Newton Mayor Setti Warren Officially Announces His Bid To Run For Governor

NEWTON, MA — Mayor Setti Warren announced he will run for Governor of Massachusetts. The announcement came during a block party Saturday afternoon - complete with ice cream, face painting and balloons - on the street where he grew up in Newton and just blocks from City Hall, where he has served as mayor for two terms.

Warren timed his announcement and his promise to focus on the state's economy just days after the city council approved his $388 Million spending plan for Newton. The bulk of his announcement speech focused on improving economic equality in the state.

"I believe that combating economic inequality is the defining issue of our generation," Warren said. He added that he wanted to implement new strategies to "fight the scourge of economic inequality in the Commonwealth, and give people opportunities to work hard and get ahead."

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Warren also talked about needing a single payer health care system, making public colleges free, improvements on public transportation, called for a push for bullet trains and finishing the South Coast Rail project. He reaffirming a support for public education.

As Warren's second term in the city as mayor was coming to a close, the Warren family - two children included - had a number of conversations about his next steps, said Tassy Warren, his wife after seven years of public service in Newton.

"I said if this is the job you want to do you have to go for it. And this is what he cares about," said Tassy, adding the family was excited and ready for the next steps. And his life as Newton mayor prepared them well, she said. "I've been comparing this to having children," she said. "When you have your first child everything changes. When you have your second child, yeah it's a lot of work, but you adjust."

Abigail Warren, Tassy and Setti's oldest child had an opinion on her father's run for governor, too.

"Well, I think it's really cool that he wants to help a lot of people. It's really awesome," she told Patch.

Warren enters the race for Massachusetts governor along with two other Democratic candidates hoping to unseat Republican Gov. Charlie Baker in next year's election, although Baker has not yet formally announced his intentions. Former Gov. Michael Dukakis is on Warren's finance committee and said he has high hopes for Warren.

"I think his chances are good, but this is going to be a lot of work, I gave him the same speech I gave Deval [Patrick] and Elizabeth [Warren]," said Dukakis, referring to the importance of grass roots campaign. "We can do a lot better in this state, and I think Setti can do it."

Dukakis's wife Kitty was on the scene with their cockerdoodle and also spoke highly of Warren, whom she's known since he was a toddler.

"He has a capacity that is unusual. Not only is he a very bright guy, but he has an ability to say what needs to be done and then he does it. When Setti says he's going to do something, he's going to get it done," she said.

See below the Dukakis dog (who declined to comment for this article).

Check out the live Facebook Video of Setti's announcement:

Catch up on the governor's race here.

Photos by Jenna Fisher, Patch Staff