Former State House staffer, activist, and lawyer Mark Martinez announces his candidacy for the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 7th Suffolk District, which includes parts of Roxbury, Mission Hill and Fenway.
“This district is the heart of the city, and a thriving 7th Suffolk means a thriving Boston,” Martinez said. “Without a healthy heart, the whole body fails. The lack of urgency on Beacon Hill means problems that disproportionately burden the residents of this district go unaddressed. Housing costs continue to rise, Black and brown communities are overpoliced and underinvested in, and the communities that contribute the least to climate change are left to bear the heaviest burdens. The people of this district deserve a fighter with a proven record of working in coalition to tackle these issues head on. I am running for State Representative to be the fighter, the collaborator, and the leader the people of this district deserve.”
Mark is the former Legal Counsel and Budget Director to State Senator Patricia D. Jehlen. As a renter who has experienced housing instability, a food service worker who has had to scrape together tips to pay rent, and as the child of a formerly incarcerated mother and a father who lost his life to an overdose, Mark has lived the struggles faced by too many people in the district. Mark’s combination of professional and lived experience makes him ready to serve the district and tackle the most pressing issues on day one.
Mark is also actively engaged in community as a Steering Committee Member for the Highland Park Neighborhood Coalition and a board member of the Highland Park Community Land Trust. He serves on the board of MassEquality, the leading statewide grassroots advocacy organization for issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community and helps run the Boston chapter of the New Leaders Council, which provides training to the next generation of progessive leaders. Mark lives in the Highland Park Neighborhood of Roxbury with his rescue dog Tallulah, where he has lived since moving to Boston to attend law school at Northeastern University.
If elected, Martinez would be the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color, and first nonbinary person elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature.