Jennifer Fries

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Jennifer Fries

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

September 1, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Brown University, 1991

Graduate

Harvard Kennedy School, 2005

Personal

Religion

Quaker

Profession

Nonprofit executive director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Jennifer Fries (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to represent the 24th Middlesex District. She lost in the Democratic primary on September 1, 2020.

Fries completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Fries earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1991 and a master's degree from Harvard Kennedy School in 2005. Her professional experience includes serving as the executive director of a nonprofit youth mentoring organization. Fries has also served in nonprofit leadership roles with domestic violence organizations, educational organizations, and with legal services for low-income people. She was the associate director of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.

Elections

2020

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 24th Middlesex District

Incumbent David Rogers won election in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 24th Middlesex District on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Rogers (D)	99.5	21,299
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	110

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,409
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 24th Middlesex District

Incumbent David Rogers defeated Jennifer Fries in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 24th Middlesex District on September 1, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Rogers	56.0	7,591
		Jennifer Fries	43.9	5,950
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	11

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,552
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Fries' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jennifer Fries completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fries' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Jen Fries has lived in the district for more than twenty years, and her child attends public school in Cambridge. For ten years, Jen ran a nonprofit that manages volunteer programs and services in the Cambridge Public Schools. Through that work, she mobilized several thousand tutors and mentors from the community and from more than 15 tech, biotech, and pharmaceutical labs and companies, in support of the needs of public school students. An experienced financial manager, Jen has raised millions of dollars for public schools programming. Jen has her Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in public policy, with honors, from Brown University.

Jen has served in leadership at a number of nonprofits-domestic violence and youth mentoring organization-and in a quasi-state agency which funds legal services for low-income people, the Mass. Legal Assistance Corporation. An experienced manager of people, partnerships, and budgets, Jen brings real-world experience to the role of state rep. She is a committed leader who knows how to listen to the needs of constituents and to develop policies that improve the life of a community.

During the COVID surge in spring 2020, Jen helped create an effort to raise funds and deliver more than 2,500 meals to local hospitals and health care providers, raising and spending $25,000 to support local restaurants.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• It is time to fix the MBTA.
• We can't wait for climate action.
• Let's reinvest in our U.Mass system and our public schools.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about public transit, climate change action and environmental issues, educational equity, access to justice, reproductive health care, gun sense, and creating a welcoming Commonwealth for immigrants and asylum seekers.

I also am committed to transparency and have signed the Act On Mass transparency pledge.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I supported Elizabeth Warren in the Presidential primary this year, and I admire her calm, her cheerfulness, her determination, and her work ethic.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I did both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in public policy and public administration, so honestly, there are too many good books and articles to mention. Recently, I admired Ta-Nehisi Coates' article "The Case for Reparations" in The Atlantic, for a quick and thorough introduction to how systemic racism has been intertwined with our history.

I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the prosecution of domestic violence misdemeanors in the case of a reluctant witness. You could read it to learn how I am persistent (in tracking down and interviewing city solicitors, who prosecute these misdemeanors in Rhode Island), detail-oriented, careful, observant, and unafraid to make policy recommendations that could lead to better outcomes for vulnerable people, in this case victims of domestic abuse.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

It is important to know your values and be able to articulate them, clearly and honestly.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A good rep educates herself about issues in the district by speaking with voters, following research, and learning about best practices in legislation. A good rep also has authentic relationships with her neighbors in the districts and knows their concerns. She can work to build coalitions and to educate people about exercising their rights.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be able to say that our MBTA is among the safest, cleanest, and most reliable public transit. I would like to be able to know that we made meaningful progress in reversing the trends on climate change and pivoted to clean energy, making Massachusetts an industry leader in green energy research and jobs. I will be proud when we can say that the U.Mass system is the crown jewel of a public education system that provides consistent and reliable opportunities to all students, no matter their zip code.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

When I was almost 12, Anwar Sadat was assassinated. I remember feeling grief because people were saying it had set back the cause of peace in the Middle East.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I delivered newspapers before dawn in junior high. My first job for a paycheck was in the laundry at the local nursing home.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Anyone who has a house full of books knows that this is a ridiculous question. Currently, I am reading two novels: "The Mirror and the Light", by Hilary Mantel, and "Make Your Home Among Strangers", by Jennine Capo Crucet. I am reading one nonfiction book, "Building Powerful Community Organizations", by Michael Jacoby Brown. I just finished Michelle Obama's "Becoming" on audiobook and Li Ma's post-apocalyptic novel "Severance".

