Juan Manuel "Jay" Gonzalez (born January 8, 1971) is an American politician who served as Secretary of Administration and Finance of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

under Governor

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

from 2009 to 2013. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he was the nominee for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachusetts ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. Gonzalez was appointed to his secretary position after the resignation of

Leslie Kirwan Leslie A. Kirwan (born April 1, 1957) is an American government official and college administrator who currently serves as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean for Administration and Finance at Harvard University. Early life A native of Cambrid ...

in the fall of 2009. He was succeeded by Glen Shor in January 2013. Before working as a government official, Gonzalez was an attorney at

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Edwards Wildman was an AmLaw 100 law firm. It was formed from the 2011 merger of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge had been formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

Career

Gonzalez was born and raised in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. After graduating from

and

Georgetown Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...

, Gonzalez worked at a law firm in

. He then moved to

to work for Palmer & Dodge where he specialized in

public finance Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achie ...

. Gonzalez worked on Deval Patrick's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. He then joined Patrick's administration in 2007 as Deputy Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts. He was appointed Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts in 2009. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Health Connector, where he oversaw implementation of Massachusetts’ health care reform, and he co-chaired the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. Gonzalez left the cabinet in 2013. Gonzalez served as chair of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care. Gonzalez later served as president and CEO of CeltiCare Health and New Hampshire Healthy Families. On January 30, 2017 he announced he would run for governor in the 2018 Massachusetts election. He defeated

Bob Massie Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie (born 14 April 1947) is a former Australian cricketer who played in six Test matches and three One Day Internationals (ODIs) in 1972 and 1973. A swing bowler, he had a relatively short international career but is ...

, an entrepreneur and sustainability advocate from

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

, to become the Democratic nominee in the race. As a former

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

resident, Gonzalez was an elected Town Meeting Member, Co-Chair of the Town Meeting Members Association, and a member of the Advisory Committee in the Town of Brookline Gonzalez currently serves on the boards of the

Dimock Center The New England Hospital for Women and Children was founded by Marie Zakrzewska on July 1, 1862. The Hospitals goal was to provide patients with competent female physicians, educate women in the study of medicine and train nurses to care for the ...

Project Hope Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is an international global health and humanitarian aid non-governmental organization founded in the United States in 1958. Project HOPE works in five main areas: disasters and health cri ...

, and the

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

. On June 2, 2018, at the Democratic State Convention, Gonzalez won 70% of the vote, securing the endorsement of the state party. Gonzalez lost the general election, securing 886,281 votes to incumbent Charlie Baker's 1,781,982. In April 2019, Gonzalez joined the law firm Hinckley, Allen, & Snyder LLP as a partner in the firm's Boston office. In 2021, Gonzalez served as a co-chair of the committee overseeing

Michelle Wu Michelle Wu ( zh, t=吳弭, first=t; born January 14, 1985) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the mayor of Boston, mayor of Boston, Massachusetts since 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's transition into the office of

mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

Personal life

Jay Gonzalez grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Gonzalez moved to Massachusetts in 1998. His mother dropped out of college when he was born, and his father was a Spanish immigrant who worked as a bricklayer. Gonzalez lives with his wife, Cyndi, in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, and he has two daughters, Isabel and Abby.

References

External links

Jay Gonzalez for Governor
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Jay 1971 births American politicians of Spanish descent Dartmouth College alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Lawyers from Cleveland Living people Massachusetts Democrats Massachusetts lawyers Massachusetts Secretaries of Administration and Finance Politicians from Needham, Massachusetts Politicians from Cleveland