Government

Meet Lydia Edwards, State Senate Candidate

Lydia Edwards spoke at the Ward 3 Democrats Candidates Forum this week and took questions from committee members.

Edwards is a resident of East Boston and is a public interest lawyer who advocates for labor issues such as unemployment insurance, back wages, fair treatment for domestic workers, and tackling human trafficking. Fluent in Portuguese and conversational with Spanish, Edwards is focused on advocating for affordable housing, better wages, earned sick time, protection from discrimination and the earned income tax credit.  She was recently endorsed by Boston City Council President Michelle Wu.  Edwards is a graduate of American University, Washington College of Law, and also holds an LLM in taxation from Boston University School of Law.

At the forum, Edwards spoke about her work toward the passage of the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights and her concerns regarding income inequality. She supports maintaining the cap on charter schools to support and improve public schools. She agrees with local control of liquor licenses and the legalization/regulation of marijuana. Edwards would push for a major tax credit to allow residents to stay in neighborhoods with increasing housing costs.

Candidates are vying to fill the First Suffolk and Middlesex district seat left open by the recent resignation of Anthony Pettruccelli. The district includes Boston’s North End / Waterfront, Beacon Hill, East Boston as well as Revere, Winthrop and parts of Cambridge. All candidates are running as Democrats with the Special State Primary Election set for April 12th.

View more candidate videos and all of NorthEndWaterfront.com coverage of the State Senate election.