Daniel Lander Launches State Senate Bid in First Contested Race in 13 Years

Daniel A. Lander ’14, a senior aide to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07, announced Monday he will run against longtime state Sen. William N. Brownsberger ’78 in the 2026 Democratic primary, launching the first contested race for the seat in more than a decade.

Lander, who has worked for Wu since 2021, said his decision to run was motivated by what he described as years of inaction on Beacon Hill, particularly as the cost of living in Massachusetts has continued to rise.

He told The Crimson in a Monday interview that he will step down from his position at City Hall in January to focus on his campaign.

“Massachusetts is my home. I grew up here. I love it, but it has gotten incredibly expensive to live here over the last 20 years,” he said. “The cost of housing, childcare, transportation, utility bills, everything has just gone through the roof.”

Lander pointed to expanded social housing, investments in public transportation, and reforms to make it easier to open small businesses statewide as priorities for his campaign. Several proposals addressing those issues, he said, have stalled in front of the state legislature.

“I've watched as our State Senate has seen good ideas come before them and then killed them,” he said.

Lander added that his campaign was an effort to give voters “their first choice” in over a decade.

Lander’s bid marks the first time the seat has seen a contested race in 13 years. Brownsberger, who has been a fixture of Massachusetts politics since 2006, has faced few challengers over the course of his career. After an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, he won election to the state senate the next year. He has not faced an opponent since.

Brownsberger, currently the third highest-ranking member of the Massachusetts Senate, has frequently clashed with the Wu administration — including over the mayor’s proposal to raise commercial property taxes. Wu has argued that the measure would shift the tax burden from residents to businesses, while Brownsberger has repeatedly said it would benefit wealthy homeowners at the expense of small businesses.

“We need to keep the city spending level as part of our affordability conversation around taxes,” Brownsberger said in a Monday interview. “Changing tax rates as a way of providing relief is not a very sound approach.”

Despite the challenge, Brownsberger expressed confidence in his record and welcomed the race.

“I welcome the opportunity to engage with voters in an active campaign,” he wrote in a statement to The Crimson. “I am eager to talk about my commitment to service, my record of delivering major reforms, and the challenges and opportunities facing the Commonwealth.”

“We’re just going to have to have a bigger megaphone, a bigger conversation, as a result of having a challenger,” Brownsberger added in the interview.

This is not the first time a challenger has gone toe to toe with a high-power incumbent representing Boston and Cambridge. In 2024, state Rep. Marjorie C. Decker defeated Evan C. McKay ’19, her first serious challenger in six years, by just 41 votes, marking one of the most contentious primary elections in the state.

Brownberger has already amassed nearly $200,000 in campaign funds as of early December, according to state records. Lander, whose account opened earlier this week, has not yet reported any contributions.

Lander acknowledged Brownsberger’s weight in the legislature, but said he had faith in his “grassroots campaign.”

“I gotta go get my message out there,” he said. “That’s gonna take a lot of hours of door knocking, a lot of phone calls, a lot of talking to my neighbors, but I'm confident I can win this,” he said.