Newton Youth Movement Leader Madeline Ranalli Plans To Continue

NEWTON, MA — She did not win the Special Election, Tuesday, but Madeline Ranalli earned 6,436 Newton votes of the more than 14,500 cast. She called it a step in a larger movement.

“While these results aren’t what we hoped for, we are building a movement, and movements aren’t measured by momentary setbacks," she said.

What she saw in the numbers was that a significant number of Newton voters — including large numbers of young people who she and her team engaged in the political process — put their trust in the ideas behind her candidacy, she said.

Ranalli ran on a campaign that promised to include the voices of the people who would be most impacted policy or inaction on everything from climate change to housing to racial injustice.

In the process — at age 20 and as a college student at Harvard — also set a precedent for youth political participation and public service.

During the course of her campaign, Ranalli — who previously helped organize the March For Our Lives — pulled together a coalition of sorts that included endorsements from a range of progressive organizations that included labor unions, 11 city councilors, and local leaders. She also built a core team of organizers led by young people.

The campaign echoed a larger movement of young people getting more involved in local politics during the past few years.

“The movement we’ve built here in Newton is a testament to the fact that young people aren’t just the future, we’re the present,” Ranalli said. “My campaign shows the organizing power of our city’s young people, as well as the multigenerational coalition of support we built, united by a shared commitment to progressive change.”

It wasn't always easy.

Ranalli said she received death and other threats during her campaign, and had to call the police in January about a harassment campaign. Then ahead of the elections she said people had threatened her about campaigning in her own ward, meaning she spent much of the day elsewhere.

Still, she said she was proud that she kept her campaign positive and issues-based.

“In a race marred by negativity and ugliness, I’m glad we were able to stay positive and focused on the issues,” Ranalli said.

She didn't say what's next for her, but did leave room for the possibility of a run in November.

“Newton needs to lead the way for other cities and towns, and there is a lot of work to do,” Ranalli said. “This is just the beginning.”