| Elizabeth A. "Liz" Breadon | |
| Office: | Member of the Boston City Council from the 9th district |
| Election Date: | November 2019 |
| Residence: | Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Termstart: | January 2020 |
| Website: | liz4ab.com |
| Predecessor: | Mark Ciommo |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Profession: | Physical therapist |
| Alma Mater: | Ulster University, Simmons University |
Elizabeth A. "Liz" Breadon is a Democratic member of the Boston City Council who serves the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods (District 9) of Boston, Massachusetts.[1] Having emigrated from Northern Ireland, she was the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to Boston City Council.[2]
Breadon grew up in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, during The Troubles.[3] She attended Ulster University to study physical therapy.[3] She later worked at the National Health Service.[4] Breadon later attended the defunct Teleosis Homeopathic School in Newton, Massachusetts to study Homeopathy.
Breadon immigrated to Boston in 1995 and worked for Boston Medical Center, The Home for Little Wanderers, and Perkins School for the Blind.
She has a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Simmons University. Prior to her election to the Boston City Council, she ran a homeopathy business[5] from 2011 to 2020, where she claimed to be board certified in Classical Homeopathy, a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine.[6]
After coming in second in a seven-way primary to fill the District 9 seat of retiring incumbent Mark Ciommo,[7] Breadon won the 2019 general municipal election with 58.5% of the vote.
As head of the City Council's Redistricting Committee, Breadon was involved in the controversial redistricting of the City Council districts that occurred after the 2020 United States Census.[8] She sponsored the original "Unity Map" that arose from the redistricting process and passed the city council despite opposition from four white politically moderate Irish American members of the City Council, including Council President Ed Flynn, whose district was one of two that were at the center of the controversy surrounding the map.The map's controversy surrounded changes district 6 and district 7's boundaries. The map was passed into law in November 2022 after being signed by Mayor Michelle Wu.[9] [10] However, the map was ultimately prohibited by preliminary injunction from being used in the 2023 Boston City Council election after a ruling by Federal Judge Patti Saris.[11] After the judicial ruling, City Council President Flynn tasked Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, head of the Boston City Council's Civil Rights Committee, to oversee the process of drawing a map to be used in the 2023 Boston City Council election instead of Breadon. The resulting map was adopted by the council in a 10–2 vote[12] and signed into law by Mayor Wu.[13]
In June 2023, Breadon was the only white member of the City Council to vote in support of a budget that the City Council approved 7–5. The six other votes in support came from councilors who are persons of color, and all of the votes against the budget came from the remaining white city councilors.[14] Mayor Wu thereafter vetoed a number of amendments included in the budget.[15]
Breadon lives in the Oak Square area of Brighton with her spouse, Mary McCarthy.
See main article: 2021 Boston City Council election.
| Candidates | Preliminary Election | General Election | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| Liz Breadon | 5,050 | 71.7 | 7,223 | 71.9 | |
| Michael Bianchi | 970 | 13.8 | 2,819 | 28.1 | |
| Eric Porter | 768 | 10.9 | |||
| Write-ins | 252 | 3.6 | TBD | TBD | |
| Total | 7,040 | 100% | TBD | TBD | |
See main article: 2019 Boston City Council election.
| Candidates | Preliminary Election[16] | General Election[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| Liz Breadon | 1,129 | 23.55 | 3,885 | 58.50 | |
| Craig R. Cashman | 1,218 | 25.41 | 2,728 | 41.08 | |
| Brandon David Bowser | 763 | 15.92 | |||
| Daniel J. Daly | 656 | 13.68 | |||
| Lee Nave Jr. | 466 | 9.72 | |||
| Jonathan Lamar Allen | 456 | 9.51 | |||
| Amanda Gail Smart | 103 | 2.15 | |||
| Write-in | 3 | 0.06 | 28 | 0.42 | |
| Total | 4,794 | 100 | 6,613 | 100 | |