Senate · Republican

Patrick M. O'Connor

Current member · First Plymouth and Norfolk

Data through FY2026; built October 19, 2026.

Residence

Weymouth

First elected

Senate 2016 (special)

Prior public offices

Councilor at Large, Weymouth, MA (2006-2018)

Occupation

Legislator

Seats held, General Courts 189–194 (the FY2017–FY2026 budgets)
Session	Chamber	District	Lines
189th (2015–16)	Senate	Plymouth and Norfolk	2011 lines
190th (2017–18)	Senate	Plymouth and Norfolk	2011 lines
191st (2019–20)	Senate	Plymouth and Norfolk	2011 lines
192nd (2021–22)	Senate	Plymouth and Norfolk	2011 lines
193rd (2023–24)	Senate	First Plymouth and Norfolk	2021 lines
194th (2025–26)	Senate	First Plymouth and Norfolk	2021 lines

Posts and stipends

Patrick M. O'Connor was paid $400,140 in leadership and committee stipends from 2017 to 2026 (2026 to date).

Posts and stipends by session (stipends by calendar year)
Session	Posts	First year	Second year
189th (2015–16)	No post recorded	not available	$0
190th (2017–18)	Minority Whip	$15,000	$15,000
191st (2019–20)	Assistant Minority Leader	$37,912	$37,912
192nd (2021–22)	Assistant Minority Leader	$52,876	$52,876
193rd (2023–24)	Assistant Minority Leader	$47,759	$47,759
194th (2025–26)	Assistant Minority Leader; Ranking Minority Member, Senate and Joint Ways and Means (and 8 other committees)	$52,339	$40,708 (to date)

Posts: the Legislature’s leadership and roster records as compiled for this project; where those name no post, the member’s committee chair, vice-chair and ranking roles from the Legislature’s member profiles. Stipends: additional compensation in the Comptroller’s payroll data (CTHRU dataset 9ttk-7vz6), 2016–2026; 2026 is the year to date. Stipends for 2015 are not available. Base salary is not included.

The district

First Plymouth and Norfolk on its 2021 lines: 8 cities and towns, 172,503 residents (2020).

Weymouth 33% · Marshfield 15% · Hingham 14% · Scituate 11% · Duxbury 9% · Norwell 7% · Hull 6% · Cohasset 5%

Percentages are each place’s share of the district’s 2020 residents; for a town split between districts, the share of the town inside this one follows.

Population-weighted Fairness Index of the district’s cities and towns: 36 for all state aid and 52 for discretionary money (50 is a fair share).

Local earmarks are counted three ways. District money uses the first, clauses that name a place in the district; the second table adds organizations located in the district (placed in the district) and state facilities located there (everything placed). Three ways to count a local earmark.

District money, first measure: enacted earmarks in clauses naming a place in the district, by session (district money, not the member’s)
Session	District	Dollars	In corrective clauses	Per resident per budget, rank	Without corrective clauses, rank
189th (2015–16)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$757,000	$0	$4.39 · 9th of 40	$4.39 · 9th of 40
190th (2017–18)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$1.8M	$0	$5.14 · 13th of 40	$5.14 · 13th of 40
191st (2019–20)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$851,000	$0	$2.47 · 33rd of 40	$2.47 · 33rd of 40
192nd (2021–22)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$2.6M	$0	$7.51 · 16th of 40	$7.51 · 16th of 40
193rd (2023–24)	First Plymouth and Norfolk	$3.6M	$0	$10.35 · 15th of 40	$10.35 · 15th of 40
194th (2025–26)	First Plymouth and Norfolk	$1.4M	$0	$8.14 · 19th of 40	$8.14 · 19th of 40

District money is where enacted earmarks land, by the place a clause names, mapped to districts by 2020 population; it is not attributed to the member and does not include leadership’s base-text money that names no place. Ranks are of district money per resident among the chamber’s districts, 1 = most. “In corrective clauses” is the part carried by a Ways and Means chair’s corrective amendments, which is leadership’s money; the last column gives the per-resident figure and rank without it. Sessions are labeled by the General Court that enacted each budget. Per-resident figures use the district as drawn for each session (2011 lines through the 192nd General Court, 2021 lines from the 193rd), so they will not equal a session’s dollars divided by the resident count above.

