Meet The Massachusetts Incoming Legislative Class of 2025-2026

The freshmen come from all corners of the state and both major parties, and they took different routes to Beacon Hill. Some secured open seats without breaking a sweat; others toppled incumbents in hard-fought races.

The incoming lawmakers will bring with them new perspectives and unique superlatives. One was born in Puerto Rico, another once worked as a film and television editor in California, and a third was a fingerprint examiner in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

The new class will feature a new holder of the “youngest active lawmaker” title, a medical doctor who claims to be the only representative of his profession in the Legislature, a former police chief, and not one but two former Newton City Councilors.

Here’s a look at the three new senators-elect and 19 new representatives-elect:

Senate

Kelly Dooner (R), Taunton

After three years on the Taunton City Council, Dooner won a close Senate race to flip the district held for more than three decades by retiring Democrat Sen. Marc Pacheco. She will become the first Republican woman in the Massachusetts Senate since Jo Ann Sprague, who left office in 2004. Dooner said she wants to reduce the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax to 5 percent (where it was before August 1, 2009), opposes open road tolling, and sharply criticized the state’s approach to sheltering migrants.

William Driscoll (D), Milton

Driscoll is one of two state representatives who will move down the hall for the new term. He spent four terms in the House, and currently co-chairs the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management. Driscoll won a three-way Democratic primary for the open Senate seat, which state Senatpr Walter Timilty (D-Milton) is vacating, and then did not face an opponent in the general election.

Dylan Fernandes (D), Falmouth

Like Driscoll, Fernandes joined the House in 2017, and like Driscoll, he’s now trading that job for the Senate. He defeated a Republican colleague, state Representative Mathew Muratore (R-Plymouth), to keep Democratic the Senate district currently represented by departing state Senator Susan Moran (D-Falmouth). Fernandes spent this term as vice chairman of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

House

Michelle Badger (D), Plymouth

Badger’s win was one of four partisan seat flips in the House, which effectively canceled each other out and left the chamber with the same Democrat-Republican split (134-25-1) as the beginning of the current term. She beat Republican Jesse Brown in the race to succeed GOP state Representative Mathew Muratore. Badger chairs the Plymouth School Committee, and she works as vice president of institutional advancement at Massasoit Community College. Her priorities include making higher education more affordable, creating more housing units, and expanding access to mental health care.

Leigh Davis (D), Great Barrington

The westernmost communities of Massachusetts have a new state representative for the first time in more than two decades. Davis defeated independent candidate Marybeth Mitts and will succeed state Representative Smitty Pignatelli (D-Lenox), who first joined the House in 2003. She’s a member of Great Barrington’s board of selectmen, and she works as communications director at below-market-rate-housing nonprofit organization Construct. Before she settled in Massachusetts, Davis was a film and television editor in Los Angeles and department chairman of the film and television program at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland. She pledged to fight for improvements to boost housing affordability and transportation connections, including East-West Rail, and to invest in renewable energy and decarbonization efforts.

Dennis Gallagher (D), Bridgewater

In another flip, Gallagher eked out a win over Republican Sandra Wright for the district now held by retiring GOP state Representative Angelo D’Emilia (R-Bridgewater). The U.S. Navy veteran works as director of the town of Braintree’s retirement system, and he previously served as a town councilor in his hometown of Bridgewater. On his campaign web site, Gallagher said he would not focus on “partisan politics,” and listed unspecified changes to the so-called right-to-shelter law and more funding for roads, bridges, and sidewalks as priorities.

John Gaskey (R), Carver

Alongside Tara Hong, Taskey is the only other representative-elect to unseat an incumbent. In the September primary, he defeated state Representative Susan Williams Gifford, a Republican from Wareham, who died October 22 from cancer. A Coast Guard veteran, Gaskey made immigration a central theme of his campaign, saying on his campaign web site that he wants to direct local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and “end the sanctuary status of Massachusetts and return our shelters back to its veterans and citizens.”

