Setti Warren
Encyclopedia
Setti David Warren an American politician, is the mayor of Newton
, Massachusetts
and a former Democratic
candidate for United States Senate
. He is the first popularly elected African-American mayor in Massachusetts.
Raised in Newton, Warren attended Boston College
. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in several White House offices under President
Bill Clinton
, followed by a year as regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
. He was the trip director for U.S. Senator John Kerry
's 2004 presidential campaign, and worked for several years in Kerry's state office. He served a year as a Naval
intelligence officer in Iraq
while launching his 2009 campaign for mayor of Newton. In May 2011, he announced a bid to oppose U.S. Senator Scott Brown
in the 2012 Senate election
, but dropped out of the race four months later. Warren resides in Newton with his wife and daughter.
neighborhood of Harlem
. Joseph Warren was an advisor for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
's 1988 presidential campaign, and worked in the African-American studies department at Northeastern University before his death in 2010. Setti Warren's mother, Elpidia Lopez, is a social worker at Cape Cod Child Development. He also has a stepmother, Martha L. (Walker) Warren. His younger sister Kara, who had struggled with severe asthma throughout her life, died in November 2005 at the age of 27.
Warren attended Newton North High School
, where he was the class president for all four years, and Boston College
, where he was student body president. He graduated with a B.A.
in history in 1993. He received a J.D.
from Suffolk University Law School
's night classes in 2006, although he has not taken the bar exam
to practice law.
Bill Clinton
's re-election campaign. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in several White House Office
s under Clinton: the Advance Office, Cabinet Affairs Office, and the Social Office. He served as New England
regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) from 2000 to 2001, where he implemented a performance management system for the office. He then worked for two years in fundraising at Boston College
.
Warren enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in 2003. Around the same time, he joined the presidential campaign
of U.S. Senator John Kerry
. After the election, Warren became deputy director of Kerry's Massachusetts office. Around this time, he served partial terms on the Newton Community Preservation Committee and Economic Development Commission. He resigned each mid-term as his career with Kerry developed.
In October 2007, he left Kerry's office to serve a year in Iraq
as a Navy intelligence officer. Before leaving, he assembled a committee to explore a candidacy for mayor of Newton. While he was on training in South Carolina
in late 2007, his committee filed papers for his election.
During the campaign Warren emphasized his record with FEMA, including the management of civil servants. Acknowledging his record of brief occupations, he promised to serve a complete term as mayor and run for a second if elected. Warren was elected November 3, 2009 in a vote of 11,233 to 10,772, defeating State Representative Ruth Balser who stood to be the city's first female Mayor.
in the United States Senate
in the 2012 election
. On September 29th, 2011 Warren dropped out of the race, declaring "I no longer believe I have a clear path to victory in this race".
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
. She left in 2003 to work on the Kerry presidential campaign, where she met Warren. , Tassy is a project director at the Harvard University
Center on the Developing Child. Setti and Tassy Warren have a daughter Abigail. She was born in June 2008, within hours of Setti's return from Iraq.
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and a former Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate for United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. He is the first popularly elected African-American mayor in Massachusetts.
Raised in Newton, Warren attended Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in several White House offices under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, followed by a year as regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
. He was the trip director for U.S. Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's 2004 presidential campaign, and worked for several years in Kerry's state office. He served a year as a Naval
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
intelligence officer in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
while launching his 2009 campaign for mayor of Newton. In May 2011, he announced a bid to oppose U.S. Senator Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...
in the 2012 Senate election
United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2012
The 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts will take place on November 6, 2012 concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S....
, but dropped out of the race four months later. Warren resides in Newton with his wife and daughter.
Early life and family
Setti David Warren was born in 1970, along with a twin sister, Makeda. His father, Joseph D. Warren, grew up in the New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
neighborhood of Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. Joseph Warren was an advisor for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
's 1988 presidential campaign, and worked in the African-American studies department at Northeastern University before his death in 2010. Setti Warren's mother, Elpidia Lopez, is a social worker at Cape Cod Child Development. He also has a stepmother, Martha L. (Walker) Warren. His younger sister Kara, who had struggled with severe asthma throughout her life, died in November 2005 at the age of 27.
Warren attended Newton North High School
Newton North High School
Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, with about 2,000 students, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonville...
, where he was the class president for all four years, and Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, where he was student body president. He graduated with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history in 1993. He received a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School, also known as Suffolk Law School or SULS, is one of the professional graduate schools of Suffolk University. Suffolk University Law School is a private, non-sectarian, law school located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Suffolk University Law School was founded in...
's night classes in 2006, although he has not taken the bar exam
Bar examination
A bar examination is an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction.-Brazil:...
to practice law.
Early career and Navy service
After graduating from college, Warren worked for two years with his family's consulting business. In 1995 he joined the New England branch of U.S. PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's re-election campaign. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in several White House Office
White House Office
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, which was temporarily Pete Rouse, replaced on January 6, 2010 with the permanent appointment of William M. Daley, who is also...
s under Clinton: the Advance Office, Cabinet Affairs Office, and the Social Office. He served as New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) from 2000 to 2001, where he implemented a performance management system for the office. He then worked for two years in fundraising at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
.
Warren enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in 2003. Around the same time, he joined the presidential campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
of U.S. Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
. After the election, Warren became deputy director of Kerry's Massachusetts office. Around this time, he served partial terms on the Newton Community Preservation Committee and Economic Development Commission. He resigned each mid-term as his career with Kerry developed.
In October 2007, he left Kerry's office to serve a year in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
as a Navy intelligence officer. Before leaving, he assembled a committee to explore a candidacy for mayor of Newton. While he was on training in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
in late 2007, his committee filed papers for his election.
Mayoral campaign, 2009
Newton Mayor David Cohen announced that he would not be seeking re-election in May 2008, leaving an open field which had not occurred in Newton since 1971. Warren, on leave from Iraq in June 2008, declared his intent to run. His campaign was forestalled until he completed his tour of duty the following October, as Department of Defense regulations forbid active duty service men from seeking elected office. In November 2008 Warren formally announced his candidacy, pledging to "protect the sacred trust between the citizens in this city and public servants."During the campaign Warren emphasized his record with FEMA, including the management of civil servants. Acknowledging his record of brief occupations, he promised to serve a complete term as mayor and run for a second if elected. Warren was elected November 3, 2009 in a vote of 11,233 to 10,772, defeating State Representative Ruth Balser who stood to be the city's first female Mayor.
Administration
Warren took office on January 1, 2010.U.S. Senate campaign, 2012
On May 9, 2011 Setti Warren announced his candidacy to represent MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in the 2012 election
United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2012
The 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts will take place on November 6, 2012 concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S....
. On September 29th, 2011 Warren dropped out of the race, declaring "I no longer believe I have a clear path to victory in this race".
Personal life
Warren married Elizabeth Tasker "Tassy" Plumber on August 12, 2006, with Kerry serving as a groomsman. A Newton native, Tassy had worked in the administration of New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. She left in 2003 to work on the Kerry presidential campaign, where she met Warren. , Tassy is a project director at the Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
Center on the Developing Child. Setti and Tassy Warren have a daughter Abigail. She was born in June 2008, within hours of Setti's return from Iraq.