Beverly City Councilor Officially Launches State Representative Bid

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly City Councilor Hannah Bowen officially launched her bid to represent the 6th Essex District as state representative on Monday as one of three candidates who have declared their intention to run in the upcoming special election.

Bowen is running to fill the seat that Jerry Parisella vacated when he was nominated and confirmed as an Associate Justice of the District Court. The 6th Essex seat represents Beverly and Precinct 1 in Wenham.

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"Public service is my way of giving back," Bowen said in an announcement sent to Patch, "from working on Economic Development with the Peace Corps to my current role as executive director of a non-profit bringing people together to solve difficult problems across the North Shore."

Bowen was raised by her dad, a former employee of General Electric and her mother, a public school art teacher.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree from Yale University and a Masters Degree from Harvard.

"When I was elected to the Beverly City Council I got right to work," Bowen said. "I took on National Grid and won protections for residents for the transmission line project, passed an ordinance allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, and increased transparency and auditing of city government.

"I'm running for state representative to bring that same hard work and leadership to the State House."

City Councilor Todd Rotondo, who held a campaign launch event at the Off Cabot Club on Wallis Street last week, and Beverly Chamber of Commerce President Medley Long have also publicly stated their intentions to run for the seat.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)