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Leonard Mirra

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Leonard Mirra
Image of Leonard Mirra
Prior offices
Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District
Successor: Kristin Kassner

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Boston College, 1986

Personal
Birthplace
Woburn, Mass.
Religion
Catholic
Profession
Legislator
Contact

Leonard Mirra (Republican Party) was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 2nd Essex District. He assumed office on January 2, 2013. He left office on February 3, 2023.

Mirra (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to represent the 2nd Essex District. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Mirra was not sworn out of office with the rest of the chamber on January 4, 2023. A special committee of the Massachusetts House of Representatives was in the process of reviewing the results from the Second Essex District election on November 8, 2022. Mirra stayed in office during the review. The committee voted on January 31, 2023, to accept the results of the election, and the full state House voted to accept the committee's report on February 1, 2023.[1][2]

Biography

Mirra graduated from Boston College in 1986. His professional experience includes owning a small business specializing in advertising and publicity campaigns and in the construction industry. Mirra has been affiliated with Georgetown Fish and Game and Georgetown Kiwanis.[3][4][5]

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.

2021-2022

Mirra was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Mirra 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
Community Development and Small Businesses Joint
Health Care Financing Joint
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint

2015 legislative session

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

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Mirra served on the following 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

2022

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Kristin Kassner defeated incumbent Leonard Mirra in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Kassner
Kristin Kassner (D) Candidate Connection
 
50.0
 
11,763
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra (R)
 
50.0
 
11,762
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
5

Total votes: 23,530
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Kristin Kassner advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Kassner
Kristin Kassner Candidate Connection
 
99.5
 
5,048
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
24

Total votes: 5,072
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Incumbent Leonard Mirra advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra
 
99.4
 
2,656
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.6
 
15

Total votes: 2,671
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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2020

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Incumbent Leonard Mirra defeated Christina Eckert in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra (R) Candidate Connection
 
51.3
 
15,026
Image of Christina Eckert
Christina Eckert (D)
 
48.7
 
14,272
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
19

Total votes: 29,317
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 House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Christina Eckert advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 1, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christina Eckert
Christina Eckert
 
99.4
 
8,481
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.6
 
48

Total votes: 8,529
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Incumbent Leonard Mirra advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 1, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra Candidate Connection
 
99.3
 
3,008
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
20

Total votes: 3,028
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

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Incumbent Leonard Mirra defeated Christina Eckert in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra (R)
 
50.7
 
11,588
Image of Christina Eckert
Christina Eckert (D) Candidate Connection
 
49.3
 
11,264
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
12

Total votes: 22,864
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 House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Christina Eckert advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 4, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christina Eckert
Christina Eckert Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,311

Total votes: 3,311
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District

Incumbent Leonard Mirra advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District on September 4, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Leonard Mirra
Leonard Mirra
 
100.0
 
2,607

Total votes: 2,607
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.

2016

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 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 Leonard Mirra ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Second Essex District general election.[6][7]

Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second Essex District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Leonard Mirra Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth



Incumbent Leonard Mirra ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Second Essex District Republican Primary.[8][9]

Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second Essex District Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Leonard Mirra Incumbent (unopposed)

2014

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 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 Leonard Mirra defeated Edward Watson in the Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election.[10]

2012

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2012

Mirra won election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts House of Representatives Second Essex District. He defeated Gary Fowler and Robert Cronin in the September 6 Republican primary and defeated Barry Fogel (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11][12][13]

Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second Essex District, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLeonard Mirra 52.2% 12,663
     Democratic Barry Fogel 47.8% 11,583
Total Votes 24,246
Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second Essex District Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLeonard Mirra 44.3% 1,331
Robert Cronin 39% 1,172
Gary Fowler 16.7% 502
Total Votes 3,005

