William Brownsberger
2023 - Present
2027
2
William Brownsberger (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing Suffolk and Middlesex District. He assumed office on January 4, 2023. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.
Brownsberger (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent Suffolk and Middlesex District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
William Brownsberger was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and lives in Belmont, Massachusetts. Brownsberger earned a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard University in 1978 and 1983, respectively. His career experience includes working as a defense attorney, an associate director for public policy of the Harvard Medical School Division on Addictions, and a senior criminal justice advisor with Join Together.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Brownsberger was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Bills in the Third Reading Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Committee on the Census, Chair
- Steering and Policy Committee
- Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion
2021-2022
Brownsberger was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Bills in the Third Reading Committee
- Senate Redistricting Committee, Chair
- Senate Rules Committee
- Rules Joint Committee
2019-2020
Brownsberger was assigned to the following committees:
- Judiciary Joint Committee
- Revenue Joint Committee, Vice Chair
- Rules Joint Committee
- Transportation Joint Committee
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Senate Global Warming and Climate Change Committee
- Senate Redistricting Committee, Chair
- Senate Rules Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017 |
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• Ethics, Vice chair |
• Ways and Means |
• Judiciary Joint, Chair |
• Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Recovery Joint |
• Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint |
• Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint |
• Ways and Means Joint |
• Public Service |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Brownsberger served on the following committees:
Massachusetts committee assignments, 2015 |
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• Ethics, Vice Chair |
• Ways and Means |
• Judiciary Joint, Chair |
• Municipalities and Regional Government Joint |
• Election Laws Joint |
• Ways and Means Joint |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Brownsberger served on the following committees:
Massachusetts committee assignments, 2013 |
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• Election Laws Joint, Vice chair |
• Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Joint |
• Judiciary Joint |
• Municipalities and Regional Government Joint |
• Public Service Joint, Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Brownsberger was appointed to the following committees:
Massachusetts committee assignments, 2011 |
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• Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets |
• Global Warming and Climate Change |
• Public Service Joint |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Brownsberger served on the following committees:
Massachusetts committee assignments, 2009 |
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• Global Warming and Climate Change, Vice chair |
• Public Service Joint |
• Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District
Incumbent William Brownsberger won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger (D) | 98.8 | 56,815 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 1.2 | 685 |
Total votes: 57,500 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District
Incumbent William Brownsberger advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District on September 3, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger | 99.4 | 14,027 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 87 |
Total votes: 14,114 | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Brownsberger in this election.
2022
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District
Incumbent William Brownsberger won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger (D) | 99.0 | 42,713 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 1.0 | 437 |
Total votes: 43,150 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District
Incumbent William Brownsberger advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger | 99.4 | 15,977 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 90 |
Total votes: 16,067 | ||||
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2020
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical)
Incumbent William Brownsberger won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical) on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger (D) | 98.5 | 60,282 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 1.5 | 899 |
Total votes: 61,181 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical)
Incumbent William Brownsberger advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical) on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger | 99.4 | 30,358 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 181 |
Total votes: 30,539 | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical)
Incumbent William Brownsberger won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical) on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger (D) | 98.5 | 50,823 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 1.5 | 758 |
Total votes: 51,581 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical)
Incumbent William Brownsberger advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical) on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | William Brownsberger | 100.0 | 15,990 |
Total votes: 15,990 | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Massachusetts State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 8, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.
