Running as an Independent candidate for Massachusetts’s 7th District Congressional seat is Nathan Smolensky, a non-profit manager based in Somerville.
According to Smolensky, “We need Independent voices to speak up,” “now more than ever. The parties are becoming increasingly polarized, and that means more strong-arming and undermining in our politics, and somehow even less getting done. The Democrats and Republicans are locked in this endless tug-of-war, and the American people are paying the price. But we can break the partisan stranglehold by demonstrating a formula for Independent success, and if we do that we can really change things.”
His political approach emphasizes non-partisan themes including strengthening local problem-solving by fostering collaboration between federal and local governments, eliminating wasteful and unsustainable spending to improve government efficiency, and establishing a viable Independent political model that could reshape the current two-party dynamic marked by dramatic shifts in power.
Since 2013, the 27-year-old has served as president of the Massachusetts Chess Association, a non-profit where he is best recognized for his contributions. Through his leadership, he developed Chess for Early Educators, an educational initiative featuring pilot curricular programs taught by public school instructors across several Somerville schools.
The district encompasses Everett, Chelsea, Randolph, Somerville, roughly 70 percent of Boston, approximately half of Cambridge, and about half of Milton. Incumbent Democrat Michael E. Capuano of Somerville has held the seat unopposed in general elections since the district was redrawn in 2013. The district’s composition could actually benefit Independent candidates, as Smolensky contends: “That’s the beauty of running in a district like this one. There’s no third-party or spoiler stigma. You’re not asking anyone to throw their vote away. You don’t have that bogeyman of the greater evil to scare people away from voting Independent. This is the kind of environment we [Independents] can thrive in, and, thanks in part to gerrymandering, there are a lot of places we can find it.”
Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley has mounted a primary challenge against Capuano. No additional candidates have announced their candidacy at this time.