One small thing I love about Juneteenth is that it’s not the celebration of when the Emancipation Proclamation or 13th Amendment passed, but when it reached the people. They are the main characters of this story.

For the #mapoli, #somerpoli, and #medpoli worlds, we're bringing on campaign fellows for the summer. If you want to get involved in a mix of policy and voter outreach, you can apply here: www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44...

Discourse around housing can sometimes lose sight of something important. Houses are physical objects. Making them costs money. Someone has to pay for that. With rising costs of construction, often the one paying is all of us. open.substack.com/pub/chrisoat...

Join us to celebrate the kickoff of our campaign (even though we've been doorknocking since March). Food will be provided, with activities for kids and a cash bar. partiful.com/e/hprc8v6tK1...

People care a lot about public education in Massachusetts. So where are the conversations about what that will look like with 20% fewer students? chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/long-term-...

Spoke with a convenience store owner today and she's starting to see spending go down. Worried that candidates running today on big promises may end up presiding over budget cuts. It's why seriousness in government matters: secure.actblue.com/donate/chris...

There’s actually a serious point in the ridiculousness of how politicians always claim their area is especially hard-working. People everywhere work hard. Economic management, institutions, policies, and government action help turn that hard work into overall levels of wealth.

After the riots in Belfast, is there any reason for Democrats, especially here in Massachusetts, still to be on Twitter? Thanks to the research from @pawlbologna.bsky.social we know it's not because they need it to research their audience? #mapoli

One question I get asked. Why can I do the job of a legislator? But the question we need to ask first. What is the job of a legislator? Here's a polisci approach: - Clarify the problem - Identify the right policy - Assemble the political coaltion chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/what-is-th...

Excited to finish a newsletter that includes political science theory. You may not be surprised, but a state representative race doesn't use a lot of academic literature. I was once recommended not even to include math in my platform. But I think that voters deserve more.

As it turns out, state rep races don't set up their own debates. So if you are a local org in Somerville or Medford, set one up and I'll be there!

We're running a transparent race, so we're telling you where your money goes. This week, it's to our first mailer to the district. Every $100 buys 160 postcards, which is 4 times the margin in a nearby 2024 race. secure.actblue.com/donate/chris... #somerville #medford #elections #mapoli

This is absurd. They’re behind Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google already. If I’m doing enterprise work, there’s no way I’d choose Grok. Even if AI does boom, this is not remotely realistic.

Journalism is the foundation of democracy and we need more of it. How to rebuild? My preference would be $250 tax credits for subscriptions to local outlets to help people not only get good reporting, but get in the habit of paying for it. #mapoli chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/how-to-reb...

Hate doing the typical political fundraising ask on socials, but we're only $1,600 away from paying for our first mailer to the district. This is a key one because it quickly closes the name ID gap that I face as a first-time candidate. secure.actblue.com/donate/chris...

I'm gonna test out whether Bluesky is good for an AMA. I'm running for state representative in Somerville and Medford, Massachusetts. My background is policy, academia, and startups. I've worked on statewide campaigns but this is my first time as a candidate. What would you like to know? #mapoli

Trans rights are human rights.

My takeaways from the Democratic Convention. 1. Any time you’re with committed citizens, it’s inspiring. 2. 4,000 delegates shouldn’t be able to keep a candidate off the ballot for 4.5 million voters. 3. We need more conventions and events! chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/notes-from...

I'm halfway through my current target of $6,000 for the first big mailer to the district and I want to be as transparent as possible about where the money is going: ThriftCo Printing in Peabody for 10,000 postcards (postage included). secure.actblue.com/donate/chris...

Build a $2 billion budget for Massachusetts and tell me what your priorities are: budget-game-xi.vercel.app. I'm tired of candidates promising the world when everyone knows they can't deliver on everything, so tell me what you want to be included when budgets get squeezed.

Calling all #mapoli folks. I've built a different type of survey, asking people to choose how to fund $1 billion in spending. Test it out and tell me what other items to include as options before I promote it to my district. budget-game-xi.vercel.app

Political marriage question. My wife and son are on my palm cards. I've already had two voters tell me they'll vote for me because she's beautiful. Do I tell her that, or would that lose me leverage at home next time we're deciding which British crime drama to watch?