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Leonard Mirra did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a small business person with experience creating jobs and opportunities. This will be vital in getting our economy up and running again.
  • Helping small businesses create jobs will be crucial in providing opportunities for all and getting our economy back on track.
  • We can help clean up our environment while also fixing our aging infrastructure. Massachusetts must remain a leader in this.
  • I have a history and reputation of working across the aisle and bringing all sides together to work towards solutions that benefit us all.
The single most important thing to remember is that we need to address the horrible divisiveness and polarization we're seeing across the country today. Now more than ever we need leaders who are willing and able to bring all sides together and work across the aisle to get much needed legislation passed. As we all work to get our economy up and running again and putting people back into jobs we have an opportunity to do so in a way that benefits us all. Fixing our aging infrastructure will mean a lot more than paving roads and bridges. It will mean updating our water and sewer systems so that we have safe drinking water and put an end to dumping raw sewage into our rivers. It can also mean improving public transportation which will get cars off the roads to relieve traffic and congestion while also lowering emissions. As Massachusetts increases wind, solar, and hydroelectric power we can move forward in electrifying our transportation systems.
I look up to my parents Antonio and Gilda Mirra who, like millions of others, came here with nothing and through hard work achieved the American Dream. I watched this happen while growing up and it made me into the person I am today. It's the reason I'm always optimistic about our future despite what is portrayed in the media on a daily basis. The American Dream is very much alive today and it's crucial that we have elected officials that realize this and can help others achieve it as well.
Open mindedness and tolerance are two characteristics that are desperately needed for elected officials. And I will add independence as well because too many elected officials seem to be putting party before country when making decisions. In our increasingly polarized world it's especially important that those in office provide an example of what we can accomplish by putting aside partisan politics. A guiding principle must be putting country before party.
I have thirty years of experience in small business growing existing companies and creating new ones. This has given me the experience necessary for creating jobs and putting people back to work. As we recover from the pandemic this experience will be very much needed as our cities and towns look for ways continue investing in our schools, our roads, and our public safety officials.
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin. There are a lot of excellent books on WWII but in this one Goodwin gives us an in depth and behind the scenes look at the Roosevelt White House and how he got America's vast and powerful manufacturers to get behind the war effort and lead us to victory.
Massachusetts has the most popular governor in America and that is due in large part to the relationship he maintains with the legislature. Despite both chambers being controlled by one party and the governor in the other party we have been able to cultivate a cordial relationship that involves constant and consistent communication between these two branches of government. By meeting with House and Senate leadership on a regular basis Governor Baker is able to discern which issues are pressing and what approaches are needed to address them. The Governor always takes the time to consider all sides before making decisions and we in the legislature very much appreciate that.
It's not only beneficial, it is absolutely crucial. The biggest impediment to progress in Congress is their reluctance to build relationships across party lines. Because of that the country is going many years without an infrastructure bill or any improvement to healthcare or immigration. The nation is suffering greatly because of this and I pride myself on the reputation I've developed in building relationships with all parties.
It's vitally important to have an independent commission conduct our redistricting process. Faith in our voting system is being eroded and gerrymandering is one reason why. It's unacceptable that this very important job is done in a partisan fashion so we need elected officials that will vote for bills calling for an independent and bipartisan commission to establish our districts following the new census.

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.

2018

Ballotpedia biographical submission form

The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:

What is your political philosophy?

Fiscal responsibility[14]

—Leonard Mirra[4]

Older campaigns

Mirra's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[3]

Restore Trust in our Government

  • Excerpt: "Eliminate the ‘double dipping’ culture and restrict the unchecked accumulation of sick and vacation day payouts."

Strengthen our Economy

  • Excerpt: "We need to change current business regulations to reduce red tape and simplify the process of doing business in our Commonwealth."

Taxes and Waste

  • Excerpt: "We need to focus on reducing wasteful spending and eliminate the squandering of our financial resources."

Education

  • Excerpt: "We have a responsibility to provide the very best education to each and every child in our Commonwealth. Education is the foundation of the future success of each child and assures the continued growth and prosperity of our state."

Security

  • Excerpt: "Our Commonwealth needs to be fully compliant with the Secure Communities program which would allow Massachusetts Law Enforcement to use simple fingerprinting to identify and report dangerous illegal alien criminals to the appropriate Federal Agency."

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.


Leonard Mirra campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex DistrictLost general$98,850 $0
2020Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex DistrictWon general$59,697 N/A**
2016Massachusetts House of Representatives, District Second EssexWon $5,153 N/A**
2014Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second EssexWon $33,945 N/A**
2012Massachusetts House of Representatives, Second EssexWon $91,142 N/A**
Grand total$288,787 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** 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.




2022

In 2022, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 5 to August 1.

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 sponsorship of legislation related to animal 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 bills related to business issues.


