The 1st Suffolk Senate has a slight majority of residents of color in a district that stretches from the Seaport to parts of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. Nick Collins of South Boston has represented the district since 2018, when he succeeded Linda Dorcena Forry, the pioneering Haitian lawmaker from Dorchester.

Collins, who served four terms in the House, has provided excellent constituent service and built working relationships with Black elected officials. State representatives Chynah Tyler, Brandy Fluker Reid and Christopher Worrell have endorsed him, as has Forry.

Collins has courted Black voters, driven in part by competition from LaToya Gayle, who is Black, a children’s advocate from Dorchester backed by Mayor Michelle Wu. Collins and Wu had a falling out after he helped block a home rule petition to allow Boston to shift more of its tax burden to commercial properties and off homeowners.

The result was a 13% increase in residential property taxes. Collins has tried to shift blame to the mayor, but the underlying problem is Beacon Hill has no business micromanaging how cities and towns distribute their tax burden.

Despite that misstep, the Banner editorial board finds Collins to be a white lawmaker working hard to represent a diverse district that is 28% Black. That honest effort and his legislative experience give him an edge over Gayle and a third candidate, Juwan Skeens.

Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner