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Patricia Jehlen

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Patricia D. Jehlen
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District
Tenure

2005 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

20

Prior offices
Somerville School Committee

Massachusetts House of Representatives 30th Middlesex District

Compensation

Base salary

$73,655.01/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Graduate

Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 1969

Personal
Birthplace
Austin, Texas
Religion
Christian: Methodist
Contact

Patricia D. Jehlen (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing the 2nd Middlesex District. She assumed office in 2005. Her current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Jehlen (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent the 2nd Middlesex District. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Patricia Jehlen was born on October 14, 1943, in Austin, Texas. She earned a master's degree from Swarthmore College in 1965. She earned a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1969. She attended the University of Massachusetts Boston for graduate study. Jehlen's career experience includes working as a legislator, as a VISTA volunteer, as a research assistant with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as a teacher with Brookline High School, as a supervisor of student teachers with Simmons College, and as an instructor with the Boston University School of Public Health.[1][2]

She has been affiliated with the Mystic Valley NAACP, with the Mystic River Watershed Association, with local Democratic Party committees, with the Citizens for Public Schools, with the Friends of the Middlesex Fells, with the Winchester League of Women Voters, and with OPENAIR Circus as an officer.[2]

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

Jehlen was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Jehlen was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Jehlen 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
Ways and Means
Education Joint, Vice chair
• Elder Affairs Joint
Election Laws Joint
Judiciary Joint
Labor and Workforce Development Joint, Vice chair
Marijuana Policy Joint, Chair
Ways and Means Joint

2015 legislative session

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

2013-2014

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

2011-2012

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

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Jehlen 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 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen (D)
 
98.4
 
72,232
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.6
 
1,183

Total votes: 73,415
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on September 3, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen
 
99.1
 
22,105
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.9
 
210

Total votes: 22,315
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Jehlen in this election.

2022

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen (D)
 
99.2
 
53,866
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
439

Total votes: 54,305
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 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen
 
99.6
 
22,556
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
84

Total votes: 22,640
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 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen (D) Candidate Connection
 
98.8
 
82,607
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
991

Total votes: 83,598
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 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen defeated Gary Fisher in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on September 1, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen Candidate Connection
 
81.9
 
41,723
Gary Fisher
 
18.1
 
9,231

Total votes: 50,954
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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

2018

General election

General election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen (D)
 
98.8
 
70,099
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
825

Total votes: 70,924
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 2nd Middlesex District

Incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District on September 4, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patricia D. Jehlen
Patricia D. Jehlen
 
100.0
 
27,494

Total votes: 27,494
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 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 Patricia Jehlen ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate Second Middlesex District general election.[3][4]

Massachusetts State Senate, Second Middlesex District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Jehlen Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth


Incumbent Patricia Jehlen defeated Leland Cheung in the Massachusetts State Senate Second Middlesex District Democratic Primary.[5][6]

Massachusetts State Senate, Second Middlesex District Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Jehlen Incumbent 79.73% 15,189
     Democratic Leland Cheung 20.27% 3,861
Total Votes 19,050


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 Patricia Jehlen was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Robert Cappucci, Jr. was unopposed in the Republican primary. Jehlen defeated Cappucci in the general election.[7]

Massachusetts State Senate Second Middlesex District, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngPatricia Jehlen Incumbent 69.8% 41,685
     Republican Robert Cappucci, Jr. 22.5% 13,406
     None Blank Votes 7.5% 4,499
     None All Others 0.2% 123
Total Votes 59,713

2012

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2012

Jehlen won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts State Senate Second Middlesex District. Jehlen was unopposed in the September 6 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9]

2010

See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2010

Jehlen won re-election to the Second Middlesex District seat in 2010. She had no primary opposition. David Carnevale ran for the seat on the Republican ticket. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.

Massachusetts State Senate - Second Middlesex District
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Patricia D. Jehlen (D) 32,923
David Carnevale (R) 16,153
All Others 87
Blanks 3,993

2008

On November 4, 2008, Jehlen won re-election in the Senate election for the Second Middlesex district.[10] In this election she raised $45,953; of that total $42,725 (93.6%) was from in state contributions and $1,350 (3.0%) was from out of state contributions.[11]

Massachusetts State Senate - Second Middlesex district
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Jehlen (D) 53,174
All Others 828
Blanks 18,478

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Patricia D. Jehlen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Patricia D. Jehlen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

My first job after college was as a VISTA volunteer with migrant farm workers. I taught history, then took leave to raise our children while volunteering in community organizing. I was elected to the Somerville school committee, where I helped create a public school of choice and learned of the vast inequality between school districts due to differences in property tax bases. I ran for state rep, where I served for 15 years before running for state senator in 2005. I have always focused on education equity since helping form the Council for Fair School Finance, which brought the successful funding suit. Recently, I've worked to reduce the damage, particularly to low-income students and their schools and communities, due to over-reliance on standardized tests to judge student achievement and school quality. As chair of Elder Affairs, I've worked to raise direct care worker wages, improve the quality of care in nursing homes and home care, and allow older people to live in less restrictive environments. As chair of Labor and Workforce Development, I continue to work for adequate pay and benefits for all workers.
  • One job should be enough.
  • Every child is special.
  • Older adults and people with disabilities should be able to live with dignity
Education, early childhood through higher education

