The race for the Bay State’s eighth Congressional District has turn into a contest in earnest, after an ex-staffer from former Gov. Deval Patrick’s workplace introduced he’ll problem U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch for the Democratic Celebration’s nomination.

Patrick Roath, the Boston-based lawyer and voting rights advocate, in making his marketing campaign announcement, stated he’s in search of a seat in Congress to deliver “real solutions to Massachusetts’ 8th District.”

“We need new leadership, big new ideas, and new people in Congress. Just doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years is not working. That is more obvious now than ever. We need people in Congress who can stand up to the Trump Administration and fight for our rights with urgency and creativity, while also laying out a plan to ensure that future generations get to experience the American dream of opportunity,” Roath instructed the Herald.

Roath beforehand labored as a Patrick marketing campaign deputy press secretary, earlier than briefly changing into an aide within the former governor’s workplace. In response to his LinkedIn web page, he interned within the Obama White Home and with the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace in Boston. He additionally served as a legislation clerk within the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals and most just lately as an affiliate on the legislation agency Ropes & Grey.

In a video shared to social media, the 38-year-old Roath stated he’s operating as a result of “everything is on the line right now with Trump in the White House.”

“And we’ve got to have people who are ready to go down there and fight for us, and stick up for us, and defend our democracy,” he stated.

He instructed the Herald “that kind of leadership is absent in Washington right now, and it is absent in this district. The priorities and style of governing that may have worked twenty-five or thirty years ago are not suited to today’s challenges.”

Roath spoke about his household historical past, sharing that his mom and father met and located a method into the center class by way of good jobs at IBM. An obvious trendy absence of that form of “American Dream” story, one which individuals don’t “hear so much anymore,” is what led him into public service, Roath stated.

After declaring that it’s time to “fix our politics,” Roath stated he wouldn’t settle for cash from company political motion teams, however would as a substitute goal for grassroots funding assist. In response to Roath, the marketing campaign has “had a great start so far, raising $115,000 through the first 24 hours of the campaign.”

Lynch, whose marketing campaign didn’t return a request for remark, first entered Congress by way of the state Legislature in 2001 when he gained towards a big subject of contenders in a particular election to fill the seat vacated after the loss of life of long-time U.S. Rep. Joe Moakley. Not lengthy after he would go on to win a basic election towards state Sen. Jo Ann Sprague.

The voting demographics of the eighth District have traditionally been such that the Democratic Celebration major is, for all intents and functions, the precise election. The final time a Republican held the seat was from 1943 to 1955, when Angier Goodwin served in 78th via 83rd Congresses.

The previous iron employee final confronted a major challenger in 2020, when present Commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Public Well being Robbie Goldstein launched a bid for the seat solely to lose by greater than 30 factors. In 2018, Lynch fended off one other pair of challengers by a fair bigger margin. Since his first election, no Republican or Impartial has managed to safe greater than a 3rd of the eighth District voters in a basic election race towards Lynch.

In brief: it’s truthful to say nobody has ever efficiently provided the Congressman a severe problem from inside the Democratic Celebration or from with out.

Initially Printed: Might 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM EDT