sources: State House News and local sources.
When the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives gavel in their first session of the new term on January 1, 2025, the 200-person roster will feature a 22 newcomers across the House and Senate, representing 11 percent of the Legislature.
The freshmen come from all corners of the state and both major parties, and they took different routes to Beacon Hill. Some secured open seats without breaking a sweat; others toppled incumbents in hard-fought races.
The incoming lawmakers will bring with them new perspectives and unique superlatives. One was born in Puerto Rico, another once worked as a film and television editor in California, and a third was a fingerprint examiner in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The new class will feature a new holder of the "youngest active lawmaker" title, a medical doctor who claims to be the only representative of his profession in the Legislature, a former police chief, and not one but two former Newton City Councilors.
Kelly Dooner (R), Taunton
After three years on the Taunton City Council, Dooner won a close Senate race to flip the district held for more than three decades by retiring Democrat Sen. Marc Pacheco. She will become the first Republican woman in the Massachusetts Senate since Jo Ann Sprague, who left office in 2004. Dooner said she wants to reduce the state's 6.25 percent sales tax to 5 percent, opposes open road tolling, and sharply criticized the state's approach to sheltering migrants.
William Driscoll (D), Milton
Driscoll is one of two state representatives who will move down the hall for the new term. He spent four terms in the House, and currently co-chairs the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management. Driscoll won a three-way Democratic primary for the open Senate seat, which Sen. Walter Timilty is vacating, and then did not face an opponent in the general election. He joined ACEC/MA for our September Engineering and Public Works Roadshow tour in East Milton Square, which is in his district.
Dylan Fernandes (D), Falmouth
Like Driscoll, Fernandes joined the House in 2017, and like Driscoll, he's now trading that job for the Senate. He defeated a Republican colleague, Rep. Mathew Muratore, to keep blue the Senate district currently represented by departing Sen. Susan Moran. Fernandes spent this term as vice chair of the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
Michelle Badger (D), Plymouth
Badger's win was one of four partisan seat flips in the House, which effectively canceled each other out and left the chamber with the same Democrat-Republican split (134-25-1) as the beginning of the current term. She beat Republican Jesse Brown in the race to succeed GOP Rep. Mathew Muratore. Badger chairs the Plymouth School Committee, and she works as vice president of institutional advancement at Massasoit Community College. Her priorities include making higher education more affordable, creating more housing units, and expanding access to mental health care.
Leigh Davis (D), Great Barrington
The westernmost communities of Massachusetts have a new state representative for the first time in more than two decades. Davis defeated independent candidate Marybeth Mitts and will succeed Rep. Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox, who first joined the House in 2003. She's a member of Great Barrington's Select Board, and she works as communications director at affordable nonprofit Construct. Before she settled in Massachusetts, Davis was a film and television editor in Los Angeles and department chair of the film and television program at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland. She pledged to fight for improvements to boost housing affordability and transportation connections, including East-West Rail, and to invest in renewable energy and decarbonization efforts.
Dennis Gallagher (D), Bridgewater
In another flip, Gallagher eked out a win over Republican Sandra Wright for the district now held by retiring GOP Rep. Angelo D'Emilia. The U.S. Navy veteran works as director of the town of Braintree's retirement system, and he previously served as a town councilor in his hometown of Bridgewater. On his campaign site, Gallagher said he would not focus on "partisan politics," and listed unspecified changes to the so-called right to shelter law and more funding for roads, bridges and sidewalks as priorities.
John Gaskey (R), Carver
Alongside Tara Hong, Taskey is the only other representative-elect to unseat an incumbent. In the September primary, he defeated Rep. Susan Williams Gifford, who died Oct. 22 from cancer. A Coast Guard veteran, Gaskey made immigration a central theme of his campaign, saying on his website he wants to direct local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, "end the sanctuary status of Massachusetts and return our shelters back to its veterans and citizens."
Homar Gomez (D), Easthampton
Gomez is one of the two newcomers with a route to the Legislature that essentially could not have been easier: he was the only candidate to make the ballot in both the primary and general elections. Gomez, who will succeed Rep. Daniel Carey, was first elected to the Easthampton City Council in 2017, and he's been the council president since 2022. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His top issue areas are economic growth and job creation, education and youth development, health care, and "environmental stewardship."
Tara Hong (D), Lowell
Hong will enter the Legislature with two accolades: at the age of 24, he'll become the youngest member of the House, and he's one of only two newcomers to defeat a sitting incumbent en route to the 2025-2026 term. The Lowellian defeated Rep. Rady Mom in the primary, and he cruised against unenrolled candidate David Ouellette in the general election. Hong pledged during the primary cycle to prioritize constituent services and to increase transparency on Beacon Hill, including by making all votes public records.
Hadley Luddy (D), Orleans
Similar to Gomez, Luddy strolled to his House win without even encountering an opponent. She spent the past eight years as CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council on Cape Cod, during which the organization grew fivefold to support more than 2,300 local residents with housing needs, according to her campaign. Luddy also chairs the Barnstable County Regional Network on Homelessness Policy Board, and she previously worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands and Community Connections. She described housing as the "number one threat to the financial stability of our community," and also called for action to boost access to affordable child care, improve wastewater infrastructure, and expand clean energy options.
Thomas Moakley (D), Falmouth
Moakley held for Democrats the House district that Fernandes gave up to challenge for Senate. He's an assistant district attorney for the Cape and Islands, and has prosecuted cases in Martha's Vineyard Juvenile Court and Edgartown District Court. Moakley said on his campaign site that he's "particularly proud" of working with District Attorney Rob Galibois to establish the Vineyard's first Recovery Court, "which addresses the root cause of repeat offenders struggling with addiction and represents a holistic approach to public safety." After defeating Arielle Reid Faria in the primary, Moakley did not face an opponent in the general election.
