Benjamin Downing | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |
In office January 3, 2007 –January 4, 2017 | |
Preceded by | Andrea Nuciforo |
Succeeded by | Adam G. Hinds |
Constituency | Berkshire,Hampshire and Franklin (2007–13) Berkshire,Hampshire,Franklin,and Hampden (2013–17) |
Personal details | |
Born | Benjamin Brackett Downing September 11,1981 Great Barrington, Massachusetts,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Providence College Tufts University |
Benjamin Brackett Downing (born September 11,1981) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the Massachusetts State Senate. He represented the Berkshire,Hampshire and Franklin district from 2007 to 2013,before being redistricted to the Berkshire,Hampshire,Franklin,and Hampden district,which he represented until 2017.
The oldest of four children,Benjamin Downing was born in Pittsfield to Gerard,the late Berkshire County District Attorney,and Pamela Downing. He attended Providence College in Rhode Island,and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2003. He then moved to Washington,D.C.,where he worked for U.S. Representatives Bill Delahunt and Richard Neal before joining the staff of John Olver. He served as Olver's senior advisor on housing,budget,tax,homeland security,and foreign affairs for two years.
He returned to Massachusetts in 2004 and began his graduate studies at Tufts University,where he went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in Urban &Environmental Policy. While a student at Tufts,he successfully ran for an open seat in the Massachusetts Senate in 2006. He won re-election unopposed in 2008,2010,2012,and 2014. During the tenure in the Senate,he served as chair,Joint Committee on Telecommunications,Utilities and Energy (2011-2014);chair,Senate Committee on Bills in Third Reading (2013-2014);chair,Senate Committee on Steering &Policy (2012);Acting Chair,Joint Committee on Higher Education (2010);chair,Joint Committee on Revenue (2009-2010);chair,Senate Committee on Ethics and Rules (2007-2008);chair,Joint Committee on Public Service (2007).
Keeping a promise he made at the start of his tenure in the Senate,Downing term-limited himself and announced in January 2016 that he would not seek a sixth term. Upon leaving public office,he joined leading renewable energy company Nexamp.
Ben has previously served as co-chair of the Leadership Council to End Chronic Homelessness in Berkshire County,co-chair,Massachusetts Democratic Party's Committee on Youth Services,Advisory Council of Multicultural BRIDGE,“Honorary Chairman,College Democrats of Massachusetts," Advisory Council of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center,Honorary Member of the Advisory Committee on Workforce Development for Homeless Families,Member of the Pittsfield Democratic Committee,and Member of the Massachusetts Democratic Party's Rural Subcommittee.
In February 2021,he announced his campaign for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2022 election,becoming the first candidate to enter the race. [1] On December 28,2021,Downing announced he was ending his campaign bid for Governor of Massachusetts. [2]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 40,795 | 99.62 | |
Write-In | Others | 154 | 0.38 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 64,679 | 99.53 | |
Write-In | Others | 307 | 0.47 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 41,627 | 99.37 | |
Write-In | Others | 264 | 0.63 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 63,559 | 99.29 | |
Write-In | Others | 453 | 0.71 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 37,763 | 70.76 | |
Republican | Matthew W. Kinnaman | 13,595 | 25.47 | |
Independent | Dion C. Robbins-Zust | 1,988 | 3.72 | |
Write-In | Others | 25 | 0.05 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Benjamin B. Downing | 7,577 | 32.04 | |
Democratic | Christopher Hodgkins | 7,334 | 31.02 | |
Democratic | Margaret J. Ware | 5,221 | 22.08 | |
Democratic | Helen Sharron | 3,111 | 13.16 | |
Democratic | John T. Zelazo | 394 | 1.67 | |
Write-In | Others | 9 | 0.04 |
The 1804 United States presidential election was the fifth quadrennial presidential election,held from Friday,November 2,to Wednesday,December 5,1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution,which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.
Richmond is a town in Berkshire County,Massachusetts,United States. It is part of the Pittsfield,Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,407 at the 2020 census.
John Walter Olver was an American politician and chemist who was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania,Olver graduated from college at the age of 18 and went on to earn a PhD in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later taught chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for eight years.
Jane Maria Swift is an American politician and nonprofit executive who served as the 69th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1999 to 2003 and,concurrently,as acting governor from April 2001 to January 2003. She was the first woman to perform the duties of governor of Massachusetts. At the time she became acting governor,Swift was 36 years old,making her the youngest female governor or acting governor in U.S. history.
Stanley C. Rosenberg is an American politician who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from January 2015 until December 2017. Rosenberg was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1986 and served as the representative for Amherst and Pelham until 1991 when he won a special election for the State Senate seat being vacated by Congressman John Olver. A Democrat,Rosenberg resigned from the Senate on May 4,2018,amidst a sexual harassment scandal involving his husband,Bryon Hefner.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Its chair is Raymond Buckley,and its vice chairs are Martha Fuller Clark and Bette Lasky. The most recent Democratic governor was Maggie Hassan,who served from 2013 to 2017.
Joseph Tucker was an American politician who served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1869 to 1873.
Sylvia Bravo Larsen is a New Hampshire politician who was a Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate and its longest serving Democratic female leader. She represented New Hampshire's 15th State Senate District for 20 years,from 1994 through 2014. Larsen served as Senate President from 2006 to 2010. Between 2008 and 2010,Larsen led the nation's first female majority legislative body.
Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. served as a Democratic State Senator from January 1,1997,until January 3,2007,representing the Berkshire,Hampshire,Franklin,and Hampden and Berkshire,Hampshire and Franklin Massachusetts Senate districts in western Massachusetts. He is an attorney,having practiced law with a focus on commercial real estate,health care,education and business litigation. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination of the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts's newly drawn 1st congressional district on September 6,2012.
Mary Lynn Washington is an American politician from Baltimore,Maryland. A Democrat,she was first elected in to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010 to represent the 43rd legislative district. In 2018,she was elected to the Maryland Senate where she now serves.
Paul W. Mark is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate. He represents the Berkshire,Hampden,Franklin and Hampshire District,which includes 57 cities and towns throughout Berkshire,Franklin,Hampden,and Hampshire counties. Paul Mark previously served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Jonathan Hecht is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 29th Middlesex district from 2009 to 2021.
The 2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held on June 25,2013,in order to fill the Massachusetts Class 2 United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3,2015.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is an American state legislator serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives,representing the 3rd Berkshire district,serving Pittsfield's ward 1-A,2,3,4,5,6,and 7. She serves as Vice Chair of House Committee on Steering,Policy and Scheduling,and also sits on the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure,the Joint Committee on Tourism,Arts,and Cultural Development,and the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting.
Berkshire,Hampshire,Franklin,and Hampden is a district of the Massachusetts Senate since 2013. It covers an area of 1,529.5 square miles across the expanse of Berkshire,Hampshire,Hampden and Franklin counties. Democrat Adam Hinds of Pittsfield has represented the district since 2017. Hinds is running unopposed for re-election in the 2020 Massachusetts general election.
Adam G. Hinds is an American politician. He currently serves the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. From 2017 to 2022 he represented the Berkshire,Hampshire,Franklin,and Hampden district the Massachusetts Senate. Hinds previously worked for the United Nations in the Middle East.
Elections to the Massachusetts Senate were held during 1824 to elect State Senators. Candidates were elected at the county level,with some counties electing multiple Senators.
The 1860 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6. Incumbent Republican Governor Nathaniel Banks did not run for re-election to a fourth term. He was succeeded by Republican John Albion Andrew,a radical abolitionist.