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

We've been watching a South Korean zombie show called The Kingdom, set in the Chosŏn period, and the doctor, Seo Bi, is a pretty cool character. She is calm, thoughtful, learned, caring, and determined.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

My kid has been singing "Popular" from Wicked, in Spanish, a lot. So that.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I have experience being a single working parent of a young child, after a divorce. I know how expensive child care is, and how difficult it is to support a family in our area. I also have experience buying health care on the exchange, and I know how costly health care plans and deductibles are.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

The smaller district size means that reps are more entwined in the day-to-day lives of our districts.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes, it is helpful for Massachusetts state legislators to know their way around Beacon Hill. Although I have not served as state rep before, I was part of a group which founded the Equal Justice Coalition, which created the (now 20-year-old) Walk to the Hill for Legal Aid. In its founding year, the EJC successfully broke through a logjam and secured a 25% ($1 million) increase in the base line item for legal services for low-income people. I also successfully worked with a different coalition to secure $1.2 million in increases over 2 years for legal aid for victims of domestic violence.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Greater Boston now has the worst traffic in the country. We must fix the MBTA and ensure safety, reliability, and impeccable hygiene on our trains and buses.

Climate change will impact the district. The heart of the 24th Middlesex district is the low-lying intersection of Arlington, Belmont, and Cambridge, which is vulnerable to catastrophic flooding should the Mystic River dam fail or overtop. As a Rep, I will advocate for increased resiliency and mitigation funding to protect districts like the 24th Middlesex throughout the state, and also support statewide legislation to encourage resilient zoning that limits impermeable surfaces and underground dwelling units. We are already experiencing more intense storms, polar vortex effect, and heat islands. The Environmental League of Massachusetts notes that last five summers were the hottest on record.

Finally, our district and our state relies on a highly educated populace to fuel our innovation and research. We must eliminate educational inequities by re-investing in our public schools and our U. Mass system.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

Ideally, the legislature and the governor work together for the needs of the people.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes, I will work to build relationships with any rep who is willing to advance our issues.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Partisan gerrymandering jeopardizes our most basic principle of democracy: one person, one vote. We must eliminate gerrymandering and create a process for independent commissions to create congressional district maps. Learn more at www.allontheline.org

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Joint Committee on Education

Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture

Joint Committee on Transportation

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I have been speaking to many voters impacted by COVID, either directly, due to a death in the family, or because of the economic impacts. Child care providers and teachers are worried about their job security, and about contracting the disease. So many people are out of work. I've spoken to many parents who are worried that their child care center or preschool will go under.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Ronald Mariano

Majority Leader:Michael Moran

Representatives

Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket District

Thomas Moakley (D)

1st Barnstable District

Chris Flanagan (D)

1st Berkshire District

John Barrett (D)

1st Bristol District

Michael Chaisson (R)

1st Essex District

Dawne Shand (D)

1st Franklin District

Natalie Blais (D)

1st Hampden District

Todd Smola (R)

1st Hampshire District

Lindsay Sabadosa (D)

1st Middlesex District

Margaret Scarsdale (D)

1st Norfolk District

Bruce Ayers (D)

1st Plymouth District

Michelle Badger (D)

1st Suffolk District

Adrian Madaro (D)

1st Worcester District

Kimberly Ferguson (R)

2nd Barnstable District

Kip Diggs (D)

2nd Berkshire District

Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D)

2nd Bristol District

James Hawkins (D)

2nd Essex District

Kristin Kassner (D)

2nd Franklin District

Susannah Whipps (U)

2nd Hampden District

Brian Ashe (D)

2nd Hampshire District

Homar Gomez (D)

2nd Middlesex District

James Arciero (D)

2nd Norfolk District

Tackey Chan (D)

2nd Plymouth District

John Gaskey (R)

2nd Suffolk District

Daniel Ryan (D)

2nd Worcester District

Jonathan Zlotnik (D)

3rd Barnstable District

David Vieira (R)

3rd Berkshire District

Leigh Davis (D)

3rd Bristol District

Lisa Field (D)

3rd Essex District

Andy Vargas (D)

3rd Hampden District

Nicholas Boldyga (R)

3rd Hampshire District

Mindy Domb (D)

3rd Middlesex District

Kate Hogan (D)

3rd Norfolk District

Ronald Mariano (D)

3rd Plymouth District

Joan Meschino (D)

3rd Suffolk District

Aaron Michlewitz (D)

3rd Worcester District

Michael Kushmerek (D)

4th Barnstable District

Hadley Luddy (D)

4th Bristol District

Steven Howitt (R)

4th Essex District

Estela Reyes (D)

4th Hampden District

Kelly Pease (R)

4th Middlesex District

Danielle Gregoire (D)

4th Norfolk District

James Murphy (D)

4th Plymouth District

Patrick Joseph Kearney (D)

4th Suffolk District

David Biele (D)

4th Worcester District

Natalie Higgins (D)

5th Barnstable District

Steven Xiarhos (R)

5th Bristol District

Justin Thurber (R)

5th Essex District

Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D)

5th Hampden District

Patricia Duffy (D)

5th Middlesex District

David Linsky (D)

5th Norfolk District

Mark Cusack (D)

5th Plymouth District

David DeCoste (R)

5th Suffolk District

Christopher Worrell (D)

5th Worcester District

Donald Berthiaume (R)

6th Bristol District

Carole Fiola (D)

6th Essex District

Hannah Bowen (D)

6th Hampden District

Michael Finn (D)

6th Middlesex District

Priscila Sousa (D)

6th Norfolk District

William Galvin (D)

6th Plymouth District

Kenneth Sweezey (R)

6th Suffolk District

Russell Holmes (D)