Homar Gomez (D), Easthampton

Gomez is one of the two newcomers with a route to the Massachusetts Legislature that essentially could not have been easier: he was the only candidate to make the ballot in both the primary and general elections. Gomez, who will succeed state Representative Daniel Carey (D-Easthampton), was first elected to the Easthampton City Council in 2017, and he’s been the council president since 2022. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His top issue areas are economic growth and job creation, education and youth development, health care, and “environmental stewardship.”

Tara Hong (D), Lowell

Hong will enter the Legislature with two accolades: at the age of 24, he’ll become the youngest member of the House, and he’s one of only two newcomers to defeat a sitting incumbent en route to the 2025-2026 term. The Lowellian defeated state Representative Rady Mom (d-Lowell) in the primary, and he cruised against unenrolled candidate David Ouellette in the general election. Hong pledged during the primary cycle to prioritize constituent services and to increase transparency on Beacon Hill, including by making all votes public records.

Hadley Luddy (D), Orleans

Similar to Gomez, Luddy strolled to herHouse win without even encountering an opponent. She spent the past eight years as chief executive officer of the Homeless Prevention Council on Cape Cod, during which the organization grew fivefold to support more than 2,300 local residents with housing needs, according to her campaign. Luddy also chairs the Barnstable County Regional Network on Homelessness Policy Board, and she previously worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands and Community Connections. She described housing as the “number one threat to the financial stability of our community,” and also called for action to boost access to affordable child care, improve wastewater infrastructure, and expand clean energy options.

Thomas Moakley (D), Falmouth

Moakley held for Democrats the House district that Fernandes gave up to challenge for the state Senate. He’s an assistant district attorney for the Cape and Islands, and has prosecuted cases in Martha’s Vineyard Juvenile Court and Edgartown District Court. Moakley said on his campaign web site that he’s “particularly proud” of working with District Attorney Rob Galibois to establish the Vineyard’s first Recovery Court, “which addresses the root cause of repeat offenders struggling with addiction and represents a holistic approach to public safety.” After defeating Arielle Reid Faria in the Democratic primary, Moakley did not face an opponent in the general election.

Bridget Plouffe (D), Brockton

Plouffe won a three-way race for the seat that her longtime boss, state Representative Gerard Cassidy (D-Brockton), is giving up. She began working for Cassidy in 2016 as an aide and rose to chief of staff. Now, she’s chief of staff for the Veterans Affairs Committee that Cassidy co-chairs. One of her self-described top priorities is reinforcing the state’s health care system, and Plouffe warned that her region has been “ground zero” for upheaval following the temporary closure of Brockton Hospital and the Steward Health Care collapse. “If elected I plan to get to work right away to figure out a plan to ensure that what has happened with Steward cannot happen again while also ensuring that Boston Medical Center, the new owner of Good Samaritan, is accountable to the local residents who depend on their care,” she wrote.

Sean Reid (D), Lynn

Reid is familiar with Beacon Hill:  he works as legislative director for state Senator Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn). Now, he’ll get a chance to represent most of Lynn and all of Nahant himself after winning a Democratic primary and cruising through the general election with no opponent. Reid is a member of the Lynn School Committee, and he also serves on the boards of the YMCA of Metro North and My Brother’s Table. Some of his priority topics are housing and public transportation, climate and coastal resiliency, and addressing the opioid crisis.

Amy Sangiolo (D), Newton

Sangiolo is one of two former Newton city councilors who are about to join the Legislature. She spent 20 years on that elected panel, and in 2022, she co-founded the community news platform Fig City News. Sangiolo now works in the attorney general’s office assisting Bay Staters facing eviction and foreclosure. After a landslide win in the primary, Sangiolo easily defeated Republican Vladislav Yanovsky in the general election. She identified housing, public transportation, gun violence prevention, and criminal justice, among others, as top areas of focus.

