James Lyons Jr.
James Lyons Jr. (Republican Party) was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 18th Essex District. Lyons assumed office in 2011. Lyons left office on January 2, 2019.
Lyons (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to represent the 18th Essex District. Lyons lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Lyons was first elected to the chamber in 2010.
Biography
Lyons' professional experience includes owning and operating a retail flower and ice cream business.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Personnel and Administration |
| • Judiciary Joint |
| • Public Health Joint |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Lyons served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Personnel and Administration |
| • Judiciary Joint |
| • Public Health Joint |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Lyons served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Global Warming and Climate Change |
| • Higher Education Joint |
| • Public Health Joint |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Lyons served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Community Development and Small Business Joint |
| • Housing Joint |
| • State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District
Tram Nguyen defeated incumbent James Lyons Jr. in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tram Nguyen (D)  | 54.9 | 11,663 |
 | James Lyons Jr. (R) | 45.1 | 9,587 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 4 | ||
| Total votes: 21,254 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District
Tram Nguyen advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tram Nguyen | 100.0 | 4,219 |
| Total votes: 4,219 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District
Incumbent James Lyons Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 18th Essex District on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Lyons Jr. | 100.0 | 2,312 |
| Total votes: 2,312 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Massachusetts House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 8, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.
Incumbent James Lyons, Jr. defeated Oscar Camargo in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Eighteenth Essex District general election.[1][2]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives, Eighteenth Essex District General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  James Lyons, Jr. Incumbent |
59.66% | 14,218 | |
| Democratic | Oscar Camargo | 40.34% | 9,615 | |
| Total Votes | 23,833 | |||
| Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth | ||||
Oscar Camargo ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Eighteenth Essex District Democratic Primary.[3][4]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives, Eighteenth Essex District Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Oscar Camargo (unopposed) | |
Incumbent James Lyons, Jr. ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Eighteenth Essex District Republican Primary.[3][4]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives, Eighteenth Essex District Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | James Lyons, Jr. Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for the Massachusetts House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on September 9, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. Incumbent James Lyons, Jr. was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election.[5]
2012
Lyons won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts House of Representatives Eighteenth Essex District. Lyons was unopposed in the September 6 Republican primary and defeated Barbara L'Italien (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | James Lyons, Jr. Incumbent |
51.1% | 11,810 | |
| Democratic | Barbara L'Italien | 48.9% | 11,301 | |
| Total Votes | 23,111 | |||
2010
Lyons won election to the Eighteenth Essex seat in 2010. He defeated John Thorlin in the September 14 Republican primary. He defeated Barbara L'Italien (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[8]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives General Election, Eighteenth Essex District (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Barbara L'Italien (D) | 6,674 | |||
| James Lyons, Jr. (R)
|
7,694 | |||
Campaign themes
2012
Lyons' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]
The 5-5-5 Tax Rollback
- Excerpt: "It’s time to roll back the Income Tax hike to its traditional 5% rate."
Increasing Local Aid
- Excerpt: "Steady advocacy for Local Aid protects working families who pay the bulk of property taxes. Local Aid supports our community budgets, preserves Proposition 2 and 1/2, and caps our property taxes."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
Campaign finance allegations (2021-2023)
In April 2021, Massachusetts regulars concluded that they had found evidence of campaign finance violations involving Lyons, then serving as the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, and other state Republican officials. [10]
In September 2023, the Massachusetts Republican Party agreed to a settlement of $15,000 with the state of Massachusetts in regards to the campaign finance allegations. In a statement, the Massachusetts Republican Party said it "admits no liability relating to allegations that the MassGOP received impermissible contributions.” [11]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Massachusetts scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 1 to January 5.
- Legislators are scored on bills of interest to an organization that pledges "to make government more transparent, make fiscally responsible choices, and to hold the line on taxes."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on public interest issues.
- Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored by the organization on votes that "can show the distinction between a progressive legislator, and everyone else."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Massachusetts General Court was in formal session from January 3 to July 31. The legislature was in informal session from August 1 to December 31.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 4 through November 15. The legislature held an informal session from November 16 to January 2.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 6 through July 31.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 7, 2015, through January 5, 2016.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 14 through August 1.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 2 to December 31.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 4 through July 31.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 5 through November 16.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Lyons and his wife, Bernadette, have two children.
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010
- James Lyon on Facebook
- James Lyons on Twitter
- James Lyons on LinkedIn
Footnotes
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 State election candidates," accessed October 3, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Election data lookup," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Candidates (Democratic)," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Secretary of the Commonweath of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Election Statistics," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 State Primary Candidates," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2012 State Primary Results," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes - For Massachusetts State Election - November 6, 2012," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes - For Massachusetts State Election - November 2, 2010," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ "jimlyons," Official Campaign Website
- ↑ “WBUR-FM (Boston, Massachusetts),” “State Senator And GOP Chair May Have Violated Campaign Finance Rules, OCPF Says," April 8, 2021
- ↑ “WBUR-FM (Boston, Massachusetts),” “Mass. GOP settles campaign finance allegations with the state," September 29, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Barbara L'Italien |
Massachusetts House of Representatives Eighteenth Essex District 2011–2019 |
Succeeded by Tram Nguyen (D) |
