Bruce Tarr
1995 - Present
2025
29
Bruce Tarr (Republican Party) is a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing the 1st Essex and Middlesex District. He assumed office in 1995. His current term ends on January 1, 2025.
Tarr (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent the 1st Essex and Middlesex District. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on September 3, 2024.[source]
Tarr serves as state senate minority leader. He previously served as the assistant minority leader from 2007 to 2012.
Biography
Tarr was born on January 2, 1964. He earned his bachelor's degree in management from Suffolk University in 1987. Three years later, Tarr earned his Juris Doctor at the Suffolk University School of Law. His professional experience includes working as an attorney.[1]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Tarr was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Bills in the Third Reading Committee
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Senate Committee on Juvenile and Emerging Adult Justice
- Personnel and Administration Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Steering and Policy Committee
- Senate Ways and Means Committee
- Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet, and Cybersecurity
- Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Joint Committee
- Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Joint Committee
- Financial Services Joint Committee
- Higher Education Joint Committee
- Municipalities and Regional Government Joint Committee
- Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion
- Rules Joint Committee
- State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint Committee
- Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint Committee
- Ways and Means Joint Committee
2021-2022
Tarr was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Bills in the Third Reading Committee, Ranking minority member
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Personnel and Administration Committee
- Senate Redistricting Committee, Ranking minority member
- Senate Rules Committee
- Steering and Policy Committee, Ranking minority member
- Senate Ways and Means Committee
- Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Joint Committee, Senate ranking minority member
- Export Development Committee, Senate ranking minority member
- Municipalities and Regional Government Joint Committee, Senate ranking minority member
- Rules Joint Committee
- State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint Committee, Senate ranking minority member
- Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint Committee, Senate ranking minority member
- Ways and Means Joint Committee
2019-2020
Tarr was assigned to the following committees:
- Export Development Committee
- Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint Committee
- Rules Joint Committee
- Senate Bills in the Third Reading Committee
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Senate Redistricting Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Steering and Policy Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Bills in the Third Reading |
| • Ethics |
| • Post Audit and Oversight |
| • Redistricting |
| • Steering and Policy |
| • Export Development |
| • Health Care Financing Joint |
| • Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Tarr served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health Care Financing Joint |
| • Labor and Workforce Development Joint |
| • State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint |
| • Bills in the Third Reading |
| • Redistricting |
| • Ethics |
| • Steering and Policy |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Tarr served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Bills in the Third Reading |
| • Steering and Policy |
| • Election Laws Joint |
| • Health Care Financing Joint |
| • Housing Joint |
| • State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Tarr served on these committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Bills in the Third Reading |
| • Health Care Financing Joint |
| • State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint |
| • Steering and Policy |
| • Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Joint |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Tarr served on these committees:
Issues
Presidential preference
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Tarr endorsed John Kasich for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[2]
- See also: Endorsements for John Kasich
Attendance
In August 2012, a list was released by the Beacon Hill Roll Call stating that through 179 votes in 2012, Tarr was one of 13 members that had perfect attendance.
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
The primary will occur on September 3, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr is running in the Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on September 3, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Bruce Tarr | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr defeated Terence Cudney in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr (R) | 71.4 | 58,838 |
 | Terence Cudney (Independent) | 28.4 | 23,408 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 171 | ||
| Total votes: 82,417 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr | 99.5 | 9,498 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 50 | ||
| Total votes: 9,548 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2020
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr (R) | 98.6 | 86,565 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.4 | 1,273 | ||
| Total votes: 87,838 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr | 99.3 | 10,126 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 69 | ||
| Total votes: 10,195 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr (R) | 98.0 | 68,902 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.0 | 1,431 | ||
| Total votes: 70,333 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District
Incumbent Bruce Tarr advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Tarr | 100.0 | 9,548 |
| Total votes: 9,548 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
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 Bruce Tarr ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate First Essex & Middlesex District general election.[3][4]
| Massachusetts State Senate, First Essex & Middlesex District General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Bruce Tarr Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth | ||
Incumbent Bruce Tarr ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate First Essex & Middlesex District Republican Primary.[5][6]
| Massachusetts State Senate, First Essex & Middlesex District Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Bruce Tarr Incumbent (unopposed) | |
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 Bruce Tarr was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election.[7]
2012
Tarr won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts State Senate First Essex and Middlesex District. Tarr was unopposed in the September 6 Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9]
2010
Tarr won re-election to the First Essex and Middlesex District seat in 2010. He had no opposition. The general election took place on November 2, 2010. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he is guaranteed election on November 2.
| Massachusetts State Senate - First Essex and Middlesex District | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Bruce Tarr (R)
|
58,565 | |||
| All Others | 411 | |||
| Blanks | 16,585 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Tarr was re-elected in the Senate election for the First Essex and Middlesex district.[10] In this election he raised $87,568; of that total $83,938 (95.9%) was from in state contributions and $3,610 (4.1%) was from out of state contributions.[11]
| Massachusetts State Senate - First Essex and Middlesex district | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Bruce Tarr (R)
|
73,532 | |||
| All Others | 559 | |||
| Blanks | 23,093 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2022
Bruce Tarr did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Bruce Tarr did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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 [email protected].
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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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 5 through November 16.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Bruce Tarr was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He has been involved in a number of organizations, including the American Bar Association, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 406, the Elder Citizens Caucus, the Essex Club, Friends of the Gloucester Council on Aging, Gloucester Bar Association, Gloucester Human Services Council, Gloucester United, Hellenic Bar Association, Hubbard Youth Bowling Program, Massachusetts Bar Association, Medigap Working Group, Rockport Comprehensive Community Health Center, Rowley Grange Sons of the American Legion, and the Yankee Clipper Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District |
Officeholder Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District |
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Senator Tarr
- ↑ MassLive.com, "Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr endorses Ohio Gov. John Kasich for president," January 22, 2016
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 2012 State Primary Candidate List, "Massachusetts Secretary of State," accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ 2012 Massachusetts Secretary of State, Official 2012 Primary Results
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Return of Votes For Massachusetts State Election - November 4, 2008," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Massachusetts State Senate 1st Essex and Middlesex District 1995-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Massachusetts House of Representatives 1991-1995 |
Succeeded by - |
