The Berkeley Beacon

Candidate Patrick Roath ‘challenges status quo’ at Democracy Walk with David Hogg

Who needs a traditional congressional race campaign with suits when you can don colonial outfits and see former Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee David Hogg “eat shit on the cop slide,” ? Congressional candidate Patrick Roath’s historical walking tour of Boston was anything but conventional.  Jamaica Plain-based attorney Roath is running for Congress in the 8th district of Massachusetts against incumbent Stephen Lynch, who has been in Congress for almost 25 years. Roath’s director and Emerson College alum Trey Fuccillo ‘25 helped organize the April 8 tour. It checked off iconic locations such as the Old South Meeting House, Old Statehouse, Faneuil Hall, and City Hall Plaza’s playground, famous for a viral video of a police officer tumbling down a playground slide in 2023. Hogg, a progressive activist and co-founder and president of the political advocacy group Leaders We Deserve, who endorsed Roath earlier this year, joined the tour.  Fuccillo slid down the cop slide in a colonial style wig, hat, and cape with Roath and Hogg in regular clothes at the end of the tour. Nearly 100 attendees watched each of them while enjoying cannolis provided by local businesses in the North End. “We wanted to do something kind of goofy and different to get people excited about this,” Roath said in an interview with The Beacon.  Having fought for automatic voting registration and mail-in voting in Massachusetts as an attorney, Roath emphasizes affordability and separation from corporate interests in his campaign. Meanwhile, his opponant Lynch asserts himself as a “champion of the working class” and has focused on foreign policy as a member of the Subcommittee on National Security. Roath has criticized Lynch for voting for the war in Iraq in 2002 and going against the Affordable Care Act in 2010, commonly referred to as Obamacare. During the walking tour, organizers walked around with sheets asking for signatures to get Roath on the ballot, needing 2,000 signatures total. Roath told The Beacon that he is close to reaching that number.  Roath and Hogg spoke about the need “to challenge the status quo” within the Democratic party.  “[Challenging the status quo] is about fighting for the things that matter, that’s showing up for people. It is about being for something and not just being against the other side,” Roath said.  Hogg criticized Lynch for repeatedly voting with Republicans.  “We need Democrats who can stand up and say that they’re proud to be a Democrat and vote like it too,” he said.  To gain enough votes, Hogg stressed the importance of getting young people to the polls.  “We’re gonna have to expand the electorate, and that means getting the attention of the people who traditionally do not turn out. That’s a lot of young people,” Hogg said to the crowd. Roath echoed that statement, noting that a focus on policy platform and optimism could attract a younger voter demographic.  “I think young people are really concerned about the direction of the country,” Roath said. “Both in terms of what they see as our democratic structures falling apart … but they’re also worried about whether they can afford a home in their communities.”  Jack Arnheiter, Roath’s campaign manager, said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s walk through New York City inspired him to plan a similar event for Boston’s Freedom Trail.  “How many Democratic events can you go to where you just sit in a room and listen to someone talk?” he said. “Let’s get out there and do something unique.”   Allen Scholl, a voter from Jamaica Plain, Mass., said he’s “excited about the potential for new leadership” and didn’t know about Roath until he ran for Congress.  “I’ve been fairly unimpressed with the current congressman, and I just think we need some new blood,” Scholl said. Although he wasn’t fully certain, he said he was “strongly leaning” into voting for Roath and that a focus on affordability could sway his vote. Antonio Agcaoili from Quincy, Mass. said he came to the event to support Roath and shared his disappointment in Lynch.  “You know, [Lynch] is the same guy who says that the media was too hard on Donald Trump when he got elected … This is the guy who’s bent over backwards to vote with Republicans,” he said. “We need someone who’s actually going to listen to supporters and not hector them.”  A video of Lynch repeatedly telling a constituent at a political rally, “I get to decide that,” regarding what is best for the country, surfaced in February of last year.  Agcaoili considers the choice of who to vote for as “an easy one” for Roath.  In a written statement to the Beacon, Hogg lauded Roath.  “The era of cowardly and do-nothing Democrats who side with Republicans over their constituents’ well-being is over,” the statement read.  The post Candidate Patrick Roath ‘challenges status quo’ at Democracy Walk with David Hogg appeared first on The Berkeley Beacon.