Tom Melville, Veteran Boston Journalist, Campaigning for MA House of Representatives

Veteran Boston Journalist Tom Melville Running Campaign For Massachusetts House

Veteran Boston journalist Tom Melville, formerly executive news director at WBUR and news director at New England Cable News (NECN), has launched the general election stage of his campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives – to represent Wrentham, Norfolk, Plainville, and parts of Medfield, Millis, and Walpole. Election day is Tuesday, November 3rd.

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Melville spent 17 years at NECN, rising from his role as the network's chief political correspondent to senior leadership roles and eventually news director. He spent nine years managing local news in a number of roles at WBUR, including executive news director. He was previously a television anchor and reporter in markets across the U.S. He began his career as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic. An attorney licensed in his native Massachusetts, Melville is a graduate of Boston University and Boston College Law School. A longtime community volunteer, Melville has lived for 33 years in Medfield. He and his wife Lisa have two adult daughters.

Melville, a Democrat and now the party's nominee, is running a campaign to be an engaged, responsive, full-time state representative in a district where the current state representative, Republican Marcus Vaughn of Wrentham, led the 160-member Massachusetts House last year in most missed votes, tied with one other representative. Among Vaughn's missed votes was the $60.9-billion state budget.

Melville's focus is on providing funding relief for the six towns in the district, supporting public education, healthcare access, housing affordability and government accountability. He supports the audit of the Massachusetts legislature. He has shared his constituent services plan, including regular office hours in all six towns, and a monthly email and website update with all of his votes and the reasons for them.

In an era of harsh social media messaging, Melville is focused on civility in our government and politics. He has pledged to fully represent all his constituents, no matter their party or for whom they vote. "The harsh social media environment – and the lack of independent news organizations covering our towns – makes the need for civility in all we do ever more important. The divisive language in our culture has bled down from the White House to our corner of Massachusetts here in the Ninth Norfolk District. We can do better. I seek to lower the temperature of our politics, and represent everyone. Our children and our grandchildren deserve to grow up in a vibrant democracy where they are treated and spoken to with kindness – so that they themselves can model that behavior."

Early voting begins in Massachusetts on October 17th.