Pat Jehlen

Pat Jehlen has represented Medford, Somerville, and parts of Winchester and Cambridge in the Senate since 2005. She is a former state representative, school committee member, and history teacher.

She is currently Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, Chair of Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, and Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing, and serves on several other committees. She focuses on:

•    Everyone has a right to a good, adequately funded education

•    Children should have more time to learn, with less time and attention on testing

•    Everyone should be able to earn a living wage, including benefits

•    People deserve a continuum of affordable options as they age, from home care to adult day health to assisted living to rest homes to nursing facilities.

•    Public transit should be affordable and reliable—including the Green Line Extension

•    Health care should be affordable and universal

•    Our rivers, including the Mystic, should be clean and accessible

Pat and her husband, Alain, have three children. They live in Somerville with their daughter and granddaughters.