Greg Schwartz (D), Newton

Speaking of former Newton city councilors, Schwartz spent eight years on the panel, partly overlapping with his now soon-to-be-legislative colleague Sangiolo. He has been a primary care physician for nearly 25 years and points out that he’ll be the only medical doctor in the Massachusetts Legislature. Schwartz topped a three-way Democratic primary to succeed state Representative Ruth Balser (D-Newton), whose endorsement he earned, and then did not have a general election opponent.

Ken Sweezey (R), Pembroke

Sweezey will give the Sixth Plymouth District its first House representation in nearly a year, and its first Republican in more than a decade. He defeated Democrat Rebecca Coletta to flip the district last represented by former state representative Josh Cutler, who resigned from the House seat in February 2024 to take a job in the Healey administration. Sweezey worked as a fingerprint examiner for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and now works at a local biotech company, SPT Labtech. Sweezey touted a plan to rein in state spending on shelters by creating a residency requirement, and he argued that the MBTA Communities Law “poses a threat to many of our communities.”

Mark Sylvia (D), Fairhaven

Sylvia, who won the race to succeed longtime South Coast state Representative William Straus (D-Mattapoisett), will arrive with experience in the public sector. He spent four years as town manager in Plymouth, and served as an energy undersecretary in the Patrick administration. For the past nine years, he has worked at solar and battery storage developer BlueWave, first as managing director and then as chief of staff. He highlighted affordability concerns as a major issue plaguing families across the state, and said he would work to protect reproductive rights.

Josh Tarsky (D), Needham

Tarsky’s resume stretches across the military, education, and legal worlds. He works today as principal of the Holbrook Middle-High School, and he’s also a judge advocate general (JAG) for the Massachusetts National Guard. Soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Tarsky joined the U.S. Army and received honors for his service in Operation Enduring Freedom. He’ll succeed state Representative Denise Garlick (D-Needham) in the House. Tarsky’s priorities include allowing school districts to ban cell phones in schools, boosting incentives for using public transit, providing developers with incentives to build new green, middle-class housing, and “improving political discourse.”

Justin Thurber (R), Somerset

In one of the biggest Election Day surprises, Thurber toppled 12-term state Representative Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset) to flip the district that grazes the Rhode Island border. Thurber is an Air Force veteran whose top priorities include immigration, “parental rights in education and health decisions,” and education. He also campaigned aggressively against the onetime speaker pro tempore — his web site has a tab titled “Haddad’s voting record.”

Richard Wells (D), Milton

When state Representative William Driscoll (D-Milton) shifts to the Senate, Wells will step into his House seat. He’ll add to the Legislature’s law enforcement ranks after spending more than three decades with the Milton Police Department, including nine years as its chief. Wells has been a member of the Milton board of selectmen for seven years, and has served as its chairman since May 2024. 

Michael Chaisson (R), Foxborough

Chaisson won one of the closest races this cycle, appearing to edge out Democrat Kostas Loukos to keep the seat being vacated by state Representative Jay Barrows in Republican hands. He owns Chaiss Construction, which focuses on residential remodeling, and sits on Foxborough’s Advisory Committee, which provides reports to Town Meetings about budgetary items and other municipal issues. Chaisson during his campaign called out “rising costs and reckless spending on Beacon Hill,” and listed the state’s response to a sharp increase in migrants seeking shelter here as one of his top priorities. Loukos has not yet conceded the race, and said late last week that the race “remains too close to call.” If Loukos opts to pursue a recount, petitions are due by 5 p.m. Friday, November 15.

Steven Ouellette (D), Westport

Ouellette, who is currently vice chairman of the Westport board of selectmen, emerged from the most crowded field of the general election by narrowly defeating Republican Christopher Thrasher and three independent candidates. But there’s still a chance the outcome changes: down by 143 votes, Thrasher said he plans to pursue a hand recount in the Eighth Bristol District’s five communities. They’re vying for an open district held by state Representative Paul Schmid (D-Westport), who opted against seeking re-election.