Belmont resident Nomita Ganguly started her career on Beacon Hill in the 1990s as a researcher, and has spent the last two decades as an advocate within the State House.
Now, for the first time, she’s running for elected office.
Ganguly is challenging Rep. Dave Rogers for the 24th Middlesex District House seat, representing Belmont, and parts of Arlington and Cambridge.
Ganguly has worked as a legislative advocate since 2005, lobbying for older adult and disability organizations. In her role, she’s worked alongside state lawmakers to push for increased access to health care and additional funding for Councils on Aging. She said last year’s budget process was the tipping point that inspired her to run for office.
“I feel like it’s getting progressively harder for underrepresented groups to be heard. I feel like there’s less and less legislation that’s going through and the process is much more controlled, and there’s less participation from the public, there’s less opportunities for the public to effect change,” Ganguly said.
Ganguly has lived in Belmont for 18 years, and in Arlington for seven years before that. She was an active volunteer while her children went through the Belmont school system, serving on the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) at Wellington Elementary School and Chenery Upper Elementary School and as co-president of the Foundation for Belmont Education.
If elected, Ganguly said she will prioritize what she’s been focused on for decades: ensuring the health and security of the state’s aging population, as well as the formula for Chapter 70, the primary source of state funding for schools.
“We have [a] growing number of people over 65 and the system isn’t really set up for that number of people. It’s very expensive, it’s very hard to get care. Anyone who has a parent or who’s in that situation will know that it’s extremely hard to find care, and it’s very hard for low and middle income people,” she said.
Ganguly touted her experience in the State House; from working “inside” as a research analyst for the Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee and later as an associate council for the Senate Ways and Means Committee to more recently as an advocate.
“I’m very concerned about this issue of transparency and accountability, and I think that maybe when you are inside the system and you’re part of the system, it’s hard to see what’s not going right,” she said.
The Sept. 1 primary contest in the 24th Middlesex is one of several within the Democratic Party.
“It’s hard to to challenge someone in your own party, but I think that the more we have people challenging incumbents, the message gets out there that people are not satisfied, and it’s not working for people, and the more voices we get included in the who are elected that can help change that culture. I think it will move things forward,” she said.
She noted that Rogers, who serves as chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, is part of the legislature’s leadership. The position comes with benefits for constituents, but she added that there are also drawbacks.
“It’s hard to make change to shift the culture if you are part of that culture,” Ganguly said, adding she feels that as a new face in the House, with relationships she’s cultivated over the years, she will still be able to effect change.
