On a recent evening in Walpole, as the sounds of Little League baseball wafted through the open windows of a meeting room in City Hall, Patrick Roath made his pitch to members of the town’s Democratic Committee. The 38-year-old attorney from Jamaica Plain is running for Congress, hoping to knock off fellow Democrat Stephen Lynch in next year’s primary.
Roath launched his campaign early — some 16 months before next year’s vote — arguing the sooner Democrats understand the need for change, the better.