John Keenan (Massachusetts State Senate)

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John Keenan
Image of John Keenan
Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District
Tenure

2011 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

14

Prior offices
Quincy City Council

Compensation

Base salary

$73,655.01/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard University, 1986

Law

Suffolk University Law School

Personal
Religion
Christian: Catholic
Profession
Attorney
Contact

John Keenan (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing Norfolk and Plymouth District. He assumed office on January 5, 2011. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Keenan (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent Norfolk and Plymouth District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Keenan earned his B.A. in Government Concentration with honors from Harvard University in 1986, and J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1989. Keenan's professional experience includes working as a litigator and public defender, and interning for former Representative Michael Morrissey and a former Attorney General. Keenan is admitted to practice law in all Massachusetts state courts, the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Federal First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Keenan was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Keenan was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Keenan was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, Chair
Steering and Policy, Vice chair
Ways and Means
Financial Services Joint
Judiciary Joint
Labor and Workforce Development Joint
Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Recovery Joint, Vice chair
Transportation Joint
Ways and Means Joint

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Keenan served on the following committees:

2013-2014

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

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Keenan served on these committees:

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

2024

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan (D)
 
97.9
 
61,091
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.1
 
1,325

Total votes: 62,416
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on September 3, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan
 
98.9
 
12,827
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.1
 
143

Total votes: 12,970
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Keenan in this election.

2022

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan defeated Gary Innes in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan (D)
 
63.6
 
36,063
Gary Innes (R)
 
36.3
 
20,586
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
38

Total votes: 56,687
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan
 
99.3
 
13,755
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
100

Total votes: 13,855
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Gary Innes advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Gary Innes
 
99.3
 
5,842
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
42

Total votes: 5,884
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan defeated Alexander Mendez in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan (D)
 
69.2
 
53,385
Image of Alexander Mendez
Alexander Mendez (Independent)
 
30.4
 
23,469
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
246

Total votes: 77,100
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on September 1, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan
 
98.8
 
27,139
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
323

Total votes: 27,462
Candidate Connection = 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.

2018

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan defeated Alexander Mendez in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan (D)
 
75.5
 
43,656
Image of Alexander Mendez
Alexander Mendez (Independent)
 
24.1
 
13,909
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
220

Total votes: 57,785
Candidate Connection = 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District

Incumbent John Keenan advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District on September 4, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John Keenan
John Keenan
 
100.0
 
11,712

Total votes: 11,712
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2016

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Massachusetts State Senate 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 John Keenan defeated Alexander Mendez in the Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk & Plymouth District general election.[1][2]

Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk & Plymouth District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John Keenan Incumbent 71.05% 50,148
     Independent Alexander Mendez 28.95% 20,433
Total Votes 70,581
Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth


Keenan was also unopposed in the Democratic primary.

2014

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Massachusetts State Senate 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 John Keenan was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Leslie Gosule was unopposed in the Republican primary. Keenan defeated Gosule in the general election.[3]

Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk & Plymouth District, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Keenan Incumbent 61.5% 32,679
     Republican Leslie Gosule 31.6% 16,786
     None Blank Votes 6.7% 3,569
     None All Others 0.1% 72
Total Votes 53,106

2012

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2012

Keenan won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District. Keenan was unopposed in the September 6 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[4][5]

2010

On November 2, 2010, Keenan won the election to the Massachusetts State Senate in the Norfolk and Plymouth District, defeating Daniel Dewey (R) and Laura Innis (I).

Massachusetts State Senate - Norfolk and Plymouth District
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png John Keenan (D) 29,982
Daniel Dewey (R) 18,582
Laura Innis (I) 5,152
All Others 75
Blanks 4,876

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Keenan did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

John Keenan did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

John Keenan did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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.


John Keenan campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth DistrictWon general$11,556 $0
2022Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth DistrictWon general$90,142 $0
2020Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth DistrictWon general$9,100 N/A**
2016Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk And PlymouthWon $52,435 N/A**
2014Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk And PlymouthWon $92,867 N/A**
2012Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk And PlymouthWon $41,399 N/A**
2010Massachusetts State Senate, Norfolk And PlymouthWon $92,170 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Massachusetts

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.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012


2011

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Keenan and his wife, Jeanne Marie, have three children.

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Massachusetts State Senate Norfolk and Plymouth District
2011-Present
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Quincy City Council
2003-2012
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the Massachusetts State Senate
Senators
Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Hampshire District
Paul Mark (D)
Bristol and Norfolk District
Cape and Islands District
Hampden District
Hampden and Hampshire District
Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester District
Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District
Middlesex and Norfolk District
Middlesex and Suffolk District
Middlesex and Worcester District
Norfolk and Middlesex District
Norfolk and Plymouth District
Norfolk and Suffolk District
Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol District
Norfolk, Worcester, and Middlesex District
Plymouth and Barnstable District
Suffolk and Middlesex District
Worcester and Hampden District
Worcester and Hampshire District
Worcester and Middlesex District
1st Bristol and Plymouth District
1st Essex District
1st Essex and Middlesex District
1st Middlesex District
Vacant
1st Plymouth and Norfolk District
1st Suffolk District
1st Worcester District
2nd Bristol and Plymouth District
2nd Essex District
2nd Essex and Middlesex District
2nd Middlesex District
2nd Plymouth and Norfolk District
2nd Suffolk District
2nd Worcester District
3rd Bristol and Plymouth District
3rd Essex District
3rd Middlesex District
3rd Suffolk District
4th Middlesex District
5th Middlesex District
Democratic Party (34)
Republican Party (5)
Vacancies (1)