Althea Garrison


Althea Garrison is an independent American politician from Boston, Massachusetts, who served on the Boston City Council as an at-large councilor.
Garrison was elected as a Republican to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1992 and served one term from 1993 to 1995. Both before and after Garrison's successful bid for office, she has run unsuccessfully in multiple elections for the state legislature and Boston City Council, as a Republican, Democrat, or independent, which has resulted in her being described in the media as a "perennial candidate". Garrison is also known as the first transgender person to be elected to a state legislature in the United States. She was outed against her will by the Boston Herald after her election in 1992.
Garrison later served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council from January 2019 to January 2020 due to a vacancy left by Ayanna Pressley's election to the United States House of Representatives. Because Garrison was the next-place finisher in the 2017 Boston City Council election, she was eligible to take office per City Council rules. She was not re-elected in November 2019.

Background

Garrison was formerly known by the name A. C. Garson. Born in Hahira, Georgia as the youngest of seven children, Garrison attended Hahira High School there. Garrison moved to Boston to attend beauty school, but went on to enroll in Newbury Junior College and received an associate degree there. Garrison later received a B.S. degree in administration from Suffolk University, an M.S. degree in management from Lesley College, and a certificate in special studies in administration and management from Harvard University.
According to records in the Suffolk County Probate Court, Garrison petitioned for a name change from A. C. Garson to Althea Garrison in 1976. The petition stated that the name Althea Garrison "is consistent with petitioner's appearance and medical condition and is the name by which he will be known in the future."
Besides her one term in the Massachusetts House, Garrison has worked as a clerk in human resources for the Massachusetts state comptroller's office, where she used her vacation time to run for office. She served for four years on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

Political career

Early years

In 1982 and 1986, Garrison ran unsuccessfully for the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Democrat. She ran unsuccessfully for Boston City Council in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1991. During the 1991 campaign, the Boston Herald noted that she had run for office nine times, although Garrison herself later described the race as her 10th or 11th bid for office. In the 1991 race, Garrison finished in third place in the District 7 preliminary election.

Massachusetts House

In 1992, Garrison ran successfully for the 5th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House, representing the Dorchester and Roxbury areas of Boston. Garrison's 1992 election to the legislature was made possible in part by the fact that she challenged some of the signatures that the then-incumbent representative, Nelson Merced, had submitted to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. Her challenge was successful and meant that Garrison did not have to run against an incumbent in the general election. In the general election, Garrison defeated Democratic candidate Irene Roman, 2,451 votes to 2,014.
The fact that Garrison had been formerly known as a male was not widely publicized until shortly after she was elected to the legislature. When the Boston Herald asked whether she was a man, Garrison denied it and ended the conversation when asked about her past, including her name change.
In the Massachusetts House, Garrison consistently voted in favor of labor unions, resulting in her being endorsed for re-election by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and eight unions. On many votes, she voted with the Democrats in the legislature rather than with the Republicans. However, she opposed same-sex marriage and abortion.
Garrison was defeated in her 1994 bid for re-election by Democratic candidate Charlotte Golar Richie by a margin of 2,108 votes to 1,718.

Unsuccessful bids for office

Garrison ran for office at least 32 times, all but one unsuccessfully, including:
Garrison took the at-large seat of former councillor Ayanna Pressley on the Boston City Council, as Pressley left the City Council following her November 2018 election to Congress from Massachusetts's 7th congressional district. City rules require that vacancies for the at-large council seats are filled by the next-placed candidate in the previous election, which was Garrison in November 2017. Garrison was sworn in on January 9, 2019. Garrison was a candidate for re-election in the November 2019 election, but finished seventh in the general election field of eight candidates.