Pete Capano is a lifelong Democrat, a U.S. Army Veteran, and a graduate of Lynn Public Schools and the University of Massachusetts. From an early age, Pete had a strong desire to serve his country and his community. He joined the U.S. Army in 1976, serving in Europe during the cold war. After leaving the Army, Pete returned to Lynn, and like many in the area, began working for General Electric. While there, Pete, as President of his union, is credited with leading the negotiating committee that persuaded the company to bring nearly 300 new, middle-class jobs to Lynn.
Pete proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Cold War and fights tirelessly for veterans issues. As Chairman of the Lynn City Council’s Veterans Committee he’s been a champion for the men and women who have served our great nation, including making sure veterans have access to the health care services they need by working to stop the VA from closing the Lynn Veterans Health Clinic.
Pete understands veterans face unnecessary roadblocks when it comes to rejoining the workforce. For instance, many veterans with experience in highly useful skills like nursing, steam engineering, truck driving and other trades are forced to pay thousands of dollars for certificate training in jobs they have successfully performed in the military. If elected to represent the 11th Essex District in the State House, Pete will introduce legislation to close this loophole and ensure returning veterans receive proper credit for military work.
A lifelong resident of Lynn, Pete knows firsthand that crumbling infrastructure, rising sea levels and intensifying coastal erosion are causing a flooding crisis of serious frequency and severity.
As a Lynn City Councilmember, Pete advocated and fought for the combined-sewer separation project to prevent sewage from draining into the ocean, and to provide flood relief for residents in low-lying areas of West Lynn. He held numerous meetings with the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission, and Federal (FEMA) and Massachusetts (MEMA) Emergency Management Agencies at City Hall to make sure constituents had an opportunity to speak about their concerns over the price of mandatory flood insurance. The meetings aimed to highlight the importance of increased funding as means of alleviating burdensome flooding costs.
Pete knows this is a problem in communities up and down the coast and that we can’t fix it all on our own. He will be a leader for Lynn and Nahant on this urgent issue at the State House and make sure our voices are heard when important decisions are being made.
Pete stands with the residents of Nahant against the Northeastern University expansion onto East Point and believes our priority must be preserving our community’s fragile coastline.
Nahant is the smallest town in our Commonwealth, and its unique ecosystems must be protected from the potentially disastrous effects of this expansion. Pete values our district’s relationship with Northeastern and the mutual opportunity it brings, but we must be smart in our development and really consider each option and consequence.
Pete knows we don’t just need jobs, we need good jobs; and he has the practical experience to make it happen.
In 2016 as President of the International Union of Electrical Workers/ Communications Workers of America Local 201, Pete led the negotiating team that won over 300 new family-supporting jobs for our district by convincing General Electric to expand its operations and build its new aircraft engine, the GE38, right here in Lynn. This is the largest influx of new jobs Lynn has seen in decades.
As the Labor Representative to the Essex County Community Organization, Pete co-chaired the ECCO Jobs team to research area employment and job training opportunities to help Lynn residents find jobs with a living wage, benefits and a career path. That work led to the creation of the E-Team Machinist Training Program, a partnership of unions, churches, manufacturers, the Boston Machining and Tooling Association, and local and state elected officials. The program has trained hundreds of Lynn residents for work in the machining industry and is a model for job training across the state.
Pete has been a union member and leader for 30 years. He knows what working people are up against and the difference unions make.
In his fight to make all jobs, good jobs, Pete has sponsored numerous city council resolutions supporting workers organizing their workplaces. He’s sponsored bills to protect working people from wage theft by bad employers, raise the minimum wage and lead the Lynn community outreach program to pass statewide paid time off legislation for Massachusetts workers.
As the current President of IUE-CWA Local 201, the largest manufacturing local in the state, Pete represents hundreds of working people at General Electric, Avis/Budget, Ametek Aerospace, Veolia Water, and Saugus Library.
He’s proud to have the support of a growing list of 15 labor unions, including the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which represents 400,000 hardworking men and women across the Commonwealth.
Pete is a passionate advocate for high-quality public education. He is a graduate of Lynn Public Schools and the University of Massachusetts, and is also a proud parent of two public school students. Pete’s daughter, Dena, even continued on to be a Lynn Public Schools teacher herself.
Pete has been in the fight to protect public education funding from the school voucher and charter school movements since the 1990’s. He has continued to fight for education funding on Lynn’s City Council and is a supporter of the Massachusetts Fair Share Amendment.
Pete knows our ability to thrive economically depends on having a workforce with the skills employers need. He is a founding member of the Lynn Community Enrichment Program, a partnership with the Lynn Public Schools and area employers that provides skilled vocational training in welding, oil burner technology, computer skills and blueprint reading.
Pete has ensured that the benefits of Lynn’s revitalization are enjoyed by the entire community. He was instrumental in bringing together developers, the AFL-CIO Housing Trust and the City of Lynn for an all union-built, mixed-use development that provides affordable housing and a Community Benefits Agreement that included a $100,000 gift to the Lynn Community Enrichment Program to provide night school services to Lynn residents.
When a developer wanted tax breaks to build a new hotel in Salem, Pete worked with a community organization, Neighbor to Neighbor, to get a guarantee that local residents would benefit from the new jobs created.
When the housing bubble burst leaving hundreds of Lynn residents facing foreclosure, through no fault of their own, Pete sponsored and fought successfully for the passage of the Homeowner Bill of Rights. The ordnance allowed over 150 Lynn residents facing foreclosure by the big banks to stay in their homes and work out a more affordable mortgage.