Somerville Educator Running For State Representative

SOMERVILLE, MA — A Somerville educator and former State House aide is running for State Representative.

Olivia Gilligan-Corsetti is seeking to represent the 27th Middlesex District, joining Somerville Ward 3 City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen in the race for the open seat after incumbent Erika Uyterhoeven launched a campaign for State Senate earlier this year.

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Gilligan-Corsetti is a third-generation Somerville resident, engineer, educator and former political aide. She earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and now works as a substitute teacher in Somerville Public Schools. Her political experience includes serving in former State Rep. Denise Provost's office, working as a field organizer for Gov. Maura Healey's campaign before joining Healey's constituent services team, and managing former Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne's 2025 reelection campaign. She also previously served on the executive board of the Young Democrats of Massachusetts.

Gilligan-Corsetti said she decided to enter the race after learning the seat would otherwise go uncontested and believes voters should have a choice in who represents them on Beacon Hill.

"I decided to run when I learned the open seat in my home district was uncontested, and I felt it was urgent to give voters a choice — especially now, when state legislators are the last line of defense against a federal administration actively working against our residents' rights to abortion, immigrant protections, and food, fuel, and housing benefits," Gilligan-Corsetti said in a statement.

Her campaign is centered around four primary issues: housing affordability, healthcare, education, and environmental protection. According to her campaign website, Gilligan-Corsetti supports expanding affordable housing, increasing rental assistance, strengthening regional rail service, improving access to women's healthcare, expanding addiction treatment and caregiver support, and banning glyphosate-based pesticides in Massachusetts while investing in urban tree canopy and trail connections.

Environmental policy has become one of the campaign's defining issues, which Gilligan-Corsetti said stems from her own family's experiences.

Her priorities on environmental policy and women's healthcare are rooted in her family's experiences, including her sister's battle with endometriosis and her father's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Her campaign says those experiences have shaped her support for expanded healthcare access and a ban on glyphosate-based pesticides in Massachusetts.

Gilligan-Corsetti has also highlighted her experience working in constituent services as preparation for the Legislature, saying it taught her how to help residents navigate state government and connect them with services and benefits. Her campaign also says it does not accept contributions from corporate political action committees and is entirely grassroots-funded.

The winner of the Tuesday, Sept. 1 Democratic primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general election to determine who will succeed Uyterhoeven. According to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Ewen-Campen and Gilligan-Corsetti are the only candidates who have officially filed for the seat.

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