Politics & Government

Belmont's Hegarty, Arlington Republican Pull House Race Papers

Former Town Clerk candidate, certified accountant show interest in Brownsberger's old seat.

may just yet have company running for Belmont's House seat.

In the past weeks, two more potential candidates have taken out nomination papers for the open 24th Middlesex House of Representatives position to succeed now State Sen.  on Beacon Hill.

Waverley Street's Margaret Hegarty, who ran for in 2010, and Arlington's Phillip Lohnes signed out the paperwork at the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office in Boston to begin the process of becoming a candidate.

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The district encompasses Belmont and a number of precincts in Arlington and Cambridge.

The Secretary's Election's Office said that Hegarty, an attorney who grew up in Belmont, indicated that she would run in the Democrat primary while Lohnes, a certified public accountant and a member of the Arlington Republican Town Committee, would be competing for the GOP.

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While taking out nomination papers shows a heightened interest in campaigning for a political post, it is not a fete de complete that perspective candidates will run for office. They may change their mind on running while a few can not collect the 150 signatures of registered voters to be properly filed.

The final day for potential candidates to file nomination papers to local officials is May 8.

In her previous run for office, Hegarty finished second behind current Town Clerk Ellen Cushman in a four-person race in April 2010.

Having grown up on Louise Avenue and graduating from Belmont's public schools, Hegarty matriculated at Boston College and Suffolk Law School, according to her 2010 Town Clerk's election web site.

In her 20 years as an attorney, Hegarty served as a prosecutor for the Suffolk County District Attorney and the state's Attorney General, as well as a public defender and a legal counsel to a legislator.

A graduate of Bentley College in accountancy and Computer Information Systems, Lohnes worked in and help establish a number of computer start-up firms before founding Financial Framework, an Arlington financial services consultancy for small businesses and individuals, in 2001.

Reardon, a soon-to-be graduate from Bentley University, announced last month that he will be actively running to replace Brownsberger, who he was an intern for last summer.


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