‘Saturday changed everything.' Mass. lawmakers weigh what personal info should be public after Minnesota shootings.

Boston Globe

18-06-2025

'We don't have drivers, we don't have security details,' Oliveira said of state lawmakers. 'There's a misnomer in the public that we're isolated. We go to the grocery store, we go to Home Depot, we go to big box stores. People see us. We're not in an ivory tower.'
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Legislators around the country have begun reexamining what they make public in light of Saturday's attacks
that left one lawmaker and her husband dead. In New Hampshire, officials
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Some elected officials here say they may be uniquely exposed, at least as far as the ballots voters see. The Globe reviewed sample ballots from counties in 49 other states, many of which were posted online by government officials or local news media during last fall's election. While those in a handful of states, including Vermont and Maine, list a candidate's hometown, the Globe found no others besides Massachusetts that listed specific home addresses.
Oliveira's bill is similar to
It's not the only proposal to emerge in recent days. State Senator Rebecca Rausch, a Needham Democrat, filed an
'There are a whole variety of ways in which people's personal lives can be harmed by bad actors,' Rausch said. 'This may not be all the right pieces or all the right approach, but we need to think about all these different angles. It's not just about someone's address.'
Saturday's attack is not the first incident to prompt policy makers to reconsider their approach to personal safety.
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A Danvers man was charged in 2020 with
And in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, Massachusetts campaign finance regulators said they
The attacks in Minnesota, however, struck an altogether different chord.
'I never thought as a state lawmaker that we were ever in harm's way. I never thought that we were important enough for people to harm us,'
state Senator Barry Finegold said. 'Saturday changed everything.'
Prior to Saturday's shooting, the Andover Democrat
or a
home address in campaign finance records. He said he pursued that change in the wake of the incident at Baker's home.
The attacks Saturday, Finegold said, brought home the 'risk of harm to someone in elected office is not worth knowing where someone lives,' he said.
'If it can happen in Minnesota, it can happen in Massachusetts,' he said. 'What really was tough about Saturday is that [the shooter] went after not only the legislator, they went after their spouse. That shakes you to the core. . . . I signed up for this, but my wife has not.'
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Secretary of State William Galvin, a Brighton Democrat who serves as the state's chief record-keeping and public information officer, said efforts to shield some of elected officials' personal information may be well-intentioned but he
questioned how far they would need to go in order to be effective.
For example, those who make political contributions — lawmakers included — have their address disclosed with each donation. Other public records, such as the nomination papers candidates must file, also include their addresses.
Shielding elected officials' home addresses on the ballot alone wouldn't be a panacea to political violence, Galvin said.
'We need to look at the practical side,' Galvin said. 'We're giving up a certain degree of public information. [People should ask] will this be an effective protection of public officials?'
Authorities said Vance Boelter appeared to spend months preparing before he allegedly killed former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded state Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette.
Boelter, 57, also listed dozens of other politicians in his writings, all of whom were Democrats, and some 45 state and federal elected officials in Minnesota, according to prosecutors.
'It's scary,' said state Senator Michael Rodrigues, the chamber's budget chief, 'and it's probably more scary for our families, my wife, for my children, for my grandchildren.
'They saw that, they read that,' the Westport Democrat said of reports of the shootings. 'They're very nervous also.'
Elected leaders around Massachusetts quickly denounced the attacks in public statements Saturday. Meanwhile, state lawmakers were exchanging a flurry of messages among themselves, expressing both horror and disbelief. Oliveira said Senate President Karen E. Spilka sent an email to lawmakers reminding them that if they see any threats, they should contact State Police.
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'We were all texting each other that day,' said state Representative Aaron Michlewitz, the House budget chief, 'and just saying, 'Wow, what a world we're living in.''
Matt Stout can be reached at