The same district on the other two measures, by session (enacted; includes any corrective-clause money)
Session	District	Placed in the district	Per resident per budget, rank	Everything placed	Per resident per budget, rank
189th (2015–16)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$714,000	$4.14 · 16th of 40	$814,000	$4.72 · 16th of 40
190th (2017–18)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$2.5M	$7.17 · 9th of 40	$2.5M	$7.17 · 9th of 40
191st (2019–20)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$1.4M	$4.05 · 30th of 40	$1.5M	$4.42 · 28th of 40
192nd (2021–22)	Plymouth and Norfolk	$3.3M	$9.46 · 15th of 40	$3.4M	$9.83 · 16th of 40
193rd (2023–24)	First Plymouth and Norfolk	$6.2M	$18.09 · 7th of 40	$6.4M	$18.46 · 7th of 40
194th (2025–26)	First Plymouth and Norfolk	$1.6M	$9.57 · 17th of 40	$1.8M	$10.31 · 19th of 40

Budget amendments

Patrick M. O'Connor sponsored 283 budget amendments in FY2017–FY2026, asking for $3.94 billion in all.

Amendments sponsored

283

FY2017–FY2026 budgets

Adopted, known outcomes

32%

91 of 283

Chamber rate, same ask sizes

41%

expected at the chamber’s rates

Of the 283 with a known outcome, 91 were adopted (32%). At the chamber’s adoption rate for amendments of the same size, about 117 (41%) would have been.

Largest enacted items matched to an amendment Patrick M. O'Connor filed (strong text matches)
Year	Amount	Enacted budget text (excerpt)	Amendment
FY2023	$650,000	“implementing the low-income services solar program pursuant to section 2LLLLL of chapter 29 of the General Laws”	S4 #12
FY2024	$500,000	“St. John the Evangelist Church in the town of Hingham to support the Free Period program to provide free feminine hygiene products to those in need”	S3 #381
FY2023	$350,000	“the Talking Information Center, Incorporated to provide human voiced broadcasts of local news, articles and items of interest to visually-impaired…”	S4 #398
FY2022	$350,000	“the Talking Information Center, Incorporated to provide human voiced broadcasts of local news, articles and items of interest to visually impaired…”	S3 #424
FY2026	$250,000	“the James P. Harrington Organization, Inc. in the town of Marshfield to support health and wellness programming at Ferry Hill”	S3 #1003

Strong matches: 98 enacted items, $5.7 million (the member’s share where several amendments claim one clause). A further five weaker text matches are not listed; attribution is inferred from amendment text and is less certain there.

For 22 amendments the sponsor is the first mover named in the amendment text, because the Legislature’s record listed none. Ask size is the larger of the earmark dollars and the line-item change an amendment requests; bands: no dollar amount, under $50,000, $50,000–$250,000, $250,000–$1 million, $1–5 million, $5 million or more. Leadership’s unattributed base-text and corrective-amendment money is never assigned to a member. The comparison describes outcomes; it is not a measure of merit.

Bills sponsored

Patrick M. O'Connor filed 636 bills as lead sponsor in these sessions; 14 were enacted on their own. In completed sessions, 3% of their lead bills were enacted on their own, against chamber medians of 1% to 4% for the same sessions.

Most bills die in every legislature, and many policies pass inside other bills; the chamber median for the same session is the fair comparison.

