Jonathan Paz champions grassroots issues in his bid to unseat Rep. Katherine Clark

Waltham resident Jonathan Paz is running for Congress, aiming to replace Rep. Katherine Clark – a move that has brought national attention from outlets such as Politico and Fox News to the 5th Congressional District race.

Running for Congress in 2026 initially “wasn’t in the cards” for the former Waltham ward councilor and mayoral candidate. However, a Q&A session during a congressional town hall last March changed everything. Paz felt as though the audience was frustrated with the status quo, which propelled him to run for a seat in congress.

He announced his candidacy on Dec. 15.

Paz is a longtime resident of the district, having grown up in Waltham and surrounding towns. He served as Ward 9 councilor from 2020 through 2023, upsetting 30-year incumbent Robert G. Logan in the 2019 election. 

After one term as councilor, Paz ran in the 2023 mayoral election and lost against incumbent Jeanette A. McCarthy. 

Paz is proud of the work he has done as a public servant. 

One of his proudest accomplishments as ward councilor was a resolution he introduced to have a standardized document for landlords to inform their tenants of their intent to evict. He said the resolution was designed to make sure tenants and landlords were aware of the resources available to them. While the Waltham City Council voted against enacting Paz’s proposed ordinance, he still sees it as a success due to the community involvement it created.

If  elected to Congress, Paz said he believes he can bring the grassroots principles that he uses to make change in Waltham to the national level. “We want to bring these organizing practices and vision to address the major crises that are impacting people across Massachusetts,” he said. He sees affordability as one of the crises at hand and wants to work toward solutions to make healthcare and housing attainable for all.

Paz has taken on several different issues in recent years through community organizing, such as playing a part in securing a victory for the Mass Not For Sale coalition. With Paz acting as their political director, the coalition introduced and passed a ballot initiative that allows contract workers for companies such as Lyft and Uber to unionize.

“We now have the largest gig worker union in Massachusetts thanks to our efforts to push back against big tech,” Paz shared.

Immigration policy is a key focus for Paz, who as a child witnessed his father being deported. Paz in January 2025 founded Fuerza, an organization that records and verifies ICE activity around Waltham and educates the community on immigration rights and resources. Along with this, the Fuerza Emergency Interfaith Fund provides aid to families affected by ICE activity. If elected, Paz wants to work toward abolishing ICE and redirecting the billions of dollars spent on ICE to initiatives to help Americans.

Reactions from the community

As a public figure, Paz has both supporters and critics. 

Waltham Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur said she is supportive of Paz’s campaign. “I am continually impressed by his ability to energize and motivate people,” she said, citing the outdoor ward town hall he held during COVID as a notable example.

Ward 2 Councilor Caren Dunn, who worked with Paz on a food access initiative involving a farm work trade for vegetables, said his key issues are clear. “As a rule he’s very concerned about fairness and immigration and food security,” she said. While their joint initiative didn’t pan out due to issues coordinating with the farm, Dunn said she enjoyed her time working with Paz. 

The rest of the city councilors who had served with Paz during his time as a ward councilor declined to speak to The Waltham Times. 

Others offered more critical perspectives of the candidate.

A former treasurer for one of Paz’s city government campaigns who asked to remain anonymous said she encountered difficulty while working with him. “Jonathan kept putting me in a position constantly of doing the wrong thing and then I’d have to go back and clean up,” she said.

The former treasurer said she was asked to accept donations from local businesses and pay campaign employees from the campaign’s bank account instead of through consultants, both of which are illegal under state law and led to campaign finance complications. She ultimately resigned due to concerns around the campaign’s lack of basic campaign finance law knowledge.

Another source who also asked not to be named said Paz had chastised her over a message sent in a campaign group chat, yelling at her during a phone call until she cried. After that phone call, she said she was removed from all channels of communication.

In response to these anecdotes, Paz explained that due to the fast-paced environment of a campaign, it’s common for interpersonal affairs to be recounted after the fact without the full context. He stated that he remains “committed to leading with respect, accountability and professionalism.”

Vows to shun funding from special interests 

Paz earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania. 

He has worked various positions in community organizing, sales and education. 

Paz most recently served as the public affairs manager for Flock Safety from February 2024 to July 2025. Flock Safety makes and operates security hardware and software, including automated license plate recognition systems used by numerous municipalities. The company and its technology has garnered criticism over data privacy concerns and concerns the data is shared with federal immigration enforcement agents.

“I wanted to join a tech company and understand more about public safety. Over time I realized that this company was one of the biggest surveillance networks in the country and was more focused on widespread surveillance than public safety,” Paz explained. Paz said this and the current political climate under the Trump administration led to his departure.

Promotes beliefs, campaign different from Clark

Paz said he wants people to understand that although he and Clark are both Democratic candidates, their campaigns and beliefs are fundamentally different. 

Paz called out what he termed “Clark’s reliance on corporate PACs,” saying that he is committed to running a campaign without being influenced by the interests of donors. Clark’s FEC campaign finance records show recent donations from corporate PACs such as the UnitedHealth Group PAC and the National Federal Retail Federation PAC.

Additionally, Paz promised that if elected, he would not be swayed by financial offerings to compromise his views on human rights. 

“I will not fold to foreign lobby money that tells me that a genocide is not a genocide. The money we’re sending abroad to fund endless wars could actually be invested back into the people here in this country. We don’t need to send bombs abroad to further violate human rights,” Paz said.

While Paz believes that there is much to grieve about the current state of the country, he also believes in keeping hope alive through crisis.

“I grew up with a South American background,” explained Paz, whose family is from Bolivia. “We call it ‘un buen vivir,’ a good life. Everyone deserves the opportunity to have a good life.”