Last week in an effort to help you become familiar with candidates in a special election, this column described Jay Livingstone, who is running for state representative in the Eighth Suffolk District, the position Marty Walz left vacant when she resigned in late January to take a job with Planned Parenthood.

Josh Dawson, 30, is another Democratic candidate for that seat. (There are three candidates, none of whom is widely known. I’ll describe Nils Tracy next week.)

Born in Ohio and a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Josh moved to Massachusetts in 2005 with an attraction to Boston and a bent toward politics. He quickly established himself, canvassing for Deval Patrick on the flat of Beacon Hill, working on other campaigns, serving as staff member and then budget director for state Senator Tom Kennedy from Brockton, and finally becoming the executive director of state Treasurer Steve Grossman’s campaign committee for the past two years. Meanwhile, he became chair of the Ward 5 Democratic Committee.

Josh decided to run for the office when Marty called him to let him know she was resigning. “I talked with Steve [Grossman] and my wife, and they said if this is what my heart and gut are telling me, then it is the right decision,” he said. “Opportunities don’t come that often, especially in Boston and Cambridge.”

He has a personal stake in one particular problem for the Boston neighborhoods in the district—that of too few downtown schools. He and Lindsay, his wife of seven months, live in the Back Bay and want to stay downtown and raise their future family.

Not having a public school within walking distance would mean a wrenching decision for a couple who have embraced Boston thoroughly. They run on the Esplanade, Josh has been a graffiti nabber in the Back Bay, and he proposed to Lindsay in the Public Garden.

But enough of the love stuff.

Many of Josh’s efforts, should he win the seat, would go toward improving education, not just in advocating for new schools, but also for improving the quality of schools all over Massachusetts. He also would focus on protecting downtown Boston’s public spaces, since the state owns or controls a considerable swath of these neighborhoods. The city’s parks need state officials’ voices, said Josh, when their overuse affects nearby residents.

Another matter dear to his heart is the MBTA, since high quality public transit is so important to the Massachusetts economy and our quality of life. Josh described his wife’s problems in getting to work. Though they live two blocks from the Hynes Auditorium stop on the Green Line, and the Newton school where his wife teaches is across the street from a T stop, she has to drive to work because the T’s journey is slow, unreliable and makes her late too much of the time. Josh finds that situation unacceptable.

High quality education and a good infrastructure are musts for Massachusetts and deserve legislative support, Josh believes. “People aren’t moving here for the weather,” he pointed out. “If we don’t fund education and infrastructure, we’ll lose out.”

He wants the city to change too, and is convinced that as a state rep he’d have a bully pulpit to push it toward a more contemporary style of life. He’s concerned that Boston will lose if the young high-tech people in the Innovation District can’t find a place to get a bite to eat when they have finally leave work at 3 a.m. He’s worried that those same young people will start families and want to stay in downtown Boston but can’t because they need three-bedroom places in which to live. After all, Josh points out, many Boston suburbs are attractive in education and housing and compete with the downtown for families of rising stars in the business and professional worlds.

He would push for a problem-reporting system for the state like Boston’s Citizens Connect, which gets fast action on city problems. “It would get the attention of that executive department that isn’t returning phone calls,” he said.

He’s supportive of Governor Patrick’s proposal to increase taxes to pay for investments in education and infrastructure. He’s concerned that anything less will not only not reduce the MBTA’s expensive debt, but also will prevent improvements and expansion that Massachusetts desperately needs to remain competitive.

Josh’s candidacy has attracted participation from high-profile Bostonians. Ann Roosevelt chairs his campaign, Josh Zakim (of the bridge family) is his campaign manager, and both Steve Grossman and City Councilor Mike Ross have endorsed him.

The primary election for this seat is May 28. Like Jay, Josh is worth getting to know.