J. Michael "Mike" Lenihan (August 30, 1943 – February 28, 2015) was an American politician. From

East Greenwich, Rhode Island East Greenwich is a town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island. It is part of the Providence metropolitan st ...

, Lenihan received his bachelor's degree from

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Providence, Rhode Island. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown Uni ...

and his master's degree from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. Lenihan served in the

Rhode Island State Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

from 1990 to 2010 and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He died of cancer in East Greenwich, Rhode Island at the age of 71. An excerpt of his ''East Greenwich News'' obituary read as follows, “As a strong and respected voice in the chamber, Senator Lenihan had served as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, chair of the Senate Committee on Government Oversight, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, and was a member of the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture. ... Lenihan championed public access to online legislation, and legislation on separation of powers, open meetings, vendor disclosure, public access to public records, and improvements in the governance of quasi-public commissions, public officials accountability, state contracts with employee leasing companies, as well as issues affecting Narragansett Bay, to name just a few.”

References

1943 births 2015 deaths People from East Greenwich, Rhode Island Brown University alumni Rhode Island College alumni Democratic Party Rhode Island state senators {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub