THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Wednesday, December 24, 2025 Page 9 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local senators voted with their party’s leadership in the 2025 session through December 19. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 113 of the 116 votes from the 2025 Senate session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls except three that were on local issues. The votes of 32 Democrats were compared to Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), second-in-command in the Senate. We could not compare the Democrats’ votes to those of Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) because, by tradition, the Senate president rarely votes. Sixteen (50 percent) of the 32 Democrats voted with Creem 100 percent of the time. Not counting the senators who voted 100 percent of the time with Creem, another 15 (46.8 percent) of Democrats voted with Creem at least 90 percent of the time (from 90 percent of the time to 99.9 percent of the time.) Only one Democrat, Sen. John Keenan (D-Quincy), voted with Creem less than 90 percent of the time. He voted with Creem only 88.3 percent of the time (99 times.) Rounding out the list of the top five senators who voted with Creem the least percentage of times are Sens. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) 104 times (92.0 percent); Michael Moore (D-Millbury) 105 times (92.9 percent); and both Michael Brady (D-Brockton) and Nick Collins (D-Boston) 108 times (95.5 percent). Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted all five senators and asked them why they voted among the least percentage of times with Sen. Creem. Only Sens. Keenan and Moore responded: "I have great respect and admiration for my Senate colleagues and appreciate that we represent unique districts and at times have different opinions on issues,” said Keenan. “In the final determination, I will always vote in the way, that in my judgment, best serves my constituents in the Norfolk and Plymouth District and the commonwealth as a whole." “The people of the Second Worcester District sent me to the Massachusetts Senate to address the challenges affecting their daily lives and to amplify their voices on Beacon Hill,” said Moore. “My ultimate responsibility is to do what is right for my constituents and my voting record reflects that.” Three senators did not respond to repeated requests asking them to comment. They are Sens. Brady, Montigny and Collins. Beacon Hill Roll Call also contacted all 16 senators who voted with Creem 100 percent of the time and asked them to comment and to cite any issues, beyond the ones that came to a roll call vote, on which they disagree with Creem. None of the 16 responded. They are Sens. Mike Barrett (D-Lexington); Will Brownsberger (D-Belmont); Jo Comerford (D-Northampton); Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn); Julian Cyr (D-Truro); Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett); Lydia Edwards (D-Boston); Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington); Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville); Robyn Kennedy (D-Worcester); Joan Lovely (D-Salem); Paul Mark (D-Becket); Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow); Pavel Payano (D-Lawrence); Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport) and Mike Rush (D-West Roxbury). The votes of four Republican senators were compared with those of GOP Senate Minority Leader Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). None of the four voted with Tarr 100 percent of the time. Sen, Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) voted with Tarr the least percentage of times - only 88.4 percent of the time (100 times.) Kelly Dooner (R-Taunton) voted 102 times with Tarr (90.2 percent); Peter Durant (R-Spencer) 106 times with Tarr (93.8 percent); and Patrick O'Connor (R-Weymouth) 109 times with Tarr (96.4 percent.) SENATORS’ SUPPORT OF THEIR PARTY’S LEADERSHIP IN 2025 THROUGH DECEMBER 19 The percentage next to the senator’s name represents the percentage of times the senator supported his or her party’s leadership in 2025 through December 19. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the senator opposed his or her party’s leadership. Some senators voted on all 113 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll calls. The percentage for each senator is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted. Sen. Jason Lewis 98.2 percent (2) ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL KEEP DARK MONEY OUT OF TOWN MEETING (H 806) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that would apply the state’s campaign finance election laws to political expenditures of more than $1,000, made by persons, corporations, associations, organizations or other groups of peoBHRC| SEE PAGE 15
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