Bills filed as lead sponsor, by session and outcome
Session	Chamber	Lead bills	Enacted	Folded into an enacted bill	Sent to study	Reported favorably, then died	Reported adversely or withdrawn	No action	Pending (session open)	History not available	Enacted rate	Chamber median	Cosponsored
189th (2015–16)	Senate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	no bills filed	4%	9
190th (2017–18)	Senate	68	3	0	51	11	1	2	0	0	4%	3%	332
191st (2019–20)	Senate	147	4	3	105	27	6	2	0	0	3%	3%	686
192nd (2021–22)	Senate	149	2	1	103	36	2	5	0	0	1%	2%	582
193rd (2023–24)	Senate	134	4	2	75	48	1	2	0	2	3%	1%	559
194th (2025–26)	Senate	138	1	1	79	0	0	0	57	0	1%*	1%	286

Enacted bills as lead sponsor

S2086 (190th): An Act exempting the position of police captain in the Town of Hull from the civil service law · Chapter 118 of the Acts of 2017
S22 (190th): An Act authorizing the trustees of the bathing beach in the town of Hingham to enter into a lease for the operation of the bathhouse facility and surrounding grounds · Chapter 19 of the Acts of 2017
S2582 (190th): An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance and the town of Hingham to grant certain easements upon certain land located in the town of Hingham · Chapter 215 of the Acts of 2018
S2230 (191st): An Act authorizing certain investments by the treasurer of the town of Cohasset · Chapter 12 of the Acts of 2020
S2242 (191st): An Act relative to the procedure for municipal acceptance of subdivision roads in the town of Hingham · Chapter 17 of the Acts of 2020
S2787 (191st): An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Charlotte Charest, an employee of the Middlesex Probate and Family Court · Chapter 158 of the Acts of 2020
S2915 (191st): An Act authorizing the town of Scituate to use certain conservation land for general municipal purposes · Chapter 364 of the Acts of 2020
S2588 (192nd): An Act renaming the board of selectmen in the town of Hingham to the select board · Chapter 37 of the Acts of 2022
S2706 (192nd): An Act renaming the Board of Selectmen in the town of Cohasset to the Select Board and making certain other related gender-neutral changes · Chapter 56 of the Acts of 2022
S1921 (193rd): An Act authorizing the town of Norwell to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption · Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2024
S2424 (193rd): An Act authorizing the town of Scituate to appoint retired police officers as special police officers · Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2023
S2553 (193rd): An Act to provide for the continuance of the town of Hingham's senior means-tested property tax exemption · Chapter 31 of the Acts of 2024
S2715 (193rd): An Act amending the charter of the town of Marshfield to make references to the board of selectmen gender neutral · Chapter 374 of the Acts of 2024
S2577 (194th): An Act relative to parking fines in the town of Scituate · Chapter 148 of the Acts of 2026

Outcomes are the furthest point each bill reached in the record. “Folded into an enacted bill” means the history names the enacted bill that absorbed it. “Passed both branches; no chapter recorded” means the bill was enacted by both branches and laid before the Governor, with no chapter or veto in the history; in the 194th General Court such bills are shown as laid before the Governor (pending). The 194th General Court is in session until January 2027, so its open bills are pending, not dead, and its rates (*) are not comparable with completed sessions. Chairs and leaders control the calendar, which raises their rates. Source: malegislature.gov bill histories.

Recorded votes on accountability measures

Patrick M. O'Connor cast 68 yes-or-no votes on the 71 accountability roll calls in this file (62 yes, six no, three for a named candidate).

