Jason Poulos has knocked on more than 15,000 doors across the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District since launching his campaign last winter, and with early voting opening Saturday, Aug. 22, the AI researcher from Sherborn is making his final pitch to unseat three-term incumbent Rep. Jake Auchincloss in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary.
Poulos, who has never held elected office, is running on Medicare for All, a universal basic income funded by an automation tariff on companies that replace workers with technology, an end to all U.S. military aid to Israel and support for the PRO Act to strengthen union bargaining rights. He holds a Ph.D. in political science and did postdoctoral research work, according to the Newton Beacon.
He has $41,000 in his campaign account and an average donation of $36, according to the Needham Observer. Auchincloss has raised roughly $3.5 million, including $667,000 from special interest and corporate PACs. Poulos accepts no corporate PAC money.
"We have 300 volunteers who have signed up, and we have a team of about 50 people actively knocking on doors," Poulos told the Newton Beacon on Wednesday, Aug. 19, fresh off a canvassing event in Millis. "We're doing text-banking. We're doing phone-banking. So, we're reaching voters multiple ways."
The sharpest policy divide between the candidates is healthcare. Poulos supports single-payer Medicare for All, arguing that AI-driven job displacement makes employer-tied insurance increasingly risky for workers in the gig economy and those whose jobs may be automated. Auchincloss prefers a market-based system with regulations to drive down costs and has not co-sponsored the Medicare for All bill.
At George Howell Coffee in Newton on Aug. 18, Auchincloss framed the issue as one of cost rather than coverage structure, according to the Newton Beacon's Aug. 18 profile, which described him discussing the nation's healthcare spending in similar cost-focused terms.
On foreign policy, Poulos wants to end all U.S. military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding, and has said the United States should not be funding or sending weapons or military aid to Israel at all. Auchincloss supports Israel's right to self-defense but recently voted with the Massachusetts congressional delegation to cut $3 billion in weapons funding for Israel, according to the Newton Beacon.
Although national outlets have grouped Poulos among a wave of insurgent candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, the Newton Beacon's Aug. 21 profile of Poulos specifically states that he is not a DSA candidate. Poulos is running as a Democrat and, in a July 29 interview with Brookline.News, said he prefers to "articulate my position on the issues rather than talk about labels such as Democratic Socialist."
He has been endorsed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Progressive Democrats of America, Revolution Massachusetts and Massachusetts Peace Action. Auchincloss's campaign has released an internal poll showing a 47-point lead; no independent polling of the race has been published.
Auchincloss declined to participate in the Aug. 3 League of Women Voters/NewTV forum, which was ultimately held with only Poulos and Republican candidate Thomas Stalcup. He also declined a planned July 29 debate with Poulos hosted by Brookline.News, which instead ran a solo video interview with Poulos that day.
Early voting runs Aug. 22 through Aug. 28 at Newton City Hall. Saturday and Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekday hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25. The voter registration and party affiliation change deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22. Vote-by-mail applications are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25. Election Day polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 1.
