Councilor at-large forum is Wednesday
Somerville Stands Together hosts a forum this week for the eight candidates on November’s ballot for four councilor at-large seats. The forum is 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday via Zoom. Attendees can register online.
Incumbents Will Mbah and Kristen Strezo are running for reelection in addition to Ben Wheeler, Jon Link, Marianne Walles, Jack Perenick, Holly Simione and Scott Istvan.
The forum is co-sponsored by several other community groups, including 350Mass Cambridge/Somerville, the Community Action Agency of Somerville, Friends of The Somerville Community Growing Center, Greater Boston Labor Council, Team-Groundwork Somerville, Mothers Out Front – Somerville, Padres Latinos, the Racial Justice Collaborative, Somerville Educators Union – SEU, The Welcome Project and the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District.
Four endorsements for Walles
Ward 5 councilor Naima Sait, Ward 3 School Committee member Sarah Phillips and state representative Christine Barber endorse Walles in her run for councilor at large, Walles said in an Instagram post this week. Barber represents the 34th Middlesex District, which covers the northernmost sections of Somerville. Barbers’s district sits north of that represented by Erika Uyterhoeven, who has also endorsed Walles.
The support comes after endorsements by Ward 1 councilor Matt McLaughlin, Ward 3 councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, Ward 4 councilor Jesse Clingan, Ward 1 School Committee member Emily Ackman, state senator Lydia Edwards and Uyterhoeven were posted by Walles in recent weeks.
Union endorsements for Wilson, Strezo, Link
The Somerville Firefighters Local 76, a chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, endorsed Strezo for councilor at large and Jake Wilson in his run for mayor. Wilson and Strezo posted that they had been endorsed on Instagram this week.
The Local 2222 chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and District Council 35 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades endorsed Wilson too, he posted.
Link was endorsed by Local 2322 chapter of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Link posted on Instagram.
Davis endorses Wilson
Ward 6 councilor and City Council president Lance Davis endorsed Wilson, following McLaughlin, Ewen-Campen and Clingan in the past month, while Ward 2 councilor JT Scott endorses current councilor at-large Willie Burnley Jr. in his run for mayor.
Chameleon Tattoo shares support for Burnley
Rueben Kayden, owner of Union Square tattoo shop Chameleon Tattoo, supported Burnley via Instagram. “He is a choice that supports not only your business but the entire body art community in Somerville,” Kayden said in a Sept. 11 Instagram post.
This post was updated Oct. 6, 2025, to remove an endorsement.
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