Firefighter unions endorse Dawson for state representative in 8th Suffolk race

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Josh Dawson, a Democratic running for state representative of the 8th Suffolk district has been endorsed by state and local firefighter unions

The Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, Boston Firefighters Local 718, and Cambridge Firefighters Local 30 announced their endorsement of Dawson Thursday.

Edward Kelly, president of the Professional Firefighters of MA said that Dawson’s upbringing in a working class family gives him the insight he feels is necessary in a local representative.

“He understands the importance of safeguarding health care and public safety benefits for first responders so we can in turn do our job to keep the public safe,” Edward Kelly, president of the Professional Firefighters of MA, said in a statement, citing Dawson’s working class upbringing.

Dawson, a Back Bay resident, is running against Jay Livingstone, an attorney from Beacon Hill, in a Democratic primary to replace former state Rep. Martha “Marty” Walz who resigned in February to head the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

The district encompasses parts of Beacon Hill, West End, Back Bay, and Cambridgeport and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Josh has a strong record of community activism and legislative experience that he’ll put to work as a State Representative for parts of Boston and Cambridge,” Rich Paris, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, said in a statement.

Dawson, 30, is the former chairman of the Democratic Ward 5 Committee, and has worked as the executive director of state Treasurer Steve Grossman’s campaign committee and as the legislative and budget director for Brockton state Senator Thomas Kennedy.

Livingstone, 39, an attorney in private practice who has previously worked as a prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney’s office, is a board member of the Beacon Hill Civic Association. He has been endorsed by Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, the Sierra Club, Mass. Alliance, Progressive Massachusetts, ten Boston locals, and former primary candidate Nils Tracy.

Dawson has also been endorsed by State Treasurer Steve Grossman, State Auditor Suzanne Bump, and City Councilors Mike Ross and Tito Jackson.

The two will meet Thursday for a forum in Cambridgeport.

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.