11 More Community Leaders Endorse Brookline’s Raul Fernandez

BROOKLINE, MA —Eleven more community leaders have endorsed former Brookline Select Board Vice Chair Raul Fernandez for State Representative.

The endorsers include Alisa Conner, Amanda Zimmerman, Chanda Jones, Graciela Mohamedi, Jonathan Klein, Justin Brown, Lewie Roberts, Robert Miller, Robert Morris, Paul Epstein, and Vena Priestly.

“On the Select Board, Raul built coalitions to deliver real, progressive results in a system predisposed to favor the status quo, and we’re confident he’ll be just as effective on Beacon Hill,” the endorsers said in a sign-on letter. "His track record speaks for itself: When Raul is confronted with injustice, he adds seats at the table for those most acutely affected and does everything he can to bring about a just solution."

“In Town Meeting and on the Select Board, I’ve been proud to work with many of these supporters to deliver transformative progress, and I’m honored they’ve chosen to endorse my campaign,” Fernandez said in a statement. "All of us deserve a well-functioning State House that reflects our progressive values. With less than two weeks until Election Day, I’m excited to have more community leaders joining our campaign."

“As a municipal elected official, I saw firsthand the way inertia at the State House stymies progress cities and towns make locally,” he continued. "In theory, the home rule process gives local leaders a voice at the state level — but too often, our Representatives allow bold, progressive home rule petitions to languish for years with no action. We’re all-too-familiar with these roadblocks here in Brookline: had our 2019 home rule petition to enact a real estate transfer fee been acted on in the legislature, we would have already generated $50 million in new funding for affordable housing in Town. I’m honored to have earned the support of this slate of municipal leaders, all of whom have been on the forefront of fights to move their communities in a more progressive direction, and I’m excited to partner with them on Beacon Hill.”

The eleven new endorsers join a growing list of supporters of Fernandez’s campaign, including Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, two-term Brookline Select Board Member and 2020 Congressional candidate Jesse Mermell, former Congressman Joe Kennedy, 2020 Congressional candidate and Brookline Public Health Advisory Council Chair Natalia Linos, Brookline Select Board Member Dr. Miriam Aschkenasy, Brookline School Committee Members Mariah Nobrega and Suzanne Federspiel, Brookline Asian American Family Network Chair Chi Chi Wu.

Fernandez has also been endorsed by 27 municipal endorsers from across Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, SEIU Locals 509 and 888, Mass NOW PAC, Progressive Mass, Mass Alliance, Act on Mass, Incorruptible Mass, Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity, and the Brookline Equity Coalition.