2026 Election Profile: State Rep. John Lawn

Democrat John J. Lawn, state representative for the Massachusetts 10th Middlesex District since 2011, is running for reelection in September’s primary. The 10th Middlesex District represents portions of Newton, Waltham and Watertown. 

Lawn said he’s seeking another term because he feels there is much left to do. “I love this job, I love the ability to help people. That’s why I do it,” he said.

Lawn grew up in Watertown and received a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from Merrimack College. He has five children and two dogs and lives with his wife in Watertown. Before his time in the Massachusetts Statehouse, Lawn was a real estate business owner and Watertown city councilor. He said his time as a city councilor set the foundation for his career as a state representative.

“It really gives you the tools to understand challenges at a local level,” Lawn said in a July interview with The Waltham Times. 

Lawn has run uncontested in his last five general elections, winning around 98% of the vote each time. This year he’s facing a primary challenge from Newton City Councilor Alison Leary, who also ran against him in 2020. In that election Lawn received 52.7% of votes, and Leary received 47.2%. This year’s winner will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. There is no Republican challenger.

Lawn has received many endorsements for the 2026 primary. He was endorsed by Gov. Maura Healey on Aug. 3. He has also received endorsements from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy and Waltham city councilors Sean Durkee, Carlos Vidal, Tom Stanley, Randy LeBlanc, Cathyann Harris, Paul Brasco, Joey LaCava, Robert Logan, Tim King and Anthony LaFauci.

Lawn’s advocacy on healthcare

Lawn serves as chairperson of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, a state committee that deals with funding of healthcare programs and healthcare policy. He believes that keeping his position as state representative is important to the mission of the committee. 

“We right now are challenged with the Trump administration’s cuts to our healthcare system, so I work daily to provide the best possible healthcare access we can. It’s something I’ve been working on for six years,” said Lawn. 

While he sees himself as an important component, Lawn said he recognizes that such work is a group effort.

“Nothing gets done here alone. You need to work with others, you need to have relationships. No legislation gets passed by yourself,” Lawn said. “I really focus a lot of my time on building relationships with my colleagues and understanding their challenges.”

Lawn recently sponsored legislation to provide funding for graduate-level studies in primary care as well as fund studies to figure out how to support primary care statewide. Additionally, Lawn and the committee as a whole are exploring the possibility of a single-payer healthcare system.

The committee under Lawn’s direction has allocated money to organizations in Waltham such as Waltham Community Farm’s VegRx program and Healthy Waltham. Lawn said he is working closely with the Waltham City Council and Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy to make the city’s South Side more pedestrian friendly through improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks.

Recent legislation that Lawn has been involved in includes a bill for establishing a commission on aging disabled adults, a bill to provide diaper changing stations in all public buildings and a bill to protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. None of these bills has been signed into law yet.

Lawn had an 81% roll call attendance record in the 2025 legislative session, missing 22 out of 116 roll call votes. Out of the 159 Massachusetts representatives, he was among the two who had the highest number of missed recorded roll call votes. Lawn said that the missed votes are due to a planned vacation that was not properly communicated to the Statehouse.

Personal testimony on abuse

In a May 2026 op-ed in The Boston Globe, Lawn shared his story as a survivor of child sexual abuse and voiced his support to end the state’s statute of limitations on the crime. “Trauma does not operate on a legal timeline,” Lawn wrote in the article. “It can take years to recognize what happened, decades to speak it aloud and a lifetime to fully understand the harm.”

Lawn helped pass legislation in 2014 that extended the statute of limitations of child sexual abuse crimes, and state lawmakers are studying a bill that he put forth seeking to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil child sexual abuse suits.

Additionally, Healey on July 24 signed a bill sponsored by Lawn that closes a loophole that allowed adults in positions of authority to claim that 16- and 17-year-olds consented to sexual acts.

July 2025 arrest

Lawn was arrested on July 16, 2025, after colliding with a parked truck and running two stop signs while operating under the influence of alcohol. Although he initially pleaded not guilty, Lawn ultimately pleaded guilty to the OUI charge as well as a charge of leaving the scene of a crash that caused property damage. He lost his license for 45 days and received a year of probation.

When asked about the incident in this interview, Lawn said he stood by the original statements he made to the media at the time. “I don’t really think it’s something that needs to be reported on again,” he added.

The Massachusetts 10th Middlesex District representative primary will take place along with other primary races on Sept. 1 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at precinct locations around Waltham. Residents can use an online tool on the Secretary of the Commonwealth website to find their polling location. Early voting for the primary takes place Aug. 22-28, though Waltham has not announced locations for early voting yet.