6th Worcester District

John Marsi (R)

7th Bristol District

Alan Silvia (D)

7th Essex District

Manny Cruz (D)

7th Hampden District

Aaron Saunders (D)

7th Middlesex District

Jack Lewis (D)

7th Norfolk District

Richard Wells (D)

7th Plymouth District

Alyson Sullivan (R)

7th Suffolk District

Chynah Tyler (D)

7th Worcester District

Paul Frost (R)

8th Bristol District

Steven Ouellette (D)

8th Essex District

Jenny Armini (D)

8th Hampden District

Shirley Arriaga (D)

8th Middlesex District

James Arena-DeRosa (D)

8th Norfolk District

Edward Philips (D)

8th Plymouth District

Dennis Gallagher (D)

8th Suffolk District

Jay Livingstone (D)

8th Worcester District

Michael Soter (R)

9th Bristol District

Christopher Markey (D)

9th Essex District

Donald Wong (R)

9th Hampden District

Orlando Ramos (D)

9th Middlesex District

Thomas Stanley (D)

9th Norfolk District

Marcus Vaughn (R)

9th Plymouth District

Bridget Plouffe (D)

9th Suffolk District

John Moran (D)

9th Worcester District

David Muradian (R)

10th Bristol District

Mark Sylvia (D)

10th Essex District

Dan Cahill (D)

10th Hampden District

Carlos Gonzalez (D)

10th Middlesex District

John Lawn (D)

10th Norfolk District

Jeffrey Roy (D)

10th Plymouth District

Michelle DuBois (D)

10th Suffolk District

Bill MacGregor (D)

10th Worcester District

Brian Murray (D)

11th Bristol District

Christopher Hendricks (D)

11th Essex District

Sean Reid (D)

11th Hampden District

Bud Williams (D)

11th Middlesex District

Amy Sangiolo (D)

11th Norfolk District

Paul McMurtry (D)

11th Plymouth District

Rita Mendes (D)

11th Suffolk District

Judith García (D)

11th Worcester District

Hannah Kane (R)

12th Bristol District

Norman Orrall (R)

12th Essex District

Thomas Walsh (D)

12th Hampden District

Angelo Puppolo (D)

12th Middlesex District

Greg Schwartz (D)

12th Norfolk District

John Rogers (D)

12th Plymouth District

Kathleen LaNatra (D)

12th Suffolk District

Brandy Oakley (D)

12th Worcester District

Meghan Kilcoyne (D)

13th Bristol District

Antonio Cabral (D)

13th Essex District

Sally Kerans (D)

13th Middlesex District

Carmine Gentile (D)

13th Norfolk District

Joshua Tarsky (D)

13th Suffolk District

Daniel Hunt (D)

13th Worcester District

John Mahoney (D)

14th Bristol District

Adam Scanlon (D)

14th Essex District

Adrianne Ramos (D)

14th Middlesex District

Simon Cataldo (D)

14th Norfolk District

Alice Peisch (D)

14th Suffolk District

Rob Consalvo (D)

14th Worcester District

James O'Day (D)

15th Essex District

Ryan Hamilton (D)

15th Middlesex District

Michelle Ciccolo (D)

15th Norfolk District

Tommy Vitolo (D)

15th Suffolk District

Sam Montaño (D)

15th Worcester District

Mary Keefe (D)

16th Essex District

Francisco Paulino (D)

16th Middlesex District

Rodney Elliott (D)

16th Suffolk District

Jessica Giannino (D)

16th Worcester District

Daniel Donahue (D)

17th Essex District

Frank Moran (D)

17th Middlesex District

Vanna Howard (D)

17th Suffolk District

Kevin Honan (D)

17th Worcester District

David LeBoeuf (D)

18th Essex District

Tram Nguyen (D)

18th Middlesex District

Tara Hong (D)

18th Suffolk District

Michael Moran (D)

18th Worcester District

Joseph McKenna (R)

19th Middlesex District

David Allen Robertson (D)

19th Suffolk District

Jeffrey Turco (D)

19th Worcester District

Kate Donaghue (D)

20th Middlesex District

Bradley Jones (R)

21st Middlesex District

Kenneth Gordon (D)

22nd Middlesex District

Marc Lombardo (R)

23rd Middlesex District

Sean Garballey (D)

24th Middlesex District

David Rogers (D)

25th Middlesex District

Marjorie Decker (D)

26th Middlesex District

Mike Connolly (D)

27th Middlesex District

Erika Uyterhoeven (D)

28th Middlesex District

Joseph McGonagle (D)

29th Middlesex District

Steven Owens (D)

30th Middlesex District

Richard Haggerty (D)

31st Middlesex District

Michael Day (D)

32nd Middlesex District

Kate Lipper-Garabedian (D)

33rd Middlesex District

Steven Ultrino (D)

34th Middlesex District

Christine Barber (D)

35th Middlesex District

Paul Donato (D)

36th Middlesex District

Colleen Garry (D)

37th Middlesex District

Danillo Sena (D)

Democratic Party (134)

Republican Party (25)

Unenrolled (1)