Freedom Seeker: Lew Evangelidis - An intriguing Republican Senate Candidate in Mass

As the usual Establishment Moderate GOP names are thrown out by the liberal media and GOP party operatives for the vacant Mass Senate seat, a name to watch is Lew Evangelidis. The current Sheriff in Worcester is a former Republican state representative from Holden. Evangelidis could potentially get the Rick Green Conservative/Liberty Grassroots movement backing. A quick review of Lew's twitter account shows the following followers and potential supporters; Ryan Fattman, Kevin Kuros, Rick Green, Mass Fiscal and Jon Norsu. Lew can be followed on Twitter here: @SheriffLew

Peter Blute a Shrewsbury Congressman speaks highly of Lew Evangelidis. “He is the one guy I think could run an insurgent campaign and get known quickly,” he said. “He is an impressive guy.” Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis, a former Republican state representative from Holden commented “I haven’t had time to digest this yet.” on Scott Brown not running.

Evangelidis said many supporters called him after Scott Brown’s announcement. “The phone has been ringing off the hook, people have been complimentary and supportive and I appreciate that, but I haven’t had time to think about it.”

An opening for Lew Evangelidis has been created by Scott Brown, Charlie Baker and Richard Tisei deciding not to run for the Mass Senate Seat vacated by John Kerry. The Democrats look to run Ed Markey, a very weak candidate. It appears that Establishment moderate favorites Kerry Healey and Gov Bill Weld might not be interested in running for the Vacant 2013 seat. Look for Lew Evangelidis to be a serious darkhorse candidate that can unite and bring energy back to the Republican party in Massachusetts.

A good read on Lew Evangelidis background and record via his Worcester County Sheriff website:

I am grateful to have been given this tremendous opportunity. I look forward to getting up and going to work every day to do what I can to make our community safer.

We are not only responsible for the care, custody, and control of over one thousand inmates, but we also have a responsibility to do what we can to release more productive citizens who are less likely to repeat offend. - Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis

Biography

Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. Growing up in a three decker, on Tower Street, in the heart of the city until the age of nine. His family relocated to Holden, Massachusetts in 1970 adjacent to the home of his Grandparents. Lew Evangelidis attended Wachusett Regional High School graduating in 1979.

Education

Sheriff Evangelidis attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics in 1983. Upon his undergraduate degree, Lew Evangelidis worked in the financial sector on the floor of the New York Commodities Exchange at the World Trade Center. Electing to attend Law School, Sheriff Evangelidis received his Juris Doctorate from Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia in 1987. Following his graduation from Temple University, Mr. Evangelidis passed the Bar Examinations in both Massachusetts and Florida.

Professional Experience

Attorney Evangelidis would go on to serve as an Assistant State Prosecutor in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Relocating to Massachusetts, Lew Evangelidis became an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County and would later represent Wausau Insurance Company as in-house counsel. Sheriff Evangelidis would subsequently go on to join the firm of Pellegrini and Seeley in 2000 through 2010.

Elected Office

Lew Evangelidis was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2002. During his eight years in the Legislature, Representative Evangelidis was a member of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Public Safety. During this time, Mr. Evangelidis was recognized for his leadership in the passing of Melanie’s Bill to reform existing drunk driving laws and Jessica’s Law which provides for minimum mandatory sentences for certain crimes against children. Also of particular note, Representative Evangelidis became a leading voice to expand access to sex offender information on-line.

Lew was elected Worcester County Sheriff on November 2, 2010. Since taking the oath of office on January 5th 2011, Sheriff Evangelidis has been committed to running the Sheriff’s Department based on professionalism not politics. As Worcester County Sheriff, Lew Evangelidis has significantly increased the hiring standards to the most competitive in the Commonwealth, requiring applicants to have at minimum an associate’s college degree or military service. As the highest law enforcement official in the county, Sheriff Evangelidis is leading the fight to identify and deport criminal aliens from our community, adopting aspects of the extremely successful law and immigration enforcement program Secure Communities.

In an effort to provide a significant cost savings to the towns, cities and taxpayers of Worcester County since taking office Sheriff Evangelidis has more than doubled the Community Service Program. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Department Community Service Program provides local communities with no cost labor by non-violent inmates. The Community Service Program has worked to reduce recidivism while saving the taxpayers of Worcester County over one million dollars, a true win-win for the community. With almost 90% of the inmates incarcerated at the Worcester County House of Correction addicted to drugs or alcohol, Sheriff Evangelidis has focused on education and prevention as the best way to keep our youth out of prison. Presently he is the only Sheriff in the country dedicated to presenting a highly effective and innovative version of the drug prevention program Face2Face. Face2Face is an ongoing part of the Sheriff’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Initiative for Worcester County Schools and is currently being presented by the Sheriff to wide acclaim to school districts throughout the County.