PRIORITIES

Residents of Melrose, Malden, and Wakefield deserve dedicated, professional, and unwavering elected leaders with a proven record of delivering for their community. Leila will be that leader: she has spent the past decade serving her community, working with neighbors and local organizations to strengthen Melrose and the surrounding region. As a City Councilor for 6 years, and President for her final two years on the Council, she has a deep understanding of the complex issues that affect municipalities. 

With more than 25 years of experience in higher education, government and nonprofits, Leila has shown up and gotten results. She has led on the issues that matter, including the creating the first-ever Melrose Affordable Housing Trust, enacting tax relief for seniors, advocating for critical infrastructure projects, and supporting public schools.

On Beacon Hill, Leila will: 

  • Defend Massachusetts from federal attacks on democracy 

  • Increase affordability for seniors and families

  • Expand health care access and protect reproductive freedom

  • Advocate for strengthening public schools’ funding, protecting immigrant rights, and building more sustainable communities

  • Provide effective, responsive constituent services

  • Affordability means different things to different people, but the stress caused by an unaffordable region needs real and lasting solutions. As a mom with two school-aged kids, I understand this firsthand. Every time we leave the house as a family, it feels like we're spending over $100 on things that never used to be so expensive.

    Policymakers on Beacon Hill must view every action through an affordability lens. Put simply: how can we work together to take action to make Massachusetts more affordable?

    As your state rep, here's where I will start:

    • Fighting for free and universal early childhood care, starting with state tax credits to reduce costs.

    • Supporting policy measures to expedite the production of more housing and expand first-time homebuyer programs, which I did as a City Councilor with the creation of Melrose's first affordable housing trust.

    • Lowering prescription drug costs, implementing cost-containment measures, and taking on pharmacy benefit managers that drive up healthcare costs.

    • Reducing utility bills by diversifying our energy supply, cutting unnecessary charges, expanding consumer oversight, and utilizing targeted utility relief.

    • Working with municipalities to expand programs that provide tax relief to seniors, as I did on the Melrose City Council.

  • I am committed to protecting reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, and health equity for my constituents and the entire Commonwealth. At a time when reproductive rights and women’s health are under attack at the national level, it is more important than ever to stand up to protect these rights, improve health outcomes, and support people most impacted by these disastrous national policies.

    As your state rep, I will work to:

    1. Strengthen and protect reproductive freedom through legislation that reinforces Massachusetts’ existing protections for abortion and contraception and maintaining/expanding shield laws that protect patients and providers from out-of-state investigations or legal actions.

    2. Expand access and affordability of reproductive and maternal health care by advocating for broader insurance coverage and reducing cost barriers by expanding MassHealth eligibility and coverage.

    3. Advance maternal health equity by prioritizing policies that address racial and socioeconomic disparities in maternal health outcomes.

    4. Improve access to providers and modernize care delivery by investing in training and retaining OB-GYNs, midwives, and clinicians and expanding telehealth for medication abortion, contraception counseling, and prenatal/postpartum care.

    5. Ensure comprehensive, inclusive sexual health education by supporting statewide standards requiring medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, culturally responsive sex education in public schools.

    I am also honored to have received an endorsement from Reproductive Equity Now, a champion of providing access to reproductive health care and abortion resources across New England. Reproductive equity is about more than the legal right to abortion. It encompasses equitable access to the full range of reproductive health care, resources, and supports related to bodily autonomy, family planning, and healthy communities.