Massachusetts residents are told the economy is thriving. Yet for most of us, it has never been harder to afford rent, child care, or healthcare. Many of us struggle to remain in the communities we love. This growing inequality isn't accidental. It is the product of a political machine that manages inequality instead of challenging it. And it's no surprise in a system where politicians claim to stand up to corporate greed, but still count CEOs, Lobbyists, and Developers among their top donors.
We need real change. As an organizer, I’ve learned that change is won when we build collective power. Whether we're bringing together tenants in our neighborhood, taking collective action with our coworkers on the job, or uniting with other activists for a vision of a brighter future - when we unite our communities to organize around a positive vision, that's when we can win real change. And by focusing on the concrete changes our communities urgently need, we make clear the difference between empty rhetoric and real impact.
My Commitment For The Commonwealth is rooted in four priority areas: Affordability, Justice, Community Defense, and a Secure Future. As Governor, I will use the full power of the office, including appointments, budget authority, emergency powers, and public leadership, to build a Commonwealth that puts people before profit.
But real, lasting change can only come from the bottom up. To win this platform, we are going to need a movement.
The obscene and rapidly rising rents, unattainability of homeownership for the vast majority of us, and the normalization of homelessness constitute nothing less than a crisis. I proudly support Rent Stabilization on the ballot this November, and as Governor, I will declare a housing emergency, use state land to build tens of thousands of permanently affordable homes, and tie all new state housing funding to strong rent stabilization and tenant protections. We will tax luxury real estate speculation and corporate landlords to fund a new Social Housing Authority that builds quality, mixed-income housing for people, not profit.
Nobody should go bankrupt because of a medical emergency. But our state leadership is bought and sold by Big Pharma. As Governor, I will pursue a state-level universal healthcare system through a public single-payer framework, aggressively use Medicaid waivers to immediately expand coverage, and cap hospital and pharmaceutical costs through the Health Policy Commission. Massachusetts once led the nation by expanding coverage. It's time we lead again — this time by taking on the insurance industry and cutting out the middlemen driving up costs.
When I was a single mom at the age of 19, a child care voucher changed my life by giving me the opportunity to study, work, and build a stable life. I will make child care a universal public good — in every community, not just in the 26 Gateway Cities but in every city and town across the state by expanding state-funded centers, increasing the pay for child care workers through collective bargaining standards, and guaranteeing 2K-4K care for working families.
I've heard it time and time again from people across the state: soaring utility costs are making the housing crisis even worse. I will appoint regulators to cap rates, aggressively audit utility profits, expand and improve MassSAVE, stop predatory energy distributor marketing schemes, and work toward a publicly owned power authority that provides energy at cost.
Public transit should be fast, frequent, and reliable enough that most people don't need a car to live their lives and have the freedom to get where they want to go. As Governor, I will appoint leaders to make buses fare-free statewide, fully fund the MBTA and the Regional Transit Authorities, and accelerate electrified regional rail and the vitally-needed North-South Rail Link so that working families can save thousands of dollars a year by not being forced into car payments, insurance, and gasoline costs. Public transit can't be a backup plan; it is the backbone of an affordable Massachusetts.
When voters passed the Fair Share Amendment and taxed million-dollar income to fund schools and transportation, wealthy lobbyists demanded relief — and Governor Healey pulled a fast one on voters by obliging them in the form of major breaks on short-term capital gains and large estates. Time and time again, she's argued that “job creators” would flee. They didn’t. Working families are the ones being pushed out — by rent, by healthcare costs, by utility bills. I will stop governing in fear of the wealthy and start governing in the interest of everyone else.