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Mirra has two children.[15]

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. WWLP 22 News, "Mirra confident colleagues will keep him in office," January 5, 2023
  2. 97.9 WHAV, "Mirra Out, Kassner In as State Representatives Vote to Settle Disputed Election," February 1, 2023
  3. 3.0 3.1 "lennymirra," Official Campaign Website
  4. 4.0 4.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on November 13, 2018
  5. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 23, 2020
  6. Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 State election candidates," accessed October 3, 2016
  7. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Election data lookup," accessed December 20, 2016
  8. Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Candidates (Democratic)," accessed June 20, 2016
  9. Secretary of the Commonweath of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Election Statistics," accessed October 14, 2016
  10. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 State Primary Candidates," accessed September 9, 2014
  11. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2012 State Primary Results," accessed February 13, 2014
  12. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes - For Massachusetts State Election - November 6, 2012," accessed February 13, 2014
  13. AP "Massachusetts - Summary Vote Results," accessed September 6, 2012
  14. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  15. Project Vote Smart, "Representative Lenny Mirra's Biography." Retrieved May 24, 2013

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Essex District
2013-2023
Succeeded by
Kristin Kassner (D)


Leadership
Speaker of the House:Ronald Mariano
Majority Leader:Michael Moran
Representatives
Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket District
1st Barnstable District
1st Berkshire District
1st Bristol District
1st Essex District
1st Franklin District
1st Hampden District
1st Hampshire District
1st Middlesex District
1st Norfolk District
1st Plymouth District
1st Suffolk District
1st Worcester District
2nd Barnstable District
Kip Diggs (D)
2nd Berkshire District
2nd Bristol District
2nd Essex District
2nd Franklin District
2nd Hampden District
2nd Hampshire District
2nd Middlesex District
2nd Norfolk District
2nd Plymouth District
2nd Suffolk District
2nd Worcester District
3rd Barnstable District
3rd Berkshire District
3rd Bristol District
3rd Essex District
3rd Hampden District
3rd Hampshire District
3rd Middlesex District
3rd Norfolk District
3rd Plymouth District
3rd Suffolk District
3rd Worcester District
4th Barnstable District
4th Bristol District
4th Essex District
4th Hampden District
4th Middlesex District
4th Norfolk District
4th Plymouth District
4th Suffolk District
4th Worcester District
5th Barnstable District
5th Bristol District
5th Essex District
5th Hampden District
5th Middlesex District
5th Norfolk District
5th Plymouth District
5th Suffolk District
5th Worcester District
6th Bristol District
6th Essex District
6th Hampden District
6th Middlesex District
6th Norfolk District
6th Plymouth District
6th Suffolk District
6th Worcester District
7th Bristol District
7th Essex District
7th Hampden District
7th Middlesex District
7th Norfolk District
7th Plymouth District
7th Suffolk District
7th Worcester District
8th Bristol District
8th Essex District
8th Hampden District
8th Middlesex District
8th Norfolk District
8th Plymouth District
8th Suffolk District
8th Worcester District
9th Bristol District
9th Essex District
9th Hampden District
9th Middlesex District
9th Norfolk District
9th Plymouth District
9th Suffolk District
9th Worcester District
10th Bristol District
10th Essex District
10th Hampden District
10th Middlesex District
John Lawn (D)
10th Norfolk District
10th Plymouth District
10th Suffolk District
10th Worcester District
11th Bristol District
11th Essex District
Sean Reid (D)
11th Hampden District
11th Middlesex District
11th Norfolk District
11th Plymouth District
11th Suffolk District
11th Worcester District
12th Bristol District
12th Essex District
12th Hampden District
12th Middlesex District
12th Norfolk District
12th Plymouth District
12th Suffolk District
12th Worcester District
13th Bristol District
13th Essex District
13th Middlesex District
13th Norfolk District
13th Suffolk District
13th Worcester District
14th Bristol District
14th Essex District
14th Middlesex District
14th Norfolk District
14th Suffolk District
14th Worcester District
15th Essex District
15th Middlesex District
15th Norfolk District
15th Suffolk District
15th Worcester District
16th Essex District
16th Middlesex District
16th Suffolk District
16th Worcester District
17th Essex District
17th Middlesex District
17th Suffolk District
17th Worcester District
18th Essex District
18th Middlesex District
Tara Hong (D)
18th Suffolk District
18th Worcester District
19th Middlesex District
19th Suffolk District
19th Worcester District
20th Middlesex District
21st Middlesex District
22nd Middlesex District
23rd Middlesex District
24th Middlesex District
25th Middlesex District
26th Middlesex District
27th Middlesex District
28th Middlesex District
29th Middlesex District
30th Middlesex District
31st Middlesex District
32nd Middlesex District
33rd Middlesex District
34th Middlesex District
35th Middlesex District
36th Middlesex District
37th Middlesex District
Democratic Party (134)
Republican Party (25)
Unenrolled (1)