Special to the Journal
Revere School Committee member Anthony D’Ambrosio has officially declared his intent to run for State Senate. The following is his announcement.
“My name is Anthony D’Ambrosio, and I ask for your vote in the Special Election of December 14th to represent you and the 1st Suffolk and Middlesex District in the Massachusetts State Senate.
Encompassing Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, the North End, Chinatown, and parts of Cambridge, our Senate District is one of the largest and most diverse in the Commonwealth. Whether we’ve lived here all our lives or arrived just yesterday, all 188,000 of us were drawn to the many opportunities that this District provides. For me and my family, these opportunities have included life-changing education, good jobs, and a welcoming place to call home.
I have deep roots in our community. My paternal grandparents immigrated to East Boston in 1972 and later started a successful landscaping business, Revere Gardens Company, which serviced the local area. My maternal grandparents immigrated to the US in 1968 and have lived in Winthrop. My mother, aunt and uncle are all proud Winthrop High School graduates. My father, also an immigrant to the US, attended both East Boston and Revere public schools. Today, he operates a community law office in Revere. I have spent years in the District, living primarily in Revere but frequently visiting family in Winthrop, East Boston, and the North End. I stand on the shoulders of my grandparents and parents, who came to this country from Southern Italy with literally the clothes on their backs and have given me the privilege to run for Senate today.
As an adult, after graduating from Yale University and the University of Cambridge in England, I returned to Revere and began working as a financial analyst in the technology industry. My job gave me a front row view of the ways in which technology is radically transforming our economy. With a job at the intersection of finance and technology, I wanted to ensure that future generations of students are likewise prepared for the 21st century economy. That is why I ran for the Revere School Committee and why I am now running for Senate. I hope to give back to my community and bring a new, outsider’s perspective to the State House.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our community in virtually every way imaginable. It laid bare all our society’s vulnerabilities and inequities, as well as the ways in which our leaders are failing in their obligations to Massachusetts residents. Like so many others, I watched loved ones be hospitalized with Covid-19. One of the most painful periods of my life was watching my father struggle to breathe while hospitalized despite supplemental oxygen and incredible medical care. Even with the progress Massachusetts has made in containing the virus, the fear and pain of losing loved ones or seeing them suffer has still not dissipated for my family and countless other families in our community.
As a member of the Revere School Committee, I took calls over the last eighteen months from dozens of Revere parents who had to make the extraordinarily difficult decision to quit their jobs to provide care and educational support to their suddenly homebound children. This decision meant sacrificing half or even the entirety of their household incomes.
I similarly heard students describe falling months behind in their schoolwork because they did not have access to consistent, reliable Internet, despite living just a few miles away from some of the top research universities in the world. This inequity, among others, inspired me to lead the creation of an Equity Advisory Board in Revere that will work to eliminate educational disparities.
Additionally, I pushed for increased mental health services for children in Revere Public Schools. Through my research and conversations with city leaders across the District, I know that similar numbers of students in Winthrop, Boston, and Cambridge public schools have also struggled with mental health issues over the past year.
These situations are unacceptable. We need to immediately allocate federal relief funds to help our children TODAY, not in two or three years when the damage cannot be repaired. While the old ways of Beacon Hill are still prevalent, we need new, modern ways of examining our problems and planning for the future.
We are at a pivotal moment where we can not only recover to a pre-pandemic normal, but also rebuild in a way that prepares our residents—and especially our children—for the challenges and promises of the 21st century. I am running for State Senate because I want to help ensure that the District that has given so much to me and my family can continue to do so for generations of families to come.
Join me. I again ask for your vote.â€
