Swampscott Democrat Launches State Representative Bid

Swampscott MA

09 March, 2022

1:59 PM

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SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A Swampscott Democrat who served as the Chief Financial Officer of MassHealth is running for the 8th Essex seat in the State House of Representatives. Doug Thompson said this week he is running for the seat to bring his experience a health care policy expert to the State House and be a "independent problem-solver" on Beacon Hill. "As the Chief Financial Officer of MassHealth I worked closely with the legislature to manage the early years of health care expansion in Massachusetts from 2007 to 2009," Thompson said in a statement. "In the private sector, I built a successful healthcare company, Perfect Health, that provided primary care to seniors at home, an innovative approach at the time that has since become the ideal. "And now, I am running for the state legislature to bring my policy and financial expertise, and experience as an innovative leader to help make our state government more efficient and more effective." Thompson is running for the seat open after Rep. Lori Ehrlich vacated it when she was named the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Region 1 Administrator. He lives in Swampscott with his wife, Ingrid Strong, and their daughter. Ingrid is an architecture professor and a Swampscott Historic District Commissioner. Thompson was at MassHealth during its first years when the state instituted its "first-in-the-nation" universal healthcare system under former Gov. Mitt Romney. Thompson said his record of success in both state government and the private sector uniquely positions him to contribute on day one to address the important issues facing the 8th District and Massachusetts — economic opportunity, climate change, health care affordability and government transparency. "I came to Massachusetts like so many others, to get a topflight education.," he said. "I stayed because I love this place, the sense of community and the unlimited potential of its people. But we have much work to do — to address the existential challenge of climate change, to decrease the opportunity gap that has led to so much economic disparity, and to finally get the spiraling costs of health care under control. "Massachusetts has always been a leader when it comes to policy innovation, so I know that we can tackle these big issues. I look forward to making a positive contribution to progressive change in collaboration with forward-thinking people in the district and on Beacon Hill." (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)