Tom Gallagher is an American politician, activist, author, and educator who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 1st Suffolk district, which includes Allston–Brighton, from 1980 to 1986. After relocating to San Francisco, Gallagher had launched an unsuccessful campaign for California's 12th congressional district in 2020.

Early life and education

Gallagher was born and raised in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

, New York City. He earned a scholarship to attend Regis High School in Manhattan, and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Career

Gallagher ran unsuccessfully for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1978, losing narrowly to a 14-year incumbent. Gallagher defeated the incumbent in a 1980 rematch election, and represented the Allston–Brighton neighborhood of Boston until 1986. A member of the Boston chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, Gallagher was the first declared socialist state legislator in Massachusetts since the 1920s. After leaving office, Gallagher relocated to San Francisco and became involved in local

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

politics. Gallagher worked in the campaign for Proposition 186, which would have established a single-payer healthcare system in the state. He also worked on implementation of the

Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment Act The Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act (known informally as the Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment Act) is an act of legislation by the United States government. Impetus and strategy Unemployment and inflation levels began to rise in the ...

. Gallagher also worked as a substitute teacher in San Francisco and South San Francisco, California. Gallagher was a candidate for California's 12th congressional district in 2020, campaigning as a

alternative to

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

. Gallagher has contributed articles to

Common Dreams Common Dreams NewsCenter, often referred to simply as Common Dreams, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, U.S.-based news website with a stated goal of serving the progressive community. Common Dreams publishes news stories, editorials, and a newswire of cu ...

and has been profiled in ''Jacobin''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Tom Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from the Bronx Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Massachusetts Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area New York (state) Democrats New York (state) socialists Massachusetts Democrats Massachusetts socialists California Democrats California socialists Candidates in the 2020 United States elections Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life and education

Career

See also

References