Hello Waltham Residents,

My name is Sean Diamond, and I’m running to represent the Middlesex 9th District in the Massachusetts General Assembly. I moved to Massachusetts in the summer of 2012 with my (now) wife Lauren. I’ve been working in Waltham since 2012 in the solar department of a utility company. Once Lauren and I (and our cat Louise) were fortunate enough to able to save up enough for a down payment, we decided to move to Waltham in 2019, landing in the Warrendale neighborhood near the Watertown and Belmont lines.

With an academic background in physics and climate change science, I have spent my entire professional career so far working on sustainability, clean energy, and climate change initiatives. While these areas remain a major focus area, I am now optimistic that the technical solutions to avert the worst impacts of climate change are readily available and that the remaining challenges are primarily economic, social, and regulatory in nature.

Outside of my professional career, I spent a lot of time reading, watching, listening, thinking about, and discussing philosophy, history, economics, and politics with friends and neighbors in Massachusetts as well as friends and family “back home” in Pennsylvania.

Having grown up in south central Pennsylvania (a deeply Republican stronghold in a divided state) but living the majority of my adult life in greater Boston (a Democratic stronghold in a state effectively under single-party rule), I have very pragmatically been registered as a member of first the Republican Party in Pennsylvania (to vote for local and congressional candidates running unopposed after the primary), the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania (to cast a vote in the 2008 presidential primary), and then the Democratic Party in Massachusetts (in order to help a candidate get onto the primary ballot as a gubernatorial candidate in the 2018 state convention).

That said, I have never been fully comfortable in either major party, and I subsequently “unenrolled” from the Democratic Party in order to regain my choice of ballot during each primary election cycle under MA state election laws.

I understand that as a society we’ll never make much progress if we only chase after either “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (as the Democratic Party advocates would contend) or “liberty, freedom, and independence” (as the Republican Party used to represent until it turned to more authoritarian policies and insurrectionist tactics). Instead, I’ve been searching for candidates that understand we need to combine the best ideals of both parties and leave the other ideological baggage behind.

When the nascent Forward Party emerged in the summer of 2022 with the vague slogan “Not Left. Not Right. Forward!”, I was intrigued but skeptical about the intentions of its leaders. However, as the party evolved, merged with other organizations, outlined a long term strategy, and notably decided to avoid endorsing a “spoiler” candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election cycle, I have become convinced that it could grow into a new viable party for the 21st century that is centered around respect - combining equity and liberty to make progress.

In 2023, I took on the role of Forward Party State Lead in Massachusetts, attempting to re-energize, re-build, and re-organize the state level organization after the initial leaders lost momentum following the failure of the Ranked Choice Voting ballot initiative in 2022. In talking to potential volunteers and others interested in the ideals of Thriving Communities, Free People, and Vibrant Democracy over the past year, I’ve come to realize that everyone is looking for more substance and more detail. My aspiration as State Lead over the next decade is to build a viable, sane, and competitive second party in the Commonwealth — something that the Republican Party of Massachusetts (aside from the occasional Governor) has failed to do for several decades.

So after some significant soul searching following the loss of my last remaining grandparent in January of this year, I realized that in order to help future volunteers, candidates, and (frankly) donors understand what a Forward Party candidate and platform could look like in Massachusetts I needed to lead by example — to put my proverbial (and literal) money where my mouth is.

I decided to run for the Middlesex 9th District specifically, because (aside from living in the district) I recognized that (despite some pretty atrocious gerrymandering) the district covers most of Waltham, the city where Lauren and I intend to spend the foreseeable future if not the rest of our lives.

More important than geography, I noticed that by the end of the current legislative session, the incumbent will have spent of 24 years in this position (while also holding a position on the Waltham City Council) and has run unopposed on either the primary or general election ballots for over a decade. Even more audaciously, a few days before any candidate was even able to pull nomination papers, the incumbent mailed out a postcard to constituents stating that the election for the Middlesex 9th District would effectively be decided in the Democratic Primary due to the lack of a Republican challenger. Regardless of policy position or legislative achievements, this level of arrogance in an incumbent politician is a warning sign for complacency in government and stagnation in society!

Therefore, while technically running as an “independent” candidate due to MA election laws regarding formal political party recognition, I aim to appear on the ballot for Middlesex 9th District in the general election this November as the first Forward Party candidate in Massachusetts, joining candidates in other states across the nation as we champion respect for everyone’s time and attention in government, business, and society.

With your support, I hope to represent the residents of Waltham from every political party or none at all, including life-long residents and those that have made a home here more recently, with the dignity and attention they deserve.

Respectfully,

Sean Diamond
Waltham Resident &
Candidate for Middlesex 9th District