Chris Walsh

Chris Walsh
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 6th Middlesex District
Incumbent
In office
2011 - present
Term ends
January 7, 2015
Years in position	2
Party	Democratic
Compensation
Base salary	$61,133/year
Per diem	$10 - $100/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	2010
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Personal
Birthday	05/20/1951
Place of birth	New York, NY
Profession	Architect, business owner
Religion	Agnostic
Websites
Office website

Chris Walsh (b. May 20, 1951)  is a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the Sixth Middlesex District since 2011.

Walsh is an architect and owns his own small business, Chris Walsh & Co. He has been active on many planning boards and has belonged to the Framingham Town Meeting since 1992. A past president of the Framingham Historical Society, Walsh now chairs the Historic District Commission for the town.

Walsh holds a B.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1982.

Issue positions

His campaign platform involves translating experience with historical preservation and town planning into revitalizing the town, including bringing in businesses to raise assessed property values. Framingham is dealing with higher rates of business closures and abandoned properties that towns in the same region, and Walsh has attributed this in part to a bad mix of entitlement and perverse incentives.

Citing the high proportion of small businesses in Framingham, Walsh wants to see incentives for business and economic development. One area he specifically wants to grow is arts and culture, something he says is underrepresented in the town.

Walsh has called for all mandated state programs to have both an economic impact assessment and a budget proposal and for towns and communities to be given more flexibility in implementing programs than state law currently allows. He has also recommended direct tax incentives to home owners to incentivize renewing blighted areas.

Walsh advocates for cleaning contaminated sites over abandoning them or building new structures and has said, "I believe that open space land is its highest and best use and that it should be valued as such." Additionally, he would like to see currently unused rail tracks redeveloped into a support route for mass transit.

Speaking on social policy, Walsh draws attention to the current economy's affect on Framingham's ability to provides its historic level of services and continue the tax free status it affords non-profits. Under Massachusetts' Dover Amendment, such non-profits enjoy exemptions from zoning laws, a clause that Walsh says is detrimental to property values for private home owners.

Walsh also wants to see greater financial support for Framingham's public schools from the state and has come out in favor of issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Walsh served on the following committees:

Massachusetts Committee Assignments, 2013
• Global Warming and Climate Change, Vice-chair
• Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Joint
• Transportation Joint

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Walsh served on the following committees:

Massachusetts Committee Assignments, 2011
• Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Joint
• Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Joint
• Transportation Joint

Elections

2012

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2012

Walsh won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts House of Representatives Sixth Middlesex District. Walsh was unopposed in the September 6 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election which took place on November 6, 2012.

2010

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2010

Walsh won election to the Sixth Middlesex Seat in 2010. He defeated incumbent Pamela Richardson in the September 14 Democratic primary. He defeated Jim Rizoli (I) and Jim Pillsbury (I) in the general election on November 2, 2010. Walsh was the only challenger in a 2010 Massachusetts House race to unseat an incumbent in the primary.

Massachusetts House of Representatives General Election, Sixth Middlesex District (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Chris Walsh (D)		9,062
Jim Rizolo (I)		1,226
Jim Pillsbury (I)		2,657

2010 primary

Two years later, with campaign experience and no third candidate in the race, Walsh bested Richardson - who had herself first won election as a write-in - by an unofficial tally of 1,883 to 1,674.

2008 primary

Walsh first challenged Pam Richardson in 2008; that year, the Democratic primary for the seat was a three-way race. Walsh lost to Richardson. by 138 votes that year.

Walsh had run on a platform of strong advocacy for open government and transparency, which was questioned over a Town Meeting in May of 2008. According to others in attendance at the meeting, Walsh spoke in favor of a bill that favored owners of historic homes in development and land use without disclosing that his own home would be affected by the bill.

2010 Race for 6th Middlesex District Representative in General Court - Democrat Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Pam Richardson (D)		47.06%
Chris Walsh (D)		52.94%
Total votes		3,557

Of the 35,000 registered voters in the District, slightly more than 6,500 voted in the primary, for a 19% rate. The night of his victory, Walsh celebrated clinching the nomination with reservations about voter enthusiasm. Speaking to local press at his victory party, he commented that, "Quite honestly, 209 votes in my view is squeaking."

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

In 2010, Walsh raised $18,321 in contributions.

His largest contributor was the Committee for a Democratic House, which donated $1,000 to his campaign.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Chris + Walsh + Massachusetts + Legislature

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Chris Walsh News Feed

• Local leaders push to examine Boston Olympic bid - Boston Globe
• Congress Members Sprint for Money to Lobby After Election - Bloomberg
• Former Congress members sprint to jobs as lobbyists - Worcester Telegram
• More education reform needed - The Sun
• A Bold Idea For Gun Control: Let Women Take Charge - WBUR
• A boost in school aid, but shy of expectations - Framingham TAB
• DERBY DAY -- JOBS NUMBERS LIFT ECONOMIC NARRATIVE: GOP ... - Politico (blog)

Personal

Walsh and his wife Cindy have two children.

External links

Suggest a link

• House website
• Project Vote Smart biography
• Project Vote Smart legislative profile
• Campaign contributions: 2010

References

Political offices
Preceded by Pamela Richardson	Massachusetts House of Representatives Sixth Middlesex District 2011–present	Succeeded by NA