They are on the same side this election cycle working absentee ballots for Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes, but in 2022 City Councilwoman Maria Pereira and city employee Maria Agueda were opponents when Marcus Brown ousted then State Rep. Jack Hennessy in a primary.
Pereira, who served as Hennessy’s campaign manager, kept him in the game working absentee ballots in the North End house district while Brown performed well with the walk-in vote. Along the way Pereira filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission claiming Agueda illegally possessed an electors’ absentee ballot.
The state commission that oversees elections dismissed Pereira’s complaint last year citing lack of evidence after due diligence.
This is another example of the strange bedfellows in city politics: one campaign split, another working for the same candidate, irrespective of hard feelings against each other. And, of course, the relevance of absentee ballots.
Commission decision:
