Council, ahead of the news of this open Senate seat and Special Election later this year. EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY’s List has helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 158 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILY’s List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color.

Lydia Edwards is a candidate for State Senate representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, following the departure of Senator Joseph A. Boncore. For a full and up-to-date list of endorsements, visit: LydiaEdwards.org/endorsements.

Councilor Lydia Edwards is a career advocate, activist, and voice on behalf of society's most vulnerable. She is currently the Chair of the Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Housing and Community Development in the Boston City Council. Learn more at LydiaEdwards.org/meet-lydia.