Former tech-group leader Tom Hopcroft drops state Senate bid

As the former head of a prominent statewide tech group, Tom Hopcroft thought he had the ideas — and the connections — to be a credible candidate for state Senate.

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But the former CEO of the Mass Technology Leadership Council found that raising enough money wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. Hopcroft is announcing this week that he’s dropping out.

Last December, Hopcroft launched his campaign to run for the Second Middlesex seat being vacated by longtime senator Pat Jehlen of Somerville. At that point, only one other person, Somerville city councilor Matt McLaughlin, had announced.

Now there are five candidates vying for the seat: Hopcroft, McLaughlin, state representatives Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville and Christine Barber of Somerville, and Cambridge vice mayor Burhan Azeem. In terms of fundraising, Hopcroft has been trailing them all, with around $45,000 raised so far.

He did turn to his tech network for some help. His donors included former UKG chief executive Aron Ain, IBM executive Mohamad Ali, JLL managing director Bob Coughlin, and former Lightbridge chief executive Pam Reeve. (Each gave $1,000, the max allowed per calendar year, while Ain gave one $1,000 donation at the end of 2025, and another this year.)

“For whatever reason, the vast majority of my network isn’t plugged into political stuff,” Hopcroft said. “Most tech people are problem solvers that are just trying to do figure out how to do something better. They’re heads down doing their own thing.”

Hopcroft, who is wrapping up his second term on the Winchester school committee, found it frustrating to be competing against politicians who came to the campaign with preexisting war chests and fund-raising operations. As he sought endorsements from potentially influential organizations, they seemed to him to be more interested in each candidate’s fundraising than in the ideas he was raising about building a vibrant economy.

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“It’s in their best interest to support who’s going to win,” Hopcroft said. “It feels like it’s about insiders protecting insiders.”

Hopcroft hasn’t ruled out endorsing one of his now-former rivals, though he has a questionnaire prepared to put to them about the issues he cares about. Among them: climate, technology innovation, healthcare research, housing construction, and government transparency.

He’s also preparing to return full-time to the Net Zero Institute, the climate-focused nonprofit he founded around the time he left MassTLC in 2022.

“I really thought it was going to be more about ideas,” Hopcroft said of his Senate race. “I do feel like I have a differentiated message. … I want to keep bringing that forward and engaging.”

This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.

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