Politics
Willie Burnley Jr. is challenging incumbent Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, a two-term mayor who was first elected in 2021. Councilor Jake Wilson is also running.
YesOn4
YesOn4-2
Somerville City Councilor Willie Burnley is joining a somewhat crowded race for Somerville mayor ahead of the election later this year.
Burnley, an at-large councilor first elected in 2021, announced his bid for mayor Sunday on Instagram. The progressive councilor noted his advocacy and legislation supporting renters, and said as mayor, he would “implement a Green New Deal for Somerville Public Schools.”
“With a federal administration determined to roll back our rights, decisive local leadership is more important than ever,” Burnley said in a statement announcing his campaign. “I believe I can bring our community together around shared values that will create a safer, more sustainable, and economically stronger Somerville.”
Burnley is challenging incumbent Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, a two-term mayor who was first elected in 2021 as the successor to former Mayor Joe Curtatone, who had served since 2004. Councilor Jake Wilson is also running for the job, The Boston Globe reported in December.
In a new campaign video, Burnley, a renter who said he was at one time priced out of Somerville, is seen at at Yafa Bakery and Arts at the Armory.
“Somerville is a city of squares. A city filled with artists, educators, and entrepreneurs, all fighting to make our home a better place,” Burnley said in the video. “We deserve a mayor who will fight just as hard to transform our shared values into a reality.”
Burnley made headlines as one of the elected officials calling for an end to tenant-paid brokers fees, which Governor Maura Healey then proposed to eliminate through an outside section in her budget proposal last month.
Burnley, who is polyamorous, was also featured in a New York Times article for the city’s pioneering antidiscrimination laws for people in polyamorous and other consensually nonmonogamous relationships. He also was behind a resolution to use federal relief funds to pay off medical debt for residents and another to add 29 miles of bike lanes by 2030.
In a comment to Boston.com, Burnley said he would bring managerial experience to the job. He worked for Sen. Ed Markey’s re-election campaign, where he first hired his own team, and served on hiring committees for the City of Somerville. He was previously endorsed by Markey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley for his council seat, as well as multiple unions.
If elected, Burnley would be the first Black mayor of Somerville, a city of 80,000, and would one of the youngest, he said in a statement.
Boston.com Today
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.