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Smulowitz runs for Brown’s old seat

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on April 28, 2010 9:43 PM

By Andrew Schofield, Features Editor -

Vacated by current US Senator Scott Brown, the open state senate representing the towns of Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex attracted several experienced lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

However, it is one of the unlikeliest candidates –Peter Smulowitz, a 32 year-old emergency doctor originally from California – that has found the most success so far, as voters will go to the polls on May 11.

For Smulowitz, it is not his experience in politics, but rather his experience in the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that makes him the most qualified candidate. “To me, clearly people are frustrated,” Smulowitz said in a meeting with several Gatehouse New England editors and reporters. “Every day, in the emergency room, I see people who’ve been out of work for a while or are facing depression … People feel politicians aren’t listening to them.”

Smulowitz argues that experience in the health care field is exactly what this state needs at this point in time. “Thirty percent of the state budget is health-care costs, and they are rising,” he said at that meeting. “We need to recognize we should not pay hospitals and providers based on market power but on value.” Smulowitz wants to use his experience in the health care field to work on and enact legislation specific to the medical – such as lowering health care costs and working on malpractice reform.

However, Smulowitz is no stranger to politics.  He is currently a Needham Town Meeting member, serves on the Board of Directors of Needham Opportunities Inc., and also started Needham for Obama in 2006.  Smulowitz is an opponent of utilizing casinos as a source of revenue for the state and is reluctant to support a tax on soda and candy, noting, “I’d be careful about increasing taxes at a time when people are struggling.”

Despite his lack of political experience, Smulowitz has proved to be quite formidable when it comes to fundraising.  In less than a month following Scott Brown’s victory over Martha Coakley, Smulowitz had raised $20,000 more than his democratic primary opponent, long-time State Rep. Lida Hawkins, who Smulowitz went on to defeat.

Smulowitz’s opponent on May 11, State Rep. Richard Ross of Wrentham, hopes to lower tax as well as create more jobs for Massachusetts men and women.  Ross hopes his six years of experience on Beacon Hill will stand in contrast to Smulowitz’s lack of experience on Election Day.

However, Smulowitz downplays his lack of experience claiming, “I’m coming to this not from the pathway as a simple politician,” Smulowitz said at the meeting. “In the emergency room, it’s easy for me to affect one person at a time. But I believe with new, better leadership, we can make a difference for more than one person at a time.”