Jennifer Flanagan | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission | |
In office 2017–2021 | |
Preceded by | Initial member of commission |
Succeeded by | Kimberly Roy |
Member of the
Massachusetts Senate from the Worcester and Middlesex district | |
In office 2009–2017 | |
Preceded by | Robert A. Antonioni |
Succeeded by | Dean Tran |
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 4th Worcester district | |
In office 2005–2009 | |
Preceded by | Mary Jane Simmons |
Succeeded by | Dennis Rosa |
Personal details | |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | Leominster, Massachusetts |
Jennifer L. Flanagan is a former member of the Massachusetts General Court and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.
Leominster High School; University of Massachusetts Boston, B.A. Political Science; Fitchburg State College, M.S. Mental Health Counseling.
Flanagan served as a legislative aide and then chief of staff to then-Leominster State Rep. Mary Jane Simmons. [1] In 2004 Simmons announced she would not seek re-election to the 4th Worcester district due to health concerns, [2] and Flanagan ran for the open seat. Flanagan won the primary and general election, and served two terms as a Massachusetts State Representative.
Flanagan served as a Massachusetts State Senator for the Worcester and Middlesex district, which includes her hometown of Leominster. She is a Democrat who served from 2009, [1] to 2017. She first won the State Senate seat in 2008, winning a contested Democratic primary and facing no general election opponent. [3] When running for re-election in 2014 the nomination forms to get Flanagan on the primary ballot were filed with an incomplete address, [4] forcing her to run a write-in campaign during the primary in order to be on the general election ballot. [5] There was no candidate for the seat on either the Republican [6] or Democratic [7] primary ballots. Her general election opponent, Richard Bastien, also got on the general election ballot with a write-in campaign in the primary.
In 2017, Flanagan was chosen by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as his pick for the newly formed Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. [8] The appointment was notable because she opposed cannabis legalization and is from a different party than the governor. She stepped down in 2021 to become the director of regulatory policy at Vicente Sederberg. [9]