Meghan Kallman

Meghan Kallman

Democratic Party

Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Donna Nesselbush

Compensation

Base salary

$19,037/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Contoocook Valley Regional High School

Bachelor's

Smith College, 2005

Graduate

Brown University, 2016

Ph.D

Brown University, 2016

Personal

Birthplace

Peterborough, N.H.

Religion

Jewish

Profession

Professor

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Campaign Instagram

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Meghan Kallman (Democratic Party) is a member of the Rhode Island State Senate, representing District 15. She assumed office on January 5, 2021. Her current term ends on January 5, 2027.

Kallman (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Rhode Island State Senate to represent District 15. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Kallman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Meghan Kallman was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire. She earned a high school diploma from Contoocook Valley Regional High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 2005, a master's degree from the University of Chicago in 2009, and a Ph.D. from Brown University in 2016. Her career experience includes working as a professor at the University of Massachusetts.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Kallman was assigned to the following committees:

• Commerce Committee
• Environment and Agriculture Committee
• Housing and Municipal Government Committee, Vice Chair

2021-2022

Kallman was assigned to the following committees:

• Commerce Committee
• Environment and Agriculture Committee
• Housing and Municipal Government Committee, Vice chair
• Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight Committee

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

2024

See also: Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Incumbent Meghan Kallman won election in the general election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman (D)	97.2	8,456
		Other/Write-in votes	2.8	242

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,698
= 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 Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Incumbent Meghan Kallman advanced from the Democratic primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on September 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman	100.0	1,731

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,731
= 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

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kallman in this election.

2022

See also: Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Incumbent Meghan Kallman defeated Barbara Quigley in the general election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman (D)	80.9	4,953
	Submit photo	Barbara Quigley (R)	18.9	1,158
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	9

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,120
= 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 Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Incumbent Meghan Kallman advanced from the Democratic primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman	100.0	2,797

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,797
= 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 Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Barbara Quigley advanced from the Republican primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Barbara Quigley	100.0	125

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 125
= 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.

2020

See also: Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Meghan Kallman won election in the general election for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman (D)	96.8	7,818
		Other/Write-in votes	3.2	260

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,078
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Sean Brown (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Meghan Kallman defeated Herbert Weiss and Robert H. Morris Jr. in the Democratic primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 15 on September 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Meghan Kallman	60.9	1,662
		Herbert Weiss	23.3	635
		Robert H. Morris Jr.	15.8	431

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,728
= 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 Kallman's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Meghan Kallman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kallman's 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.

I am committed to bringing the voices of the people of Pawtucket and Providence to the State House, helping us build a stronger, healthier, and more just Rhode Island.

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?

• I believe that everyone has a right to accessible, healthy and affordable housing.
• The climate crisis demands our immediate attention, and presents us with an opportunity to build a safer, healthier world for all.
• Access to full-spectrum reproductive healthcare, including contraception, abortion, and birth support is crucial, and I will always, always fight for a future with full reproductive freedom for all — no matter who you are, where you live, or how much you make.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Housing, climate and environment, reproductive healthcare and access, economic justice, decarceration and justice reinvestment, and the blue-green economy.

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

Elected officials must always be willing to explain their positions and their rationale. I do not expect to agree with everyone on everything, but I believe that anyone holding this position must be willing to communicate their values and why they vote as they do. This is a commitment I made and have upheld, when I first ran.

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

I worked at a cafe, starting three days after I was legally able to hold a job. I worked there on and off for four hours.

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

Adapting to climate change in a way that is just and inclusive. Specifically, this will mean addressing our public transit and infrastructure needs.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

I would reintroduce the Building Decarbonization Act, which passed the RI Senate in 2024, but got stuck in the House.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

National Education Association, Planned Parenthood VOTES! RI, The Working Families Party, the Teamsters. It is early in the campaign and I expect more endorsement to come in over the next several weeks.

What committees interest you?

I have served as vice-chair of the Housing & Municipal Government committee since being elected, as well as on the Environment & Agriculture Committee, the Commerce Committee, and the Committee on Government Oversight.

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.

2022

Meghan Kallman did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Meghan Kallman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kallman's 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.

I am running for State Senate because I believe that Pawtucket's diversity is our strength. I believe we are a better, healthier community when we embrace everyone who wants to participate, and when we look for new ways to engage each other. I believe that our best decisions are made when we make them together. I am committed to bringing the visions, hopes, and concerns of the people of Pawtucket and North Providence to the State House. It's going to take all of us, working together, to build a strong and resilient Rhode Island. COVID-19 has reminded us that we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and that we need economic support and resilient infrastructure for everyone to thrive as a society. And the pandemic has also shown our strength as a community. We must move forward together. We can't leave working people behind or ignore the urgent need for living wages, safe housing, clean energy and healthcare.

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?

