SOMERVILLE – Today, Rebekah Gewirtz, a Democrat and progressive activist living on Lowden Ave, announced she is running for Ward 6 Alderman.
Gewirtz, who has been a resident of the city for five years, is no stranger to local politics. She is the former Legislative Director to Representative Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville), the former chair of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville, and a lead activist on Carl Sciortino's (D-Somerville) campaign for State Representative. She currently works as a community organizer at the Commonwealth Coalition – a statewide coalition of liberal and progressive groups – working on issues such as campaign finance reform.
"I'm excited to take on this new challenge," said Gewirtz. "I believe the families and residents of this neighborhood want an alderman who has a real commitment to their concerns. I’m running because I share those concerns."
Gewirtz has been active in the community since working as the Somerville coordinator for the Robert Reich for Governor Campaign in January 2002. Though Reich did not win statewide, he won the Democratic primary in Somerville. Following this campaign, Gewirtz and other progressive activists went on to form the Progressive Democrats of Somerville to engage more local residents in local and statewide affairs.
Gewirtz has tapped Rachel Berry, Sciortino's campaign manager, to run her campaign. Berry believes that Gewirtz will be a strong candidate, commenting, "Rebekah has been such a committed and effective leader here already. She's really shown how dedicated she is to this community and has a tremendous amount of support even at this early stage."