Roll calls on rules, audits, public records, term limits and pay
Date	Measure	Vote	Chamber result
January 26, 2017	Senate engrossment of the pay-raise bill	No	Yeas 31, nays 9
February 2, 2017	Amendment 2.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Matters considered in an informal session	Yes	Yeas 38, nays 0
February 2, 2017	Amendment 3.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Time to consider matters in an informal	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
February 2, 2017	Amendment 7.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Provided with text of bills prior to poll	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
February 2, 2017	Special orders by majority instead of two-thirds (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
February 2, 2017	Amendment 11.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Unanimous consent	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
February 2, 2017	Amendment 13.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Timely Local Aid Notification	Yes	Yeas 7, nays 32
February 2, 2017	Senate override of the veto of the pay-raise bill	No	Yeas 31, nays 9
January 31, 2019	Amendment 1.1 (Bruce E. Tarr): Posting of Committee Roll Call Votes	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 1.0 (Walter F. Timilty): Improving Access to Records	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 2.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Informal Session	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 3.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Conference Committee Report	Yes	Yeas 8, nays 31
January 31, 2019	Amendment 11.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Audit of accounts	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
not available	Joint rules (S9), rules package: question on acceptance of the report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 1.0 (Diana DiZoglio): Non disclosure agreements	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 7.1 (Rebecca L. Rausch): anti-harassment and assault	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
January 31, 2019	Amendment 5.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Numbers of bills considered at a hearing	Yes	Yeas 8, nays 31
January 31, 2019	Amendment 17.0 (Ryan C. Fattman): Matters considered in an informal session	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
January 31, 2019	Amendment 25.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Unanimous consent	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
not available	Senate rules (S8), rules package: question on acceptance of the report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
not available	Senate President election (contested meaning)	Voted for Bruce E. Tarr	not available
February 11, 2021	Amendment 3.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Members receiving SWM GAA recommendation	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 35
February 11, 2021	Amendment 6.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Unanimous consent to go past midnight	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Amendment 7.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Going past 10 pm	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Amendment 8.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Successive formal sessions	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Amendment 15.0 (Diana DiZoglio): Anti-harassment and bystander intervention training	Yes	Yeas 10, nays 29
February 11, 2021	Amendment 20.0 (Diana DiZoglio): Amendments to other appropriations bills	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Accessibility; adopted 39-0 (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
February 11, 2021	Supplier diversity; adopted 39-0 (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
February 11, 2021	Amendment 42.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Consideration of further and redrafted amendments	Yes	Yeas 7, nays 32
February 11, 2021	Amendment 44.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Hearings	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
February 11, 2021	Amendment 49.0 (Ryan C. Fattman): Adoption amendment - Rule 24	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Minority Leader appointments to committees (partisan allocation) (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 35
February 11, 2021	Amendment 24.0 (Diana DiZoglio): Notice of legislative matters	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Amendment 1.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): New items on the calendar	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 34
February 11, 2021	Amendment 1.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Filing of conference committee report	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
February 11, 2021	Amendment 14.0 (James B. Eldridge): Lengthening public notice period for legislative hearings	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
not available	Senate President election (contested meaning)	Voted for Bruce E. Tarr	not available
February 9, 2023	Amendment 1.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Successive Legislative Days	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 34
February 9, 2023	Amendment 2.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Time of recess for consideration of new matters	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 33
February 9, 2023	Amendment 5.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Going past 10 pm	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 34
February 9, 2023	Amendment 6.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Unanimous consent to go past midnight	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 34
February 9, 2023	Amendment 10.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Manner of how member voted	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 33
February 9, 2023	Amd 23 (Rodrigues) strikes Rule 11B, the 8-year term limit on the Senate President; adopted 32-6	No	Yeas 32, nays 6
February 9, 2023	Strike remote-participation rules 57C/57D (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 3, nays 35
February 9, 2023	Remote voting conditions (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 34
February 9, 2023	Senate rules (S17), rules package: question on acceptance of the report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 37, nays 1
February 9, 2023	Amendment 1.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Filing of Conference Committee Report	Yes	Yeas 4, nays 35
February 9, 2023	Amendment 12.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Adding a Minority Report	Yes	Yeas 3, nays 36
not available	Joint rules (S18), rules package: question on acceptance of the report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
not available	Senate President election (contested meaning)	Voted for Bruce E. Tarr	not available
February 12, 2025	Amendment 2.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Number of bills to be heard	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 33
February 12, 2025	Amendment 9.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Minority conference committee report	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 32
February 12, 2025	Amendment 10.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): 48 Hours for conference committee reports	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 33
February 12, 2025	Amendment 13.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Timeline for review of conference committee reports	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 32
February 12, 2025	Amendment 22.0 (John F. Keenan): Considering Conference Reports	Yes	Yeas 9, nays 29
February 12, 2025	Amendment 26.0 (John F. Keenan): Preventing Unjustified Financial Gain for Members and Their Familes	Yes	Yeas 38, nays 0
February 12, 2025	Amendment 29.0 (John F. Keenan): Limiting Joint Committee Extensions	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 32
not available	Joint rules (S15), rules package: question on passing the bill to be engrossed (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
February 13, 2025	In-person voting conditions (contested meaning)	No	Yeas 5, nays 32
February 13, 2025	Amendment 36.0 (John F. Keenan): Continuing Beyond Midnight	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 31
February 13, 2025	Shorten period in which a matter can be laid on the table (dilatory motions) (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 5, nays 33
February 13, 2025	Amendment 10.0 (Bruce E. Tarr): Going past 10PM	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 32
February 13, 2025	Amendment 19.0 (Ryan C. Fattman): Virtual vote designation	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 31
February 13, 2025	Legislative days for Rule 24 (dilatory motions) (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 32
February 13, 2025	Senate rules (S19), rules package: question on acceptance of the report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 39, nays 0
June 26, 2025	Joint rules (conference report) (S2545), rules package: question on acceptance of conference committee report (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 40, nays 0
May 28, 2026	S.3104 resolutions limiting the Senate's response to the Auditor to the SJC-defined 4 requests; no votes 5 Republicans + Montigny; contested (contested meaning)	No	Yeas 33, nays 6
July 30, 2026	Press shield amendment to S.3200; adopted 40-0; not about the Legislature's records (contested meaning)	Yes	Yeas 40, nays 0
July 30, 2026	Amd 18 (Tarr): apply the public records law to the General Court more fully	Yes	Yeas 6, nays 33
July 30, 2026	Senate passage of H.5469 34-6; no votes 5 Republicans + Montigny (too weak); contested (contested meaning)	No	Yeas 34, nays 6

