LYNN — Paul Crowley, CEO of Greater Lynn Senior Services (GLSS), is the latest candidate to seek the senate seat being vacated by state Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn).
Crowley, who served three terms on the Lynn City Council, is an unenrolled voter who voted Republican in four of the last six primary elections, according to the city’s Election Department.
He is the first candidate to emerge since state Rep. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) declared his candidacy for the seat earlier this month.
The Third Essex District, which will be vacant in January when McGee becomes mayor, includes Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Nahant, Saugus, and Swampscott. McGee defeated Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy in her bid for a third term. The election will be held on Tuesday, March 6.
As CEO of GLSS, Crowley earns $250,000, according to an Internal Revenue Service filing. A state senator earns $79,650, plus $12,000 for expenses.
Crowley, trustee of the Lynnway Sportscenter, was one of four medical marijuana companies that filed plans last year to open a clinic in the city. But when the City Council did not choose his 81-year-old candlepin bowling alley at 497 Lynnway to become a pot dispensary, he filed a lawsuit against the city.
Crowley is asking the court to annul the City Council decision and require the city to pay his court costs. The case is pending in Salem Superior Court.
Crowley did not return calls seeking comment.
