State Representative Pat Jehlen won a Democratic primary election for the Massachusetts state senate on Aug. 30.
Jehlen will now compete in the general election on Sept. 27 where she will face off against Republican William A. White for the district that includes the Tufts campus and surrounding areas.
The primary was held after the state senator for the Second Middlesex District, Charles E. Shannon, Jr., passed away in April. The Second Middlesex District contains the towns of Medford and Somerville, as well as the town of Winchester, and a small part of Woburn.
Jehlen received 38 percent of the vote, beating out Somerville lawyer Joseph Mackey with 27 percent. Michael Callahan and Paul Casey came in third and fourth with 22 percent and 13 percent of votes, respectively.
"I think that we won the primary by talking very strongly about Democratic values [like] funding education and general healthcare," Georgia Hollister-Isman, a spokeswoman for Jehlen said. "I think those are values that the majority of people in this district care about."
Jehlen has represented half of Somerville in the state house of representatives for the past 14 years. She obtained an early endorsement from West Medford State Representative Jim Marzilli.
Jehlen's platform for the general election remains focused on healthcare and education.
"These are issues where we have the opportunity to make real progress," said Hollister-Isman. "The cost of healthcare is skyrocketing, and more and more people are dropping their insurance, making costs skyrocket even more."
Jehlen is in favor of universal healthcare, and would like to overhaul problems in the bureaucracy in the department of education, Hollister Isman said.
"[Pat] is also frustrated with the current state of the department of education," she said. "It makes it very hard for individual teachers to develop a curriculum that works."
Jehlen's web site highlights her efforts to lower housing costs, protect homosexual rights, increase local government aid and close tax loopholes.
White, her opponent in the upcoming general election, has been an alderman for eight years in the city of Somerville. His number one priority in the campaign is job creation.
"The Massachusetts economy is still in rough shape," White said. "You have to have a comprehensive economic plan to create jobs where the state works closely with communities."
If elected, White said he would like to put forward proposals that would evaluate the economic situation.
The district is predominantly Democratic, but White is confident his prominence in the community will carry him through the election.
"I've been an alderman for eight years in the city of Somerville, and I think I've developed a very good reputation," White said. "I look at the issues and develop solutions based on the issues, not on partisan politics."