Votes marked “contested meaning” are rules-package and public-records passage votes; reform advocates were on both sides of them. Descriptions are the project’s plain summaries of each question, or the question as recorded for rules-package roll calls; the official record is on malegislature.gov. Votes are facts; no score is computed.

Campaign money in

Patrick M. O'Connor’s committee reported $583,000 in contributions of $250 or more in years the member served, 2015–2026.

By year (years in the Legislature)
Year	Contributions
2015	$39,000
2016	$93,000
2017	$20,000
2018	$93,000
2019	$23,000
2020	$66,000
2021	$31,000
2022	$79,000
2023	$44,000
2024	$49,000
2025	$36,000
2026	$10,000

By kind of contributor
Kind	Total	Share
Individuals	$413,000	71%
Political committees and PACs	$153,000	26%
Unions and associations	$17,000	3%

Individuals’ money by the employer they reported
Employer reported	Share
A named employer	67%
Self-employed	17%
Retired	9%
Not employed	1%
Homemaker or at home	3%
Not reported or withheld	3%

Not counted as contributions: $93,000 in other receipts of $250 or more in the same years (candidate loans and the candidate’s own money, transfers, refunds, bank interest and aggregated small receipts).

Largest employers and organizations
Employer or organization	Kind	Total	Contributions
REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE	committee or PAC	$43,000	6
L STAR	individuals, by employer	$20,000	21
MARLBOROUGH REPCC	committee or PAC	$6,900	6
C AND C ADVISORS	individuals, by employer	$6,250	7
ATLANTIC MECHANICAL	individuals, by employer	$6,250	11
MA & NORTHERN NE LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL POL ACTION COMM	committee or PAC	$6,000	12
DUNKIN DONUTS	individuals, by employer	$5,450	13
MARINA BAY MANAGEMENT	individuals, by employer	$5,000	8
WILLIAM RAVEIS	individuals, by employer	$5,000	1
RETIRED PUBLIC EMPLOYEES PAC	committee or PAC	$4,600	10

Source: Office of Campaign and Political Finance, itemized receipts of $250 or more since 2015; OCPF filer record: O'Connor Committee (CPF 16317). Individuals are grouped by the employer they reported; no individual contributor is named, and an employer field that is a person’s name is withheld. Massachusetts bars business contributions to candidates. Employer shows affiliation, not instruction.

Sources

Every figure traces to a public record.

Facts only: posts, stipends, sponsored amendments, enacted items, roll-call votes and district money. No score or grade is computed. Associations shown here are not evidence of cause. Method.