State Primary Election: Two Lynn City Hall Democrats face off Tuesday for the right to challenge State Rep. Wong in November

By Mark E. Vogler

A political debate that never materialized has become a late campaign bone of contention between the two Lynn Democratic candidates who are battling for the right to challenge state Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) in November.

Lynn Inspectional Division Director Zosia VanMeter, 40, had planned to continue with her own public political forum earlier this week after Lynn City Councilor Pete Meaney ignored her invitation for a debate. “He ghosted me on my invitation. He never replied, which I found to be rude and unprofessional,” VanMeter said in an interview with The Saugus Advocate at bits&bites, a bakery and cafe in Cliftondale.

Meaney, 41, accused VanMeter of staging the forum late in the campaign because “she just wanted to attack me.”

“A forum two weeks before the Primary Election is just a political stunt,” he said.

VanMeter said the Democratic Town Committees in Saugus and Wakefield each sought to set up a debate, but Meaney didn’t seem to be interested. Meaney offered a different version. “There was an honest effort in Wakefield. We tried to make it work, but the scheduling wasn’t there,” he said.

VanMeter and Meaney are on the Democratic ballot for Precincts 1 and 2 and 4 through 9 in next Tuesday’s (Sept. 1) Primary Election. Rep. Wong, 74, who seeks his ninth two-year term representing voters in the Ninth Essex House District, has no Republican opposition. Wong has been reelected in three consecutive elections (2024, 2022 and 2020) without opposition. One of the two Lynn city officials who emerges the winner will have a tough task facing Wong, who is popular in Saugus, which accounts for about 60 percent of the district. His family’s business – the Kowloon restaurant – has been a major dining destination on Route 1 for 75 years.

Both Democratic challengers are relative newcomers to public service. VanMeter has worked for the last five years in Lynn city government – including the last three years as acting and later permanent director of the Inspectional Division. Meaney won his second two-year term last November.

This week, The Saugus Advocate asked similar questions of the two candidates.

Their Personal Backgrounds

Meaney: Born in Lynn. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy and served during Iraqi Freedom. He returned to Lynn to pursue a college education, enrolling in classes at North Shore Community College. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a Doctorate in Dental Medicine from Boston University.

Dr. Meaney has been a dentist since 2013, and three years later he became a Lynn small business owner, opening Broadway Family Dental at Wyoma Square. He met his wife, Tara, while studying at UConn. The couple has three-year-old twin girls, Maya and Madeline, and a one-year-old son, Matthew.

VanMeter: She was born in the Philippines in 1986. She was adopted and later moved to the U.S. when she was about two years old.

“I settled down in Lynn and consider it my hometown,” said VanMeter, a 2004 graduate of Lynn English High School. VanMeter graduated from North Shore Community College in August 2022 with an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. She has been working on her bachelor’s degree at Salem State University: in Political Science with a concentration in American Government, Law and Policy.

  Q: What are the key things that distinguish you from your opponent?

Meaney: I have a proven track record. And I have specific priority goals that are in our message. We’re not ambiguous. We have three priorities. We want to expand the Pre-K Universal Program to all working families across the state. We want to remove nefarious practices in the housing market. And we want to put a freeze on the construction of AI Data Centers that are driving up your utility costs. Your rates are subsidizing AI. I don’t think the taxpayers of Massachusetts should be subsidizing billion-dollar tech corporations.

VanMeter: It comes down to how we show up in the community. I engage. I build relationships. I’m fully present. Something else that sets us apart is not how we show up in the community, but how we respond and how accountable we are.

  Q: What about the enormous amount of money you have spent on your campaign? You’ve already spent $157,000 and have more than $110,000 in cash on hand?

  Meaney: We’re in this to win it. Fund-raising is part of politics. I’ve been very successful with it. Our goal was always to spend $200,000. That’s what we anticipate having to spend to beat the incumbent. I think the number of what we have spent is a little misleading because we transferred the money left over from the City Council race. We’ve probably spent $80,000.

  VanMeter: I was shocked. That was an insane number. The fact that he spent 10 times more than me or Wong. At the end of the day, though, what he spends his money on and how he runs his campaign is just not my business. I’m just going to continue running a grassroots campaign that I can be proud of.

  Q: What makes you a better Democratic candidate to face Wong in the Nov. 3 Election?

  Meaney: My work ethic and my track record.

VanMeter: I think I am a new kind of candidate. I am a candidate who has a background in community organizing and government administration. And those two skills put together will make me a good advocate on the State House floor, and will make me a good colleague and will make me a good representative.

  Q: What are your priorities for Saugus?

Meaney: My priorities are still cost of living. We are here to attack the cost of living. Affordability is my Number One concern. Lower your child care costs. Lower your utility bills. Lower your housing costs. I think that can resonate with anybody in the district.

I support the closure of the ash landfill [at WIN Waste Innovations]. However, I would caution people that there’s no such thing as a free lunch and the cost of getting rid of your trash will go up significantly.

  VanMeter: WIN Waste. That’s at the top of my list. They need to start formulating a plan for closure of the ash landfill. Then there’s affordability. The cost of rent. The cost of utilities. The cost of food.

The main message I have for the Saugus people is this: Saugus is the biggest part of the 9th Essex House District. So, get out and vote. Exercise your right to vote. I hope that vote is for me. Saugus and the entire 9th district deserve a representative who will show up so we can build a better 9th Essex District

  Q: How many doors do you estimate you and your supporters have knocked on throughout the district?

Meaney: We’ve knocked on close to 10,000 doors. We’ve been doing this since the beginning of April. Six days a week.

VanMeter: 4,500.

  Q: If elected, would you back the state auditor in her efforts for the Legislature to be audited?

Meaney: Yes, I absolutely support the audit.

VanMeter: Yes.

Q: If your opponent wins the primary, will you endorse and campaign for him or her in the general election against Wong?

Meaney: The goal is no matter who wins, I want to have unity among the party. If she wins, I’ll be happy to endorse her and help her out any way I can.

VanMeter: My campaign is run on the belief that our elected officials must be prepared to meet this critical moment with the veracity it demands as we navigate an ever changing federal landscape. While I recognize the need to forge party unity in pursuit of a strong Democratic base, and applaud my opponent’s strides towards leadership, I would not endorse and campaign for him.