Michael John Barrett (born June 27, 1948, in Agana, Guam) is a Massachusetts politician noted for having been elected to serve in three completely different state legislative districts over the course of his political career. At present he is the state senator for the 3rd Middlesex District of

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. Barrett served in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

earlier, in 1987–1994, representing another district (Cambridge, Belmont, Watertown and the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston), before moving to his present home in suburban Lexington in 1996. Even earlier, in 1979–1985, he served in 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 ...

from a district comprising Reading, North Reading and a portion of Wilmington.

Early life

Barrett, the second oldest in a family of ten children, graduated from Reading (MA) High School in 1966,

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

magna cum laude in 1970, and

Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ...

in 1977, after which he clerked for the U,S. District Court in

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State Representative

Barrett was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1978. He ran for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1984, losing the Democratic primary in the Massachusetts's 7th congressional district to

Ed Markey Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Army reservist who has served as the junior United States senator from Massachusetts since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representa ...

State Senate

In 1990, during his first stint as state senator, Barrett wrote an '' Atlantic Monthly'' cover story in which he advocated a longer school day and year for American students. A year later, he was named one of nine commissioners on the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, created by the U.S. Congress to examine the issues raised in the ''Atlantic'' article. In 1992 Barrett drafted and saw through to enactment domestic violence legislation for Massachusetts that was precedent-setting in the United States, in that it required judges to consult a comprehensive computerized registry of offenders before they ruled on requests for restraining orders. He was also successful as lead sponsor of major environmental legislation regulating uses of toxic materials in manufacturing within the state.

Private sector

In 1994 Barrett ran unsuccessfully 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. Massachuset ...

. Departing the state senate the following year, he was named CEO and general counsel of the Visiting Nurse Associations of New England, a large home health care provider network. Several years later, he embarked on a consulting career focused on the emergence of the Internet and the development of online services involved in health care.

Return to Senate

In December 2011, after a 16-year absence from politics, Barrett announced his candidacy for state senate in the 3rd Middlesex District. In September 2012 he won the Democratic nomination after an intensely contested five-candidate race. He went on to beat Republican nominee Sandra Martinez in the November 6th general election. The 3rd Middlesex District covers nine communities:

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, Carlisle,

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, Lexington (precincts 3, 8 and 9),

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, Sudbury (precincts 1, 4 and 5), Waltham and

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. In January 2013 Barrett was named Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. In 2015 Barrett was named chair of the Senate Post-Audit and Oversight Committee, a unique body charged with overseeing implementation of all state programs run by the governor and his appointees. In 2017 he was appointed Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy. The committee's jurisdiction covers everything from cell phones to alternative energy to public utility reform to

carbon pricing Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...

Personal life

Barrett lives in Lexington with his wife. They have twin daughters.

References

External links

Legislative website

State House website

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Michael J. 1948 births Harvard College alumni Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Northeastern University School of Law alumni Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts People from Hagåtña, Guam Living people Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 21st-century American politicians American health care chief executives People from Lexington, Massachusetts