Care and opportunity for older adults and people with disabilities
Worker pay and benefits
Fair and adequate taxes to pay for services we value
Safe transportation options, from pedestrian safety to bikes to fuel efficient cars to public transit
Clean rivers with public access

Public health
It's hard to name one person. There are many people I admire and try to emulate.
I hope I'm an empathetic listener and learner. I like and care about people and want to help them.
Representing the values and working toward the goals of the people in their districts;

Doing justice and loving mercy;
Helping individual constituents with their problems;
Trying to see the whole picture and finding big solutions to big problems;

Communicating with constituents: listening to them, and also telling them the truth
I remember the execution of the Rosenbergs. I was 10, and wrote to President Eisenhower opposing their execution.
My first job in high school was cleaning the house of a disabled couple, which I did once a week for two years. My first job out of college was as a VISTA volunteer, working with migrant farm workers and former migrants settling in Chicago Heights IL. I was there for a year.
Yes. People with only private sector experience, especially executives, are more accustomed to a command structure. I think one important experience is as an activist, learning how to collaborate and advocate. People with activist experience sometimes are more likely to understand how to work with organizations and individuals seeking to influence legislation.
Obviously right now, there are many challenges related to and revealed by the COVID pandemic, and they will shape our future for many years:

- We had inadequate revenue even before the pandemic, due to cutting taxes by $3 billion in the past 20 years.
- We need more investment in public health
- Nursing homes need to be re-envisioned, and we need more alternatives that are less restrictive.
- Direct care workers and other essential workers need adequate pay, both to recruit and retain the workforce and to protect public health
- Many people have been unable to pay rent or mortgages; there will be massive impacts, probably evictions and foreclosures.
- We need to get the federal government to re-imagine unemployment insurance, expanding it like PUA to cover gig workers.
- Many businesses are failing; can we help them recover? If not, can we help their workers find new employment?
- Early education and care are now seen as crucial to the economy: can we make sustainable models?

Public schools were under funded and inequitably funded, as we recognized in passing the Student Opportunity Act. Now we have even less revenue to support that.

Student debt is unsupportable for many, and keeps many people from opportunity. We need to restore funding for public higher education.

The murder of George Floyd and so many others has led to a massive movement of people demanding reform of policing and the rest of our law enforcement system. We need better training, clearer standards, and more accountability from police. We also need reform of sentencing and incarceration.

Black Lives Matter should include addressing inequities in employment, pay, housing, education, health care, and environmental challenges.
There are so many!

Lawyer Johnson was the last man on death row in Massachusetts, but when he was retried and released because of innocence, he received no compensation for his lost years of wrongful incarceration. He didn't even receive the help some people get on parole. I worked for years to provide compensation for Lawyer and others who have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated. Then I worked to make the compensation more adequate. And now I'm working to give them help when they leave prison rather than waiting up to 2 or 3 years as the attorney general contests each case.

This year, I heard so many stories from people whose relatives were in nursing homes as the pandemic hit and they couldn't visit. One woman described her mother, who couldn't speak English and had dementia, but said over and over, "There's death everywhere." How could she understand that she had to stay in her room, isolated, visited by people in masks, often having her meals and care late, and having strangers poke sticks far into her nose? There were other stories from nursing home administrators with so little staff, because of low pay coupled with disease, that 3 aides were trying to feed 30 people who were so weak they couldn't feed themselves. I was so frustrated that the administration took so long to send adequate assistance, including the national guard, despite the pleas of families, administrators, and legislators like me.

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.

2016

Jehlen's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

Sen. Jehlen is a leader in the fight for:

  • Adequate funding for our public schools
  • Less testing, more learning
  • Public transit and the Green Line Extension
  • Mystic River cleanup and access
  • Home care and Adult Day Health
  • LGBT rights[12]
—Patricia Jehlen, [13]

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.


Patricia D. Jehlen campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex DistrictWon general$20,272 $0
2022Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex DistrictWon general$44,722 $0
2020Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex DistrictWon general$25,303 N/A**
2016Massachusetts State Senate, District Second MiddlesexWon $150,054 N/A**
2014Massachusetts State Senate, Second MiddlesexWon $32,520 N/A**
2012Massachusetts State Senate, Second MiddlesexWon $38,414 N/A**
2010Massachusetts State Senate, Second MiddlesexWon $40,255 N/A**
2008Massachusetts State Senate, Second MiddlesexWon $45,654 N/A**
2006Massachusetts State Senate, Second MiddlesexWon $69,640 N/A**
2004Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirtieth MiddlesexWon $23,033 N/A**
2002Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirtieth MiddlesexWon $9,972 N/A**
2000Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirtieth MiddlesexWon $10,143 N/A**
1998Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirtieth MiddlesexWon $8,275 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

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Middlesex District
2005-Present
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Massachusetts House of Representatives 30th Middlesex District
1991-2005
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Somerville School Committee
1976-1991
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
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 (35)
Republican Party (5)