James Welch
James Welch (Democratic Party) was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing Hampden District. He assumed office on January 5, 2011. He left office on January 6, 2021.
Welch (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent Hampden District. He lost in the Democratic primary on September 1, 2020.
Welch served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the Sixth Hampden district from 2004 to 2011.
Biography
Welch earned his B.S. in business management from Westfield State College. His professional experience includes working as a realtor.
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Welch was assigned to the following committees:
- Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Joint Committee, Vice Chair
- Financial Services Joint Committee, Chair
- Municipalities and Regional Government Joint Committee
- Cannabis Policy Joint Committee
- Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Post Audit and Oversight, Vice chair |
| • Redistricting |
| • Rules |
| • Health Care Financing Joint, Chair |
| • Marijuana Policy Joint |
| • Rules Joint |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Welch served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health Care Financing Joint, Chair |
| • Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint |
| • Election Laws Joint |
| • Post Audit and Oversight |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Welch served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Joint, Vice chair |
| • Election Laws Joint |
| • Health Care Financing Joint, Chair |
| • Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Welch served on these committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Community Development and Small Business Joint |
| • Election Laws Joint |
| • Higher Education Joint |
| • Municipalities and Regional Government Joint, Chair |
| • Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint |
| • State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint, Vice chair |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Welch served on these committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Bills in the Third Reading, Vice chair |
| • Ways and Means |
| • Post Audit and Oversight |
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
2020
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District
Adam Gomez won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Adam Gomez (D) | 97.5 | 44,038 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.5 | 1,151 | ||
| Total votes: 45,189 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District
Adam Gomez defeated incumbent James Welch in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Adam Gomez | 52.4 | 11,522 |
 | James Welch | 47.3 | 10,397 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 59 | ||
| Total votes: 21,978 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District
Incumbent James Welch won election in the general election for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Welch (D) | 98.3 | 31,109 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.7 | 548 | ||
| Total votes: 31,657 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District
Incumbent James Welch defeated Amaad Isiah Rivera in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Welch | 58.5 | 5,909 |
 | Amaad Isiah Rivera | 41.5 | 4,198 | |
| Total votes: 10,107 | |||
| = 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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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 James Welch ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District general election.[1][2]
| Massachusetts State Senate, Hampden District General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  James Welch Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth | ||
Incumbent James Welch ran unopposed in the Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District Democratic Primary.[3][4]
| Massachusetts State Senate, Hampden District Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | James Welch 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 James Welch was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.[5]
2012
Welch won re-election in the 2012 election for Massachusetts State Senate Hampden District. Wolf defeated Melvin A. Edwards in the September 6 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
James Welch Incumbent |
61.3% | 6,244 |
| Melvin Edwards | 38.7% | 3,936 |
| Total Votes | 10,180 | |
2010
Welch won election to the Hampden senate seat in 2010. He defeated Susan Dawson and Ronald Patenaude in the September 14 Democratic primary. He defeated Robert Magovern (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.
| Massachusetts State Senate - Hampden District | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Welch (D)
|
21,567 | |||
| Robert Magovern (R) | 13,824 | |||
| All Others | 41 | |||
| Blanks | 2,425 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Welch won re-election in the Massachusetts House of Representatives election for the Sixth Hampden district.[6] In this election he raised $48,151; of that total $43,376 (90.1%) was from in state contributions, $4,550 (9.4%) was from out of state contributions, and $225 (0.5%) was from unknown sources.[7]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives - Sixth Hampden district | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Welch (D)
|
13,531 | |||
| All Others | 84 | |||
| Blanks | 4,209 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Welch 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].
2020
In 2020, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 1 to January 5.
- Legislators are scored on bills of interest to an organization that pledges "to make government more transparent, make fiscally responsible choices, and to hold the line on taxes."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on public interest issues.
- Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored by the organization on votes that "can show the distinction between a progressive legislator, and everyone else."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
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.
Welch and his wife, Kara, have two children. He has been a member of the Dante Club, May Institute Human Rights Committee, Westfield Elks, and West Springfield Rotary Club.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Jim Welch's personal website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
- Jim Welch on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 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
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Massachusetts State Senate Hampden 2013–2021 |
Succeeded by Adam Gomez (D) |
| Preceded by - |
Massachusetts House of Representatives Hampden 6 2004–2011 |
Succeeded by Michael Finn (D) |
