Patrick Roath, voting rights attorney, will challenge Stephen Lynch in Democratic primary for Congress
Roath's announcement comes as Democrats nationwide continue their soul-searching following their November losses, with some expressing anger
over President Biden's decision to seek a second term amid concerns about his
age and mental acuity. That anger has intensified as Trump has reshaped the country dramatically
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Many Democrats have called for longtime elected officials to step down and
politicians.
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Lynch, 70, grew up in a
'That failure to deliver and the failure to articulate is really the problem right now, and you're hearing that with lots of people who are speaking up out of frustration,' Roath said.
Roath grew up in Connecticut — though he noted his mother spent her early years in Greater Boston — and went to Tufts University before attending Columbia Law School. He spent the past decade working as a corporate attorney for Boston law firm Ropes & Gray.
He also has a lengthy resumé in Democratic politics. He interned in the White House under former president Barack Obama before working for Patrick, first as a deputy press secretary on the campaign and then as an aide in the governor's office. He also volunteered for several Democratic presidential campaigns, including knocking on doors in Pennsylvania last year for Vice President Kamala Harris, who took Biden's place atop the Democratic ticket.
While he has not previously served in elected office, Roath argues his political experience in those roles, as well as legal work involving voter protections and democracy — he previously led Common Cause Massachusetts' board — make him well-suited to tackle issues in Congress.
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Roath said some of the main issues he plans to emphasize in his campaign include making housing more affordable, improving health care and child-care costs, and working to make 'our democracy work better.' Those, he says, will be part of a pitch for 'articulating a vision of the future . . . that is exciting to people' and not just anti-Trump.
'There wasn't enough talk about important solutions for things like housing and health care and education . . . We've got to rebuild trust in government,' Roath said of Democrats' 2024 election losses.
'I see a real deficit of leadership in my representation . . . and I really do think that none of these things get solved without federal attention and an active and real federal response,' he added of why he is specifically running for Congress.
Still, taking on an incumbent with more than two decades of experience who has bested
several previous Democratic challengers will be no small task.
Last month, Lynch became the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, after US Representative Gerry Connolly, a 75-year-old Virginia Democrat, said he would step down as he battles
cancer. Lynch
Roath said his focus ahead of the September 2026 primary, 16 months away, is to be all over the Eighth District, introducing himself as he seeks to amp up his name recognition. Lynch has a '24-year lead on fund-raising, and I need to do everything I can [to]
just try and catch up and be competitive,' he said.
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Asked how much money he thinks he needs to raise, Roath was circumspect.
'People try to get a number from me on this all the time, and I'm like, look, it's as much as I can get, because I just need to get my name out there, and that's partly why I'm starting so early,' Roath said. He added, however, that he does not plan to take money from corporate super PACs.
Massachusetts' last congressional upset occurred in 2018, when Representative Ayanna Pressley
Democrats are readying themselves and hoping for a similarlyinvigorating election next year, with the goal of retaking at least one chamber in Congress.
'There's just an appetite right now for new people and new solutions and new energy,' Roath said, 'and, you know, I'm just hopeful that people will be responsive.'
Anjali Huynh can be reached at
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