This has been my life’s work — from serving as a criminal defense lawyer in my community, to serving time myself for a bad mistake I made and took accountability for, to organizing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people at a national level. In my work, we say criminal legal system — not “criminal justice” — because there is no justice in a system that punishes poverty, trauma, and addiction while ignoring the conditions that create harm. As Governor, I will halt construction of any new women’s prison, expand clemency and parole, end cash bail for low-level offenses, and redirect funding toward mental health care, addiction treatment, housing, education, and good union jobs in all communities — addressing the social conditions that create crime and making our communities safer. We don't need more cages; we need opportunity.
Over the last few years, we have witnessed in horror how our nation has armed and aid Israel in carrying out a genocide in Palestine. It is the largest crime against humanity of our lifetimes. It is unacceptable that Maura Healey and Democratic politicians have contributed to the normalization of this genocide by continuing and encouraging state business with Israeli firms such as Sheba ARC. As Governor, I will be clear in my support for Palestine, end contracts with firms complicit with genocide, and divest funds connected to firms complicit in the genocide.
No one who works full-time should live in poverty. I will fight to raise the minimum wage to a true living wage and stop wage theft. I will also work to outlaw "captive audience" union-busting and use executive authority to require labor peace agreements and card-check neutrality for companies receiving state contracts. I will be the Organizer-In-Chief, using the bully pulpit to encourage worker organizing and help workers exercise their collective, democratic power to improve their workplaces and communities.
Massachusetts is not a hunting ground for ICE. I will bar all state cooperation with federal immigration raids and direct the Attorney General to prosecute illegal detentions and excessive uses of force. Our state agencies will protect people, not terrorize them.
As the LGBTQ+ community is under attack in the United States, Massachusetts must stand strong as a sanctuary state. As Governor, I would codify protections for gender-affirming care and end discrimination in every state-regulated arena.
When educators in Brookline, Malden, Newton, North Andover, Gloucester, and Beverly got to the point of having to strike for smaller class sizes and critical student supports, Maura Healey called on them to stand down and threatened legal penalties. I will never discourage the democratic will of workers to fight for what they need to do their job. I support the right of public sector workers to strike, and as Governor, I will use the power of the office to strengthen collective bargaining rights.
In the next few years, AI will radically transform our economy — and without clear rules, it will concentrate power, exploit creative work, and eliminate jobs. I will impose a moratorium on new data centers until strict labor, water, and climate standards are enacted, and require companies deploying AI in state services to meet rigorous transparency, privacy, and intellectual property protections. Massachusetts will lead by regulating AI to protect people’s data, defend workers’ livelihoods, and ensure new technology serves the public.
Higher education has been reshaped by a corporate agenda and a predatory student loan industry that turned education into a lifelong debt trap. Education is not just job training — it is the foundation of a meaningful life and a democratic society of critical thinkers. Community college and workforce programs matter, but everyone deserves access to four-year public education. As governor, I will make our public colleges and universities free, cancel state-owned student debt, and invest in higher education as a public good through progressive taxation.
Massachusetts has some of the best public schools in the nation. But those schools are in our richest communities. I will fully implement and expand the Student Opportunity Act, guarantee that all school meals are free, and shift funding toward districts that have been historically underfunded. Where a child lives should not determine their future.
Climate change has been made a back burner in our politics at a time when we can least afford it. While Maura Healey claims to be a climate leader, her support for new natural gas infrastructure and for cutting MassSAVE programs moves us backward. As governor, I will declare a climate emergency and launch a whole-of-government mobilization to reach 100% clean energy on the fastest responsible timeline. We will stop fossil fuel expansion, rapidly scale offshore wind and solar, electrify buildings and transportation, and fund climate disaster readiness in every region of the state.
But a just transition isn't just about energy systems. It means creating a statewide Environmental and Climate Jobs Corps that will put people to work in retrofitting homes, restoring ecosystems, and strengthening public infrastructure. It also means creating jobs in low-carbon sectors of our economy, in education, healthcare, the arts, and community services. There is no shortage of work to do. We will direct state capacity, investment, and procurement power toward protecting workers’ livelihoods and building a resilient, low-carbon Massachusetts that leads the nation.