• I believe in the transformative power of public education. I believe every child in Rhode Island is entitled to a quality primary and secondary education, in well-funded, well-maintained, forward-thinking public schools. I am a professor at UMass Boston, because I am deeply committed to quality and accessible higher education.
• I believe everyone has the right to a living wage, and I support the Fight for $15. I support workers' rights to unionize and advocate, both within cities and the state. I am a union member myself, serving on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Staff Union at UMass Boston.
• I believe that we must attend to the housing crisis that is affecting the state of Rhode Island and the city of Pawtucket so urgently. I support policies that keep housing accessible and affordable for regular people.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a progressive, I see the most important policy areas as linked. Affordable housing matters to healthcare because you can't socially isolate if you don't have a safe place to live; it's also about racial justice. Public education is about democracy, but also about racial justice and economic mobility, because education is the foundation of that mobility. Climate resilience is about greenhouse gas emissions, but it also matters to jobs and infrastructure. And so while housing, economic inclusion, and climate are my top "issues", I recognize the extent to which all these are connected.

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

My first job was working as counter help at the Fiddleheads Cafe, that I got a week after my 14th birthday. My weekly paycheck was $38.09, at minimum wage, on Saturdays only, as I was in high school. I kept that job for four years, working more in the summer. It taught me the value of a dollar (and how long it takes to earn one serving breakfast), the value of hard work, and discipline.

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

I'm a sociologist, and one of the big insights of organizational sociology is that diverse teams create better and more creative outcomes. So I think that community organizing experience matters, but that experience can take a lot of forms. I have known some incredible politicians with activist backgrounds, and some incredible politicians who come from legal backgrounds. The key ingredients, to me, are integrity, the ability to organize, a clear set of values and principles, and a clear political vision.

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

I actually think that Rhode Island has everything it needs to succeed - we are a coastal community with a strong history of manufacturing, strong higher education presence, and a tight-knit community. We need to be bold. We have urgent problems to solve: a runaway climate crisis that we'll feel first because we're so coastal, thousands of families affected by COVID (both economically and physically), and a shortage of housing and community supports. Our greatest challenge is that we need to shed our fears and step into bold, visionary leadership and problem solving. But we can solve them! Focusing on these critical issues - education, housing, healthcare, jobs, climate - is only part of what Pawtucket and North Providence need. We need to boldly and bravely build a fair system that gives people a fair shake.

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.

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.

---

Meghan Kallman campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Rhode Island State Senate District 15	Won general	$28,597	$0
2022	Rhode Island State Senate District 15	Won general	$38,667	$0
2020	Rhode Island State Senate District 15	Won general	$33,875	N/A**
Grand total			$101,139	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** 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 Rhode Island

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 Rhode Island scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Rhode Island State Legislature was in session from January 2 to June 14. ACLU of Rhode Island Legislators are tracked on their votes related to civil liberties. Environmental Council of Rhode Island Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Rhode Island State Legislature was in session from January 3 to June 16. ACLU of Rhode Island Legislators are tracked on their votes related to civil liberties. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Rhode Island State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 23. ACLU of Rhode Island Legislators are tracked on their votes related to civil liberties. Common Cause Rhode Island Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization. Environmental Council of Rhode Island Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Rhode Island State Legislature was in session from January 5 to July 1. ACLU of Rhode Island Legislators are tracked on their votes related to civil liberties. Common Cause Rhode Island Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization. Environmental Council of Rhode Island Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Rhode Island State Senate District 15

X

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Officeholder

Rhode Island State Senate District 15

Website

Personal

Website

Facebook

LinkedIn

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Donna Nesselbush (D)	Rhode Island State Senate District 15 2021-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Rhode Island State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Valarie Lawson

Majority Leader:Frank Ciccone

Minority Leader:Jessica de la Cruz

Senators

District 1

Jake Bissaillon (D)

District 2

Ana Quezada (D)

District 3

Sam Zurier (D)

District 4

Stefano Famiglietti (D)

District 5

Sam Bell (D)

District 6

Tiara Mack (D)

District 7

Frank Ciccone (D)

District 8

Lori Urso (D)

District 9

John Burke (D)

District 10

Walter Felag (D)

District 11

Linda Ujifusa (D)

District 12

Louis DiPalma (D)

District 13

Dawn Euer (D)

District 14

Valarie Lawson (D)

District 15

Meghan Kallman (D)

District 16

Jonathon Acosta (D)

District 17

Thomas Paolino (R)

District 18

Robert Britto (D)

District 19

Ryan Pearson (D)

District 20

Brian Thompson (D)

District 21

Gordon Rogers (R)

District 22

David Tikoian (D)

District 23

Jessica de la Cruz (R)

District 24

Melissa Murray (D)

District 25

Andrew Dimitri (D)

District 26

Todd Patalano (D)

District 27

Hanna Gallo (D)

District 28

Lammis Vargas (D)

District 29

Peter Appollonio (D)

District 30

Mark McKenney (D)

District 31

Matthew LaMountain (D)

District 32

Pamela Lauria (D)

District 33

Leonidas Raptakis (D)

District 34

Elaine Morgan (R)

District 35

Bridget Valverde (D)

District 36

Alana DiMario (D)

District 37

V. Sosnowski (D)

District 38

Victoria Gu (D)

Democratic Party (34)

Republican Party (4)