Bridget Plouffe (D), Brockton
Plouffe won a three-way race for the seat that her longtime boss, Democrat Rep. Gerard Cassidy is giving up. She began working for Cassidy in 2016 as an aide and rose to chief of staff. Now, she's chief of staff for the Veterans Affairs Committee that Cassidy co-chairs. One of her self-described top priorities is reinforcing the state's health care system, and Plouffe warned that her region has been "ground zero" for upheaval following the temporary closure of Brockton Hospital and the Steward Health Care collapse. "If elected I plan to get to work right away to figure out a plan to ensure that what has happened with Steward cannot happen again while also ensuring that Boston Medical Center, the new owner of Good Samaritan, is accountable to the local residents who depend on their care," she wrote.
Sean Reid (D), Lynn
Reid is familiar with Beacon Hill: he works as legislative director for Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn. Now, he'll get a chance to represent most of Lynn and all of Nahant himself after winning a Democratic primary and cruising through the general election with no opponent. Reid is a member of the Lynn School Committee, and he also serves on the boards of the YMCA of Metro North and My Brother's Table. Some of his priority topics are housing and public transportation, climate and coastal resiliency, and addressing the opioid crisis.
Amy Sangiolo (D), Newton
Sangiolo is one of two former Newton City Councilors who are about to join the Legislature. She spent 20 years on that elected panel, and in 2022, she co-founded the community news platform Fig City News. Sangiolo now works in the attorney general's office assisting Bay Staters facing eviction and foreclosure. After a landslide win in the primary, Sangiolo easily defeated Republican Vladislav Yanovsky in the general. She identified housing, public transportation, gun violence prevention and criminal justice, among others, as top areas of focus.
Greg Schwartz (D), Newton
Speaking of former Newton City Councilors, Schwartz spent eight years on the panel, partly overlapping with his now soon-to-be-legislative colleague Sangiolo. He's been a primary care physician for nearly 25 years and points out that he'll be the only medical doctor in the Legislature. Schwartz topped a three-way Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Ruth Balser, whose endorsement he earned, and then did not have a general election opponent.
Ken Sweezey (R), Pembroke
Sweezey will give the Sixth Plymouth District its first House representation in nearly a year, and its first Republican in more than a decade. He defeated Democrat Rebecca Coletta to flip the district last represented by Rep. Josh Cutler, who resigned from the House seat in February to take a job in the Healey administration. Sweezey worked as a fingerprint examiner for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and now works at a local biotech company, SPT Labtech. Sweezey touted a plan to rein in state spending on shelters by creating a residency requirement, and he argued that the MBTA Communities Law "poses a threat to many of our communities."
Mark Sylvia (D), Fairhaven
Sylvia, who won the race to succeed longtime South Coast Rep. William Straus, will arrive with experience in the public sector. He spent four years as town manager in Plymouth, and served as an energy undersecretary in the Patrick administration. For the past nine years, he's worked at solar and battery storage developer BlueWave, first as managing director and then as chief of staff. He highlighted affordability concerns as a major issue plaguing families across the state, and said he would work to protect reproductive rights.
Josh Tarsky (D), Needham
Tarsky's resume stretches across the military, education and legal worlds. He works today as principal of the Holbrook Middle-High School, and he's also a judge advocate general (JAG) for the Massachusetts National Guard. Soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Tarsky joined the U.S. Army and received honors for his service in Operation Enduring Freedom. He'll succeed Rep. Denise Garlick in the House. Tarsky's priorities include allowing districts to ban cellphones in schools, boosting incentives for using public transit, providing developers with incentives to build new green, middle-class housing, and "improving political discourse."
Justin Thurber (R), Somerset
In one of the biggest Election Day surprises, Thurber toppled 12-term Rep. Patricia Haddad to flip the district that grazes the Rhode Island border. Thurber is an Air Force veteran whose top priorities include immigration, "parental rights in education and health decisions," and education. He also campaigned aggressively against the onetime speaker pro tempore -- his website has a tab titled "Haddad's voting record."
Richard Wells (D), Milton
When Rep. Driscoll shifts to the Senate, Wells will step into his House seat. He'll add to the Legislature's law enforcement ranks after spending more than three decades with the Milton Police Department, including nine years as its chief. Wells has been a member of the Milton Select Board for seven years, and has served as its chair since May. He joined ACEC/MA for our September Engineering and Public Works Roadshow tour in East Milton Square, which is in his district.
*Michael Chaisson (R), Foxborough
Chaisson won one of the closest races this cycle, appearing to edge out Democrat Kostas Loukos to keep the seat being vacated by Rep. Jay Barrows in Republican hands. He owns Chaiss Construction, which focuses on residential remodeling, and sits on Foxborough's Advisory Committee, which provides reports to Town Meetings about budgetary items and other municipal issues. Chaisson during his campaign called out "rising costs and reckless spending on Beacon Hill," and listed the state's response to a sharp increase in migrants seeking shelter here as one of his top priorities. Loukos has not yet conceded the race, and said Friday afternoon that the race "remains too close to call." If Loukos opts to pursue a recount, petitions are due Friday, November 15, 2024, at 5 p.m.
*Steven Ouellette (D), Westport
Ouellette, who is currently vice chair of the Westport Select Board, emerged from the most crowded field of the general election by narrowly defeating Republican Christopher Thrasher and three independent candidates. But there's still a chance the outcome changes: down by 143 votes, Thrasher said he plans to pursue a hand recount in the Eighth Bristol District's five communities. They're vying for an open district held by Rep. Paul Schmid, who opted against seeking reelection.
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