McDonald Closes State Senate Primary Campaign as Progressive, Pro-Audit Candidate

Editor’s note: The following press release is from Carey McDonald, who is running for the Massachusetts State Senate 5th District, currently held by Sen. Jason Lewis.

MALDEN, MA – After a competitive summer race for the open 5th Middlesex State Senate seat, Carey McDonald is closing the contest as a strong pro-audit candidate, with the most progressive support in the race. With clear choices between candidates, the winner of the September 1 Democratic primary is likely to become the next state senator, as no Republican candidates qualified for the November ballot.

“We need fresh voices and new energy in the State House to tackle the urgent challenges we face,” said McDonald. “Our campaign has built grassroots momentum across the district, because people want our next state senator to fight for our communities and to take on the Trump administration.”

Positions on the voter-approved legislative audit emerged as a major difference between candidates in the campaign forums, with McDonald endorsing the audit while opponent Kate Lipper-Garabedian voted to restrict it. This week’s “Where’s Our Transparency?” event, which McDonald hosted with the pro-transparency group Act on Mass, highlighted the importance of following the will of the voters on the audit and public records at a moment when democracy is under attack. “Voters don’t understand why the audit hasn’t moved forward. It is so essential to understand what your elected leaders are doing to hold us accountable,” said McDonald. 

Candidates in the race also staked out different positions on Massachusetts’ collaboration with the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. McDonald, a nonprofit leader who has sued the Trump administration, strongly opposes the state’s voluntary contract with ICE, while Lipper-Garabedian has defended it. 

Leading progressive and environmental groups in the state have endorsed McDonald, including Progressive Mass, the Mass Working Families Party, Mass Alliance, Chinese Progressive Political Action, 350 Mass Action and Clean Water Action. McDonald also counts substantial support from unions, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 509, SEIU 32BJ, United Food and Commercial Workers 1445, Boston Teachers Union, and Malden Firefighters Local 902. 

“Carey McDonald is a proactive, engaged, responsive leader with a track record of building coalitions to pass much-needed policies to tackle the climate crisis, address the housing affordability crisis, and protect our immigrant communities,” said Jon Cohn, Policy Director for Progressive Mass. “This is the exact type of leadership we need in the State Senate.”  

Carey McDonald has served three terms as a City Councillor At Large, and is currently Finance Chair. They are endorsed by the most community leaders from Malden, including Mayor Gary Christenson, as the candidate who best represents the 5th Middlesex District’s largest community. Their campaign has focused on fighting the Trump administration, supporting the legislative audit and greater transparency, making life more affordable, and getting state funding for our local schools and communities. 

McDonald joined the contest for the open state senate seat following the defeat of Malden’s proposed tax override at the ballot in March, which they were the only candidate in the race to publicly support. “As Finance Chair, I’ve seen first hand how the broken system of funding for our schools and local governments is punishing our communities” said McDonald. “It’s not just Malden – Melrose, Stoneham, Winchester and now Reading have all had to ask for overrides this year. This is not how it should work. We need more solutions and more urgency from Beacon Hill, and that’s a big part of what pushed me to get into this race.”