Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state. All but one of the districts are named for the counties in which they are located (the "Cape and Islands" district covers Dukes, Nantucket, and parts of Barnstable counties). Senators serve two-year terms, without term limits.[1] The Senate convenes in the Massachusetts State House, in Boston.

Massachusetts Senate
2021–2022 Massachusetts legislature
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 6, 2021
Leadership
Karen Spilka (D)
since July 26, 2018
Minority Leader
Bruce Tarr (R)
since January 5, 2011
Structure
Seats40
Political groups
Majority
  Democratic (37)

Minority

  Republican (3)
Length of term
2 years
AuthorityChapter 1, Massachusetts Constitution
Salary$62,500/year; set to increase every two years equal to the increase in the median salary of Massachusetts. Additional stipends are given to leaders of the majority and minority party.
Elections
Last election
November 3, 2020
(40 seats)
Next election
November 8, 2022
(40 seats)
RedistrictingLegislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber
Massachusetts State House
Boston, Massachusetts
Website
Massachusetts Senate

The current session is the 192nd General Court, which convened January 6, 2021. It consists of 37 Democrats and 3 Republicans. The President of the Senate is Karen E. Spilka of Ashland. The Senate Minority Leader, from the Republican Party, is Bruce Tarr of Gloucester. The last state general election was on November 3, 2020.

Qualifications

The following are the qualifications to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate:[2]

  • Be eighteen years of age
  • Be a registered voter in Massachusetts
  • Be an inhabitant of Massachusetts for five years
  • Be a resident of the district when elected
  • Receive a least 300 signatures on nomination papers

Recent party control

Democrats hold a supermajority in the Senate.

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Democratic Republican Vacant
189th General Court 34 6 40 0
190th General Court 0
191st General Court 0
192nd General Court 37 3 0
Latest voting share 92.5% 7.5%

Current leadership

[3]

Position Leader Municipality Party
President of the Senate Karen E. Spilka Ashland Democratic
Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr Gloucester Republican

Committees

The current standing committees of the Massachusetts Senate are as follows:

Committee Chair Vice Chair Ranking Minority
Bills in the Third Reading
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets
Ethics
Global Warming and Climate Change
Intergovernmental Affairs
Personnel and Administration
Post Audit and Oversight
Redistricting
Rules
Steering, Policy and Scheduling
Ways and Means


Current districts and members

Current members of the Senate:

Senator Party District Home town/city Assumed office

Michael J. Barrett
  Democratic 3rd Middlesex Lexington 2013
Joseph Boncore   Democratic 1st Suffolk and Middlesex Winthrop 2016*
Michael Brady   Democratic 2nd Plymouth and Bristol Brockton 2015*

William Brownsberger
  Democratic 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex Belmont 2012*

Harriette L. Chandler
  Democratic 1st Worcester Worcester 2001

Sonia Chang-Díaz
  Democratic 2nd Suffolk Boston 2009

Nick Collins
  Democratic 1st Suffolk Boston 2018*
Joanne Comerford   Democratic Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district Northampton 2019

Cynthia Creem
  Democratic 1st Middlesex and Norfolk Newton 1999
Brendan Crighton   Democratic 3rd Essex Lynn 2018*
John Cronin   Democratic Worcester and Middlesex Lunenburg 2021

Julian Cyr
  Democratic Cape and Islands Truro 2017
Sal DiDomenico   Democratic Middlesex and Suffolk Everett 2010*

Diana DiZoglio
  Democratic 1st Essex Methuen 2019

James Eldridge
  Democratic Middlesex and Worcester Acton 2009

Ryan Fattman
  Republican Worcester and Norfolk Webster 2015
Paul Feeney   Democratic Bristol and Norfolk Foxborough 2017*[4]

Barry Finegold
  Democratic 2nd Essex and Middlesex Andover 2019
Cindy Friedman   Democratic 4th Middlesex Arlington 2017*

Anne Gobi
  Democratic Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex Spencer 2015
Adam Gomez   Democratic Hampden Springfield 2021

Adam Hinds[5]
  Democratic Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden Pittsfield 2017

Patricia Jehlen
  Democratic 2nd Middlesex Somerville 2005*

John Keenan
  Democratic Norfolk and Plymouth Quincy 2011

Edward Kennedy
  Democratic 1st Middlesex Lowell 2019

Eric Lesser
  Democratic 1st Hampden and Hampshire Longmeadow 2015
Jason Lewis   Democratic 5th Middlesex Winchester 2014*

Joan Lovely
  Democratic 2nd Essex Salem 2013

Mark Montigny
  Democratic 2nd Bristol and Plymouth New Bedford 1993

Michael Moore
  Democratic 2nd Worcester Millbury 2009

Susan Moran
  Democratic Plymouth and Barnstable Falmouth 2020*

Patrick O'Connor
  Republican Plymouth and Norfolk Weymouth 2016*

Marc Pacheco
  Democratic 1st Plymouth and Bristol Taunton 1993

Rebecca Rausch
  Democratic Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex Needham 2019

Michael Rodrigues
  Democratic 1st Bristol and Plymouth Westport 2011

Michael Rush
  Democratic Norfolk and Suffolk Boston 2011

Karen Spilka
  Democratic 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk Ashland 2005

Bruce Tarr
  Republican 1st Essex and Middlesex Gloucester 1995

Walter Timilty[6]
  Democratic Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth Milton 2017

John Velis
  Democratic 2nd Hampden and Hampshire Westfield 2020*
  • *Originally elected in a special election

Past composition of the Senate

Composition by municipality in the 187th and 188th General Courts.
Composition by municipality in the 189th General Court and at the opening of 190th General Court.
Composition by municipality in the 190th General Court beginning on December 5, 2017.
Composition by municipality at the beginning of the 191st General Court.

See also

References

Further reading

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