James Bradley EldridgeJohns Hopkins University Commencement (Class of 1995) (born August 11, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer. He serves as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Middlesex and Worcester District. Eldridge previously served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he sat on the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business, the Joint Committee on Election Laws, and the Joint Committee on Public Service.
Education Eldridge attended the Acton Public Schools and graduated from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in 1991.About Senator Eldridge He was one of the original founders of the school's community service group, Acton Boxborough Community Outreach.Meet Jamie He attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and majored in political science. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu,LinkedIn Profile and volunteered in the 1992 Presidential Election, and was elected student body president.Eldridge, Jamie During his time at Johns Hopkins, he interned for Congressman Marty Meehan. He started studies at Boston College Law School in 1997 and graduated in 2000.Martindale-Hubbell Law Profile
Career In his second year of law school, Eldridge managed then-State Representative Pam Resor’s successful re-election campaign in 1998. During this campaign, he worked on the historic Massachusetts Clean Elections bill, which provided public financing to political candidates willing to accept campaign spending limits and the prohibition of accepting of special interest and large financial contributions. After the bill passed by voter referendum, Jamie was appointed as the Middlesex and Worcester Senate District Coordinator. From 1995 to 1997 he was a paralegal litigation associate with Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale).James Eldridge's Biography
From 2001 to 2003 he served on the Acton Housing Authority and the Acton Planning Board.
In the same year, he also became vice-president of the re-energized Acton Conservation Trust. He completed a summer internship as a student prosecutor for the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office. He worked as a prosecutor in the towns of Natick and Framingham, and assisted on the district attorney's community-based justice program in the City of Lowell. In his final year of law school, Eldridge was elected chair of the Acton Democratic Town Committee.
Eldridge worked for Merrimack Valley Legal Services in Lowell, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to the poor and the elderly. He worked as a public interest lawyer in the fields of housing, Social Security disability, and unemployment law.Massachusetts General Court – State Senator James B. Eldridge
He received the National Association for Public Interest Law Equal Justice Fellowship; a national two-year fellowship that allows recent law graduates to create their dream public interest project to help the less fortunate. The fellowship allowed him to create the Community Development Justice Project, which allowed him to practice community economic development law in Lowell, to help build affordable housing, start new businesses, and create non-profits to address local problems. Eldridge left his fellowship early to devote his full energies to running for the 37th Middlesex District open seat.
Eldridge was elected to Massachusetts House of Representatives on November 5, 2002. Upon his election, Eldridge became the first elected official in the history of Massachusetts to be elected as a Clean Elections candidate. To date, he remains the only such elected official, as the Massachusetts Clean Elections law was repealed a little over a year later. He was subsequently sworn in on January 1, 2003. The district included the towns of Boxborough, Harvard, Lunenburg, Shirley, and portions of Acton and Lancaster.
In 2007, Eldridge was a candidate in the Democratic primary for a special election to replace Marty Meehan as United States Congressman for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district. He lost the five-way Democratic primary to Niki Tsongas, whom he then endorsed. The Lowell Sun called Eldridge's third-place finish a "sign of a bright future".Lowell Sun, "Third-place finish a sign of a 'bright future' for Eldridge", September 5, 2007.
Eldridge had endorsed Barack Obama for president, and was elected to be a pledged delegate for Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Eldridge assumed the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Pam ResorElection Stats (District of Middlesex and Worcester) on January 7, 2009.
Eldrige won re-election to the state senate by 57% to 43% on November 2, 2010.
Eldridge has proposed a variety of legislation on the environment, economic justice, and a variety of other issues in his legislative career. He was the lead sponsor of bullying-prevention legislation, a version of which was passed by the legislature and signed into law in 2010.Many dissatisfied with Mass. anti-bullying law
In his current term in the state senate, Senator Eldridge has promised to fight for single-payer healthcare.Eldridge: Single-payer health care saves money
On February 28, 2014, Eldridge endorsed Don Berwick for governor in the 2014 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
In January 2016, Eldridge formally endorsed Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.Bernie Sanders to open first Massachusetts headquarters in Charlestown on Saturday He later served as a delegate for Sanders at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
On August 9, 2017, Eldridge announced that he was considering running for congress in the 2018 election in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district after Congresswoman Niki Tsongas announced that she would retire at the end of her current term. He later decided not to run for congress and stay in the state senate.Sen. Eldridge will not run for Congress
He won re-election on November 6, 2018 defeating Republican challenger Margaret Busse and Independent challenger Terra Friedrichs.
In 2020, he endorsed Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and later served on his campaign as state co-chair.Bernie Sanders campaign ramps up Massachusetts efforts ahead of Super Tuesday
Personal life Eldridge is an Acton, Massachusetts, native and the son of a public school kindergarten teacher and electrical engineer.
See also 2019–2020 Massachusetts legislature 2021–2022 Massachusetts legislature
References
External links State Senator James Eldridge – Official Website James B. Eldridge bio - Telegram.com (2016) Massachusetts General Court – State Senator James B. Eldridge – Official MA Senate Website Project Vote Smart – Representative James B. Eldridge (MA) – Profile Follow the Money – James B Eldridge 2006 2004 2002 campaign contributions