Steven D. Pierce (born October 10, 1949) is a retired Massachusetts jurist and politician who most recently served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Housing Court. He retired from the Housing Court September 2015. A graduate of

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Col ...

and the

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit t ...

, Pierce worked as an attorney before being elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1978. He was the House Minority Whip (1983–1987) and the House Minority Leader (1987-1991). Pierce sought the Republican nomination for Governor in 1990. Pierce was considered the favorite to win the nomination. He won the vote at the State Convention and led his opponent

William Weld William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

in opinion polls by as much as 25%. However, on September 18, he lost the Republican Primary to Weld 61%-39%. Weld later appointed Pierce to the position of Secretary of Communities and Development. In 1991, Pierce ran in a special election for the Massachusetts's 1st congressional seat. He won the Republican nomination, but lost in the general election to Democrat

John Olver John Walter Olver (born September 3, 1936) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Olver graduated from college at the age of ...

. Pierce rejoined the Weld administration in 1993 as a senior adviser to the governor. In 1994, he was appointed Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (later known as MassHousing). He left MassHousing in 2001 to serve as chief legal counsel to acting governor Jane M. Swift. Shortly before her term expired, Swift nominated Pierce to be the chief justice of the Massachusetts Housing Court. He was confirmed by the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

6-2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Steven 1949 births Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Massachusetts state court judges Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from Johnstown, New York People from Westfield, Massachusetts State cabinet secretaries of Massachusetts Living people