Ruth Balser | |
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Member of the MassachusettsHouseofRepresentatives from the 12th district | |
Ruth B. Balser (born October 30, 1948) is an American state legislator serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. [1] She is a Newton resident and a member of the Democratic Party. [2]
Balser received her bachelor's degree at the University of Rochester and her PhD at New York University. She was a practicing clinical psychologist. She was an alderman for the City of Newton from 1988 to 1995 and has been a member of the state legislature since 1999. [2]
Balser was a political opponent of former Massachusetts House Speaker Thomas Finneran. She voted against Finneran's renewal of tenure as Speaker in 2003. She, along with several other opponents of Finneran, were demoted to appointments on a committee that held training sessions for House members. [3] Her political fortunes improved when Finneran was replaced by Salvatore DiMasi as Speaker in 2004. [4] Balser served two terms as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. [5]
She ran for mayor of Newton in 2009 and was endorsed by The Boston Globe . [6] She lost narrowly to former John Kerry aide Setti Warren, 51–49 percent. [7]
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 88,923.
Thomas Michael "Tom" Finneran, is a radio talk host and former Massachusetts Democratic politician who served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from April 1996 to September 2004. He represented the district that included parts of the Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park as well as parts of the town of Milton for 26 years.
David Barry Cohen is an American politician who served as a Massachusetts state Representative for the 11th Middlesex district and as the mayor of Newton, Massachusetts.
Salvatore Francis "Sal" DiMasi is a former Democratic state representative in Massachusetts. The former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives originally joined the state legislature in 1979, as a member of the Democratic Party. He eventually resigned from this post in January 2009, just six months prior to being indicted on several Federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the federal government, extortion, mail fraud and wire fraud. DiMasi was found guilty on 7 of 9 federal corruption charges on June 15, 2011. DiMasi is the third consecutive Massachusetts house speaker to later become a convicted felon due to crimes committed in office.
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The 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in Massachusetts on November 6, 2012, Democrat Elizabeth Warren defeated incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown. This election was held concurrently with the U.S. presidential election and elections to the U.S. Senate in other states, as well as elections to the House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Setti David Warren is an American politician. He served as Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and is a former Democratic candidate for United States Senate in 2012. He is the first popularly elected African-American mayor in Massachusetts.
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.
Katherine Marlea Clark is an American politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district since 2013. She has been Assistant House Democratic Leader since 2021, making her the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat, and has been elected minority whip for the session starting in 2023. Her district includes many of Boston's northern and western suburbs, such as Medford, Framingham, Woburn, Waltham and her home city of Revere. Clark was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011 and Massachusetts Senate from 2011 to 2013.
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Rady Mom is an American politician and a representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 18th Middlesex district. The district was formerly represented by Kevin Murphy, who vacated his seat in 2014 when he was hired as the city manager of Lowell. Mom is the first Cambodian-American to be elected to the Massachusetts state Legislature as well as the first Cambodian American elected to a state legislature in the country.
The 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Republican Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito sought reelection to a second term in office, facing Democratic challengers Jay Gonzalez and Quentin Palfrey, respectively. Candidates were selected in the primary election held on September 4, 2018.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Massachusetts, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Primary elections were held on September 1.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 12th Middlesex district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of the city of Newton in Middlesex County. Democrat Ruth Balser of Newton has represented the district since 2003.
The 2022 Massachusetts Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Attorney General of Massachusetts. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey was eligible to seek a third term, but instead announced she would run for governor.