Chris Boyd is still waiting for his American dream.
Growing up in Bellingham, Boyd experienced firsthand the struggles of a low-income American family and remembers when the 2008 recession hit home. With his single mother providing their only income, Boyd said, his family had to rely on public assistance programs.
“Let’s make sure that we’re investing in these programs to make life more affordable so that we can actually get that American dream,” Boyd said, “because we were promised an American dream and I’m still waiting for that deposit in my bank account.”
Boyd, 31, studied music at Rhode Island College and became a music teacher. Now he’s running in a five-way Democratic primary for Congress in Massachusetts’ 4th House district in an attempt to unseat Rep. Jake Auchincloss.
Boyd said his decision was the culmination of decades-long frustration with Democrats not willing to act on issues they had campaigned on.
“It’s really that lack of fight and that lack of action that has slowly been building up over time,” Boyd said.
Boyd said he wants to ensure that public assistance benefits such as the Supplemental Food Assistance Program will be protected for future generations.
He said it isn’t just his campaign—it’s “ours,” including the volunteers and community members Boyd connects with. He’s campaigning on three pillars: democracy, affordability and investing in our future.
These pillars were based on discussions and conversations Boyd has had with volunteers, people at Democratic caucuses and community meetings.
Boyd condemned the nation’s involvement in overseas conflicts such as those in Iran and Gaza.
“We shouldn’t be supporting bombs going overseas,” Boyd said. “We did 20 years of that.”
Boyd said he supports overturning Citizens United, abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and protecting transgender rights.
“We are supposed to be the beacon of liberty and democracy and freedom and protecting human rights on this planet,” Boyd said. “We have supposedly set ourselves up in that role, but we’re not acting like it.”
In the area of affordability, he wants to tackle issues like student debt relief, create more affordable housing and work against AI replacing jobs.
He has visions for public job programs similar to the New Deal, support for Medicare for All and school funding.
“Thinking about investing in our future, we want to show our children and say, ‘Listen, your country cares about you,’” Boyd said.
Boyd said his experience growing up in a low-income household makes him a strong candidate for Congress.
“I’m a normal person,” Boyd said. “I’m not a millionaire […] and I don’t have all these big connections. But what I do have is that perspective of growing up with that struggle and seeing what our public programs can do and all the great things that we can do when we come together as a country.”
He said his ability to connect with the public on these issues and their anxieties about the future help him run a compelling campaign. His election, he said, would bring to Congress a perspective that is lacking—that of the average American.
“I have that experience of actually talking to people and listening and seeing and helping people through these struggles,” Boyd said. “And we don’t have a lot of that in Congress today.”
Boyd said his main frustration with Auchincloss’ leadership is the amount of corporate money the congressman has accepted for his campaigns. In 2023-24, the top contributors to Auchincloss were American Israel Public Affairs Committee, RA Capital Management and Deerfield Management.
“We can just do so much better in 2026,” Boyd said.
Boyd questions why Auchincloss accepts this money despite opposing the Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC that removed financial restrictions on corporations’ donations to political candidates.
“It’s really two-faced of him to keep accepting all of this money,” Boyd said, “and if I believe that he really wants to overturn Citizens United, if he wants to show that, he will return all of the corporate money.”
Auchincloss won 22.4% of voters in the nine-candidate Democratic primary in 2020, meaning 77.6% of voters were against his election.
But Boyd also said that if his poll numbers are not the “highest” come the primary election, he’d be willing to step away from the race to prevent a split primary.
“The progressive cause is more important than any one candidate,” Boyd said.
As Boyd campaigns, he said, he will stand on the values that he came into this race with.
“My values are that we should be making sure … everybody does have a chance to get that American dream that we were promised,” Boyd said.
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This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
