WORCESTER – Massachusetts State Senator for the First Worcester Senate district, Harriette Chandler, announced on Wednesday, January 26, that she will not run for reelection in 2022.
Chandler said she will finish her current term, which ends when a new senator tales officer in January 2023.
“I have always tried my best to fight for progress, and I am incredibly proud of everything that my team, my community, and I have accomplished together over the past three decades. But progress in the face of injustice is a long fight. Many will bear the responsibility of representing our community, and I believe it is time for new leadership. Which is why I have made the decision to not run for re-election to the First Worcester state Senate district.”
State Senator Harriette Chandler in remarks on January 26.
Chandler, a Worcester resident, is 84 years old. She began her career in elected office in 1991 as an elected member to the city’s school committee from 1991 to 1994.
In 1994, Chandler was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, taking office in 1995 and retaining the office until running for Senate in through 2000.
Chandler won State Senate for the 1st Worcester District and took office in 2001, becoming the first female elected to state senate from Worcester. In 2017 and 2018, Chandler served as Senate President of Massachusetts, the first female and the first senator from Worcester to hold the role.
Chandler was re-elected most recently in 2020, where she did not have an opponent and won 97.3 percent of the vote.
Chandler has prioritized women’s rights and reproductive justice, and led a package of reproductive justice legislation that expands access to abortion care, contraception, and codifies Roe v. Wade into state law – beginning with the ACCESS Bill (2017), the NASTY Woman Act (2018), and the ROE Act (2020).