AI is obviously a major issue this year, so I wrote on what the state government can do to help workers. Much more here: chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/what-state...

Running for office in 2026 is what they call in rugby a hospital pass. Next year there's an $837 million deficit projected for the MBTA, amid a possible decline in Fair Share revenues and interest rate hikes. More on that here: chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/the-mbta-d...

I'm officially on the ballot. It feels much less like a celebration and more like the start of a mountain of work. Feeling good that we've built the machine of the campaign and we know why we're doing this. Now it's a 3 month sprint to contact as many voters as possible.

A depressing part about being a candidate is seeing how easy it is to mislead voters. I've always assumed that my work will be scrutinized and it's weird to exist in a world where that isn't true. open.substack.com/pub/chrisoat...

Campaigning in 2026: phonebanking while reading about Ukrainian drones minesweeping in the Gulf

Something I can't stress enough to candidates: get asked tough questions from professionals. Last night, I met someone who kept pushing me on my theory of change for Beacon Hill. Even though it was in my head, I had never actually written it down. An email became a memo to any future staffers.

In high school we translated it (or read a translation of it - can't remember) as the "man of many ways" which looking back made it seem like he was more talented than conflicted.

Putting together a list of the emptiest phrases in politics to ensure that I never mention them in my own writing. Top of the list - “thoughtful policy” - “people-powered” - “community-oriented” Any more?

I'm curious what politicos make of this holding a question tactic. Pretty clearly designed so that it suits a still for social media or video with the sound off. Is that a clever way of getting a message through? Or does it feel too gimmicky and will backfire?

Somerville has something this year that it hasn't seen since Richard Nixon's first term. All of its State House elections are contested. chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/somerville...

It's so insulting to PhDs who spent years learning how to be needlessly wordy

It’s called message discipline

Gerrymanders are now accepted as part of American life. But think about what they mean. Without a single voter changing their mind, we can change who has power in a legislature. That's like saying without changing the score of the game, we can change who wins the Superbowl.

Great news.

Anyone in the housing or political digital media space have a good reason why the Instagram algo thinks housing is a male-dominated issue? Data from a reel about building more in the Boston area.

Campaigning is a lot like the startup world, where some breakthrough lifts you up, before the grunt work brings you back to earth. Today I used geojson shapefiles to match contacts to their House district. It worked! Saved so much time! Then I stuffed 50 envelopes and wrote the addresses by hand.

Parents - especially primary caregivers - are underrepresented in our politics. Campaigns are almost perfectly designed to conflict with family responsibilities and so the rooms where decisions on childcare are made don’t contain those affected chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/parents-an...

As a candidate for the State House now, I can see up close how this happens. You get inundated all the time with groups with specific asks, and it's so easy to just say yes to all of them, knowing that you either don't have to follow through or you disappoint them after you win.

#mapoli is struggling with high energy prices and a reliance on fossil fuels. One solution: follow Australia by helping to add more solar and storage to generate our own clean energy literally at home. chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/how-solar-...

If Democrats win a trifecta in 2028, their first act should be proportional multi-member districts to finally put an end to gerrymandering once and for all. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I’ve hit my first thousand doors of the campaign. Here are some lessons learned. chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/lessons-fr...

Amazing to see algorithmic media at work. One of these are the analytics for a TikTok video on housing policy. The other is about childcare costs. Since their algo pushes content to who it thinks wants to see it, this is a platform effect than just what viewers want.

How I can get bills through the State House is a common question. But it's not something I can do alone. In a healthy democracy, all elected officials are worried about the next election. The All-Party Primary ballot question would help with that. chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/getting-to...

Being interviewed as a candidate for print can be a daunting task, not knowing which of your words will be quoted. But state races aren't like the presidency, where every word is parsed. Here, getting any coverage is difficult. chrisoatesforrep.substack.com/p/being-inte...

This -- not new natural gas pipelines -- is what's going to rescue New England's energy system & bring down bills.

Somerville and Medford! going live with weekly office hours now at meet.google.com/oep-stvg-tqc. Let me know what you want the Commonwealth to do differently!

My four year old got upset at the start of soccer so I spent the practice carrying him and I think he still touched the ball more than Bentancur in the first half.