Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss Announces Run For Congress

NEWTON, MA — Newton City Councilor-at-Large Jake Auchincloss announced he plans to run for the Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional seat, jumping into a race Thursday that's shaping up to have some competition.

He's the second Newton resident and fifth person to announce they intend to make a run for the seat that Rep. Joe Kennedy is set to leave as he challenges Sen. Ed Markey for his seat in Senate.

Brookline's Ihssane Leckey was the first to declare she was running back in May, expecting to challenge Kennedy himself. Then, Brookline resident Alan Khazei, who co-founded City Year, announced his candidacy last month. Newton City Councilor Becky Walker Grossman declared last week as well. Wednesday, the former communications director for Gov. Deval Patrick, Jesse Mermell, also of Brookline, announced. And several more hopefuls appear to be circling.

“As a Marine officer in Afghanistan and Panama, I was proud to lead Americans who put service before self,” said Auchincloss in a release. “In my hometown’s City Hall, I’ve led from the front on transportation, housing and the environment, to create more equal opportunity for all. I’m running for Congress to lead from the front once more. The stage is bigger and the stakes are higher, but my commitment is the same: to our common values of service and opportunity. I’ll work to secure a Green New Deal that brings home funding for Massachusetts to reinvent its transportation system, to pass progressive gun-safety and immigration legislation, and to guarantee health care as a right for every American.”

Auchincloss planned to begin his campaign by greeting voters at transit hubs throughout the district, beginning with his home stop of Newtonville at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

After graduating from the Newton Public Schools and Harvard College, Auchincloss served as a captain in the United States Marines. He commanded infantry in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2012 and a reconnaissance unit in Panama in 2015.

He came home and was elected to the Newton City Council in 2015 and was re-elected in 2017 making reducing traffic and improving walkability a priority.

Auchincloss was the first elected official to endorse Ruthanne Fuller for mayor, who went on to become the first woman to fill the role of mayor in the city.

Auchincloss has worked at a cybersecurity startup and then as a manager at Liberty Mutual’s innovation lab. He lives in Newton with his wife, Michelle and their Labrador Retriever.

The Fourth Congressional District includes parts of Bristol, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester counties. Before Kennedy was elected in 2012, Barney Frank held the seat from 1981 until Kennedy took over.

Read more:

• MA Treasurer Deb Goldberg Eyes Joe Kennedy's Seat
• Arrival VR: Ihssane Shares Her Immigration Story (2019)
• Joe Kennedy Mulling Senate Run Against Ed Markey (August)
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Sen. Ed Markey
• Joe Kennedy Announces Run For Senate
• Newton's Grossman Declares Run For Kennedy House Seat (Sept.24)
• Several Brookline Residents Eye Kennedy's Seat In Congress (Sept. 25)
• Brookline Resident Jesse Mermell Announces Run (Oct. 2)

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).