Shannon Patricia Elizabeth O'Brien is an American politician and attorney who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 through 1993,in the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 through 1995,and was the Massachusetts state treasurer from 1999 through 2003. In that last position she became the first woman to be elected in Massachusetts to statewide office by her own accord. She was the Democratic Party nominee in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election,but lost in the general election to Mitt Romney.
Elaine Noble is an American politician and LGBT activist who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for two terms starting in January 1975. She was the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature. She served two terms as representative for the Fenway-Kenmore and Back Bay neighborhoods of Boston.
Alice K. Wolf was an Austrian-born American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1996 to 2013,representing the 25th Middlesex District.
The 1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7,1978. Former Massachusetts Port Authority executive director Edward J. King was elected to a four-year term,from January 4,1979,until January 6,1983. King won the Democratic nomination by defeating incumbent Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary.
Althea Garrison is an American politician from Boston,Massachusetts who previously served a single term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1993–1995) and a partial term as an at-large councilor on the Boston City Council (2019–2020). She is considered the earliest transgender person known to have been elected to a state legislature in the United States. She was outed against her will by the Boston Herald after her 1992 election. She is a perennial candidate,having been an unsuccessful candidate for political office more than forty times.
Katherine Marlea Clark is an American lawyer and politician who has served as House Minority Whip since 2023 and the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district since 2013. She previously served as Assistant Speaker from 2021 to 2023 and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 2019 to 2021. Clark was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011 and the Massachusetts Senate from 2011 to 2013.
Margaret Mary Heckler was an American politician and diplomat who represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 until 1983. A member of the Republican Party,she also served as the 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1983 to 1985,as well as United States ambassador to Ireland from 1986 to 1989.
Kathleen Sullivan Alioto is an American educator and politician who served on the Boston School Committee as a member (1974–79) and its president (1977). She played a role in the desegregation of the Boston public schools.
Gloria Lavera Fox is a former Massachusetts state representative for the 7th Suffolk District. Fox represented the 7th Suffolk District from 1987 until her retirement in 2016.
Benjamin Swan is a former American state legislator who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and represented the 11th Hampden District from 2009 to 2016.
Herman James "Jim" Shea Jr. was an American politician from the state of Massachusetts. A resident of Newton for most of his life,he graduated from Tufts University and,after dropping out of the University of Virginia School of Law,found employment as a civil engineer,real estate broker,and university instructor. A progressive member of the Democratic Party,he served on the Newton Board of Aldermen as well as in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Marion Cowan Burrows was an American physician,pharmacist,and state legislator in Massachusetts.
Butler Roland Wilson (1861–1939) was an attorney,civil rights activist,and humanitarian based in Boston,Massachusetts. Born in Georgia,he came to Boston for law school and lived there for the remainder of his life. For over fifty years,he worked to combat racial discrimination in Massachusetts. He was one of the first African-American members of the American Bar Association. Wilson was a founding member and president of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mary L. Fonseca (1915–2005) was a Massachusetts state senator who represented the Second Bristol District from 1953 to 1984. As Assistant Majority Leader,she was the first woman to hold a leadership post in the Massachusetts Senate.
Elizabeth Miranda is a Cape Verdean-American community organizer and politician. She is a state senator representing the Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Suffolk district after winning a five-way Democratic Primary Election,and advancing to an uncontested race in the 2022 Massachusetts general election. Prior to that,since January 2019,Miranda had served as the Democratic Massachusetts State Representative for the Fifth Suffolk district. Her district comprises parts of the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. She is a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.
Elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Springfield,Massachusetts.
Mary B. Newman was an American politician and state government official who was elected to her first term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1953. A moderate Republican,she represented the 2nd Middlesex District from 1953 to 1954 and,again,from 1957 to 1970. Appointed to the Massachusetts Parole Board in 1955 after her initial legislative term ended,she held that parole board post until 1957 when she returned to the Massachusetts House. During the early part of that second term,she served on the House's Labor and Industries and Water Supply committees.
Katherine Alena (née Carr) Foley was an Irish-American politician who represented the 3rd Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1935–1938. She was the first woman to receive a major party's nomination for statewide office in Massachusetts.
Barbara E. Gray was an American Democratic politician from Framingham,Massachusetts. She represented the 39th Middlesex district from 1973 to 1974,the 56th Middlesex district from 1975 to 1978,and the 6th Middlesex district from 1979 to 1996 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She was first elected as a Republican,but switched parties in October 1990.
Genevra Reed Counihan is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Concord,Massachusetts. She represented the Fortieth Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978. Counihan served on the urban affairs and public service committees. She lost a bid to reelection to John H. Loring.
