From Jordan Berg Powers, director of the Mass Alliance, Aug. 29, 2016: As director of Mass Alliance, a coalition of varied organizations dedicated to making Massachusetts more progressive, I hear countless elected officials claiming they’re progressive. That makes sense; we work hard to enact our vision of a better commonwealth, and politicians want to sound like they are with us.

In this race for the 26th Middlesex District of Cambridge and Somerville, the progressive choice is clear: Mike Connolly.

Mike was raised in public housing, benefited from Head Start and other social services and with a scholarship, worked his way through college. He put himself through law school, became an attorney and established himself as a community leader serving the public interest. He knows firsthand the importance of our commitment to every child.

By contrast, state Rep. Tim Toomey has twisted himself in all directions trying to rewrite his voting history, but the record is clear. When given the chance to support public education, Toomey voted not once, but twice, most recently in April, to sell our schools off to big corporate donors. Toomey had a chance to fulfill his promise of MBTA expansion – but time and time again voted against additional revenue that would support projects such as the green line extension and Somerville community path. At a time citizens are making it clear they want more support for addiction and less mass incarceration, Toomey voted four times since 2014 to expand mandatory minimum sentencing. Toomey is out of step with the progressive leadership voters in Cambridge and Somerville deserve.

Issues important to Mike are issues important to us: a clean, safe environment, public schools that provide our kids with a quality education and an economic system that gives working families a fair shot. For us, the largest progressive organization in the commonwealth, Mike was the only choice in this race.

That’s why so many of our members have joined us in endorsing Mike Connolly. Trust Progressive Massachusetts, the National Organization for Women, NARAL, the Sierra Club or the National Association of Social Workers, among others.

Now they are trusting you to wade through the distortions to make the right choice. Don’t be fooled by state representatives trying to rewrite history because they are worried about an election. We need Mike’s core values and vision for a better commonwealth in the State House. We need you to send him there by voting for him on Thursday.