Incumbent William Brownsberger ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate Second Suffolk & Middlesex District general election.[2][3]
Massachusetts State Senate, Second Suffolk & Middlesex District General Election, 2016 | ||
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Party | Candidate | |
Democratic | ||
Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |
Incumbent William Brownsberger ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate Second Suffolk & Middlesex District Democratic Primary.[4][5]
Massachusetts State Senate, Second Suffolk & Middlesex District Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
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Party | Candidate | |
Democratic |
2014
Elections for the Massachusetts State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election was held on September 9, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. Incumbent William Brownsberger was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.[6]
2013
Brownsberger was a 2013 Democratic candidate seeking election to the U.S. House representing the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts.[7] The election was held to replace outgoing Rep. Ed Markey (D) who was elected to the U.S. Senate in the June 25th election for John Kerry's vacant seat after his appointment as Secretary of State.[8][9]
He was defeated by Katherine Clark in the Democratic primary on October 15, 2013.[10]
U.S. House, Massachusetts District 5 Special Democratic Primary, 2013 | ||||
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Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
31.6% | 21,983 | ||
Peter Koutoujian | 22% | 15,303 | ||
Carl Sciortino | 16% | 11,160 | ||
Will Brownsberger | 14.6% | 10,163 | ||
Karen Spilka | 13.1% | 9,088 | ||
John Paul Maisano | 2.2% | 1,520 | ||
Martin Long | 0.6% | 398 | ||
Total Votes | 69,615 | |||
Source: Official Results from Massachusetts Elections Division |
2012
Brownsberger won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts State Senate Second Suffolk and Middlesex District. Brownsberger was unopposed in the September 6 Democratic primary and defeated Steven Aylward (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11][12]
2012 special election
Brownsberger won election in the special election for the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex Senate District. He defeated fellow representative Jonathan Hecht (D) and two other candidates in the December 13, 2011 primary election. Brownsberger was unopposed in the special general election which took place on January 10, 2012.[13][14]
2010
Brownsberger won re-election to the Twenty-fourth Middlesex Seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Lalig Musserian (I) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[15]
Massachusetts House of Representatives General Election, Twenty-fourth Middlesex District (2010) | ||||
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Candidates | Votes | |||
12,732 | ||||
Lalig Musserian (I) | 3,656 |
2008
On November 4, 2008, Brownsberger won re-election in the Massachusetts House of Representatives election for the Twenty-Fourth Middlesex district.[16] In this election he raised $44,366; of that total $43,866 (98.9%) was from in state contributions and $500 (1.1%) was from out of state contributions.[17]
Massachusetts House of Representatives - Twenty-Fourth Middlesex district | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidates | Votes | |||
15,863 | ||||
All Others | 176 | |||
Blanks | 6,338 |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Brownsberger did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
William Brownsberger did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
William Brownsberger did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2012
Brownsberger's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[18]
- Excerpt: "Will advocated for the major reforms in health and pension benefits achieved over the past two years and has been publicly recognized for his fair and thoughtful approach."
- Excerpt: "As a result Will’s efforts, the House now has a public bidding process for large contracts and the contracts are accessible to House members."
- Excerpt: "As a result of Will’s advocacy for greater transparency (together with advocacy by other legislators), state law now requires that all state spending be readily viewable by the public online."
- Excerpt: "Will favors a much simpler business tax code. The state shouldn’t be in the business of picking business winners and losers and handing out special deals to particular businesses or industries."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Massachusetts scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 3 to December 31. Formal session ended on July 31, 2024 and an informal session was convened from August 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
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2023
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 4 to November 15.
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2022
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 5 to August 1.
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2021
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 6 to January 4.
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2020
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 1 to January 5.
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2019
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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2018
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Massachusetts General Court was in formal session from January 3 to July 31. The legislature was in informal session from August 1 to December 31.
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2017
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 4 through November 15. The legislature held an informal session from November 16 to January 2.
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2016
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 6 through July 31.
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2015
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 7, 2015, through January 5, 2016.
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2014
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 14 through August 1.
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2013
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 2 to December 31.
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2012
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 4 through July 31.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Brownsberger and his wife, Carolyn, have three children.[19]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Officeholder Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Will Brownsberger, "About Will Brownsberger," accessed April 20, 2023
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 State election candidates," accessed October 3, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Election data lookup," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Candidates (Democratic)," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ Secretary of the Commonweath of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Election Statistics," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 State Primary Candidates," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ WBUR "State Rep. Carl Sciortino Announces Congressional Bid" accessed June 27, 2013
- ↑ Boston.com, "Secretary of state to set Senate special election date of June 25," January 28, 2013
- ↑ The Boston Globe, "William ‘Mo’ Cowan to be interim US senator," January 30, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; no text was provided for refs nameddprimary
- ↑ 2012 State Primary Candidate List, "Massachusetts Secretary of State," accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ 2012 Massachusetts Secretary of State, Official 2012 Primary Results
- ↑ Boston Herald, "Brownsberger on well-worn path to Mass. Senate," December 14, 2011
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, 2010 Second Suffolk and Middlesex Senate District special election candidates. Retrieved May 21, 2013
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes - For Massachusetts State Election - November 2, 2010," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes For Massachusetts State Election - November 4, 2008," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed December 29, 2014
- ↑ "mywillbrownsberger," Official Campaign Website
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed June 2, 2014
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by - |
Massachusetts State Senate Suffolk and Middlesex District 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
Preceded by - |
Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District (Historical) 2012-2023 |
Succeeded by - |
Preceded by - |
Massachusetts House of Representatives 24th Middlesex District 2007-2012 |
Succeeded by - |