Rev. Miniard Culpepper

When Rev. Miniard Culpepper ran for state senate last fall to represent a Dorchester-based district, he noticed a significant lack of Black men participating in all levels of politics. His determination to close that gap led to the formation this month of the Black Men’s Political Task Force to increase the number of Black men engaging with local politics.

State Rep. Liz Miranda filed legislation in February of last year that would decriminalize possession of drugs, making it a civil infraction rather than a criminal one. The Rev. Miniard Culpepper, who is running against Miranda for the 2nd Suffolk Senate seat, calls the bill, which was co-sponsored by Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly and reported favorably out of committee this year, the equivalent of legalizing heroin.

The Rev. Miniard Culpepper announced his candidacy for the Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk District seat Tuesday, jumping into what’s now a three-way race. State Reps. Liz Miranda and Nika Elugardo have been for weeks raising cash and assembling campaign operations to run for the seat, which represents the district with the highest percentage of Black voters of any Senate district in the state.