Hello, current affairs listeners. It's your host, Pete Davis here. Everyone listening to this is probably

obsessed with the 2020 presidential primary, but an important thing to remember is that there are a lot of

other Democratic primaries going on across the country. There's Jamal Bowman taking on Elliot Engel in

New York. There's Morgan Harper taking on Joyce Beatty in Ohio.

Jessica Cisneros giving Henry Quaylor a run for his money in Texas.

And of course, Michaela Wilkes taking on Steny Hoyer in Maryland.

And today, here, in the Current Affairs World headquarters, we have

another inspiring Justice Democrat who is taking on the very corporate-friendly Richie Neal

in Massachusetts. I am talking, of course, about the mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Alex

Morris, welcome Alex. Great. Thanks so much, Pete. So glad to have you

here today. We want to hear all about the campaign. But before we get to that, let's tell the story of how

you got here today. I'd like to start with the fact that you, me, and AOC, all were born in 1989.

We're 30, I believe. You're 30 for a few more days, right? Yes, a few more days.

And yet, here's the amazing thing. We're all 30. You have been mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts,

for eight or nine years already. You were elected at age 22. So tell our listeners that story.

How did 22-year-old Alex Morris become mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts?

Thanks, Pete. I appreciate you having me on. So I, Holyoke is a city of 40,000 people in the western side of Massachusetts, born and raged there.

And, you know, we once were the paper city of the world. And when I grew up in Holyoke, people had just resigned themselves

to the fact that our best days were behind us. And so this was a city that, you know, didn't have

much economic opportunity. There had been a ton of white flight out of the city altogether. At the

same time, we had the same people in office year after year. And so when I grew up there, no one

ran for office.

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