Deb Hall Launches Bid For Worcester City Council

WORCESTER, MA — Deb Hall officially launched her 2021 bid for a seat on the Worcester City Council Monday, highlighting her experience in the community and diverse background.

Hall, 52, filed paperwork to run for City Council in November, and has since raised about $10,000. She joins a growing field of challengers with six others having either filed campaign paperwork or announced a bid for Council since the summer.

Hall points to her work experience — she is the director of domestic violence services at the YWCA of Central Massachusetts, but also the founder of the Worcester Black History Project and a member of the Worcester Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, among others — and her life experience as reasons for her run.

Her parents are mixed-race, having married in Germany prior to the 1967 Loving v. Virginia U.S. Supreme Court decision, which ended up banning laws against interracial marriage. She is one of three Black women running in 2021, and one of two openly gay candidates. Hall is a Worcester State University graduate.

"I’m running for City Council to build a Worcester where our neighborhoods are safe and healthy, our young people receive a high-quality education, and our government is accessible and transparent," Hall said in a news release. "I know that I have the lived, community-based and professional experience needed to bring people together, solve difficult problems and move Worcester forward."

The other six people who are likely running in 2021 include: political organizer Cory Bisbee; Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance advocacy director Etel Haxhiaj, who ran for a Council seat in 2019; Shirley Konneh, director for career development at Holy Cross; Newton Square resident Yenni Desroches; Main South resident Thu Nguyen; and neighborhood activist Johanna Hampton-Dance, who is challenging Candy Mero-Carlson in District 2.

District 5 Councilor Matthew Wally has also announced that he'll switch to run in the at-large race in 2021 to focus on citywide issues.

The Worcester City Clerk will begin accepting nomination papers for 2021 races on Tuesday. Candidates have until May 11 to submit papers ahead of the Sept. 14 preliminary election. The 2021 election will include At-Large and district Council races, plus races